AFL Japan is a league and governing body for

Australian rules football in Japan Australian rules football in Japan describes the development of the team sport which dates back to 1910, but found its roots in the late 1980s mainly due to the influence of Australian Football appearing on Japanese television. Japan competes reg ...

. The Top League season runs from April to November, with a summer break during August. All teams including the University teams compete in the Top League. The most successful team has been the Tokyo Goannas, who have been premiers since the inaugural Top League season. In 2007, the Osaka Dingoes joined the Top League. Since then the league has expanded with the addition of 3 new teams with the Nagoya Redbacks joining in 2009, the R246 Lions joining in 2012 (formerly known as the Tokyo Leopards) and just recently the Tokyo Bay Suns in 2013. The Japan national Australian rules football team, the Japan Samurais, competed in the triannual

Australian Football International Cup The Australian Football International Cup (also known as the AFL International Cup or simply the IC) was an triennial international tournament in Australian rules football. It was the biggest international tournament in the sport that is open t ...

in 2003, finishing 10th out of 11 competing countries, in 2005, finishing 7th out of 10 competing countries and 2008, finishing 8th out of 16 competing countries. In 2011, they finished 12th in division 1, beating Fiji and narrowing losing to Sweden along the way. In addition, a combined team of Japanese and Expat players compete in the annual Asian Australian Football Championships as the Japan Goannas. Also, every year, the University Samurais tour Australia in August. Their best and fairest player (from the 2005 International Cup) was Michito Sakaki. Sakaki, along with teammate Tsuyoshi Kase was later invited to join the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

academy camp in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

and Sakaki played for the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

annual 16-a-side match against the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...

at the

North Sydney Oval North Sydney Oval (Also known as “Bear Park” by North Sydney Bears fans) is a multi-use sporting facility in Miller Street, North Sydney, Australia, owned and operated by North Sydney Council. First used as a cricket ground in 1867, it is ...

on 3 March 2005 in front of 9,654 spectators. Both have since moved to Australia. Sakaki played in the semi-professional

Ovens & Murray Football League The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (OMFNL or O&MFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing ten clubs based in north-eastern Victoria, Australia, Victoria, the southern Riverina region of New South Wales ...

and Kase in the amateur

VAFA The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria. Founded in 1892, it consists of six senior divisions, ranging from Premier to Division 3 in the men's competit ...

. At the recent International Cup 2011, Ken Sato of the Komazawa Magpies was named in the International XVIII team. Also, through the support of the Box Hill North Football Club, a Japanese player receives a scholarship to train and play in Australia annually.

Top League

Current Leagues & Clubs

*Top League ** Tokyo Goannas **University Samurais **Eastern Hawks **Osaka Dingoes **Nagoya Redbacks **Tokyo Bay Suns **

Komazawa University , abbreviated as 駒大 ''Komadai'', is one of the oldest universities in Japan. Its history starts in 1592, when a seminary was established to be a center of learning for the young Bhikkhu#Monks in Japan, monks of the Sōtō, Sōtō sect, one of ...

Magpies **

Senshu University Senshu University (専修大学, ''Senshū Daigaku''), generally referred to as Senshu (専修) or Sen-Dai (専大), is a private university located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1880 as Senshu College , which was recognised as one of t ...

Power **R246 Lions

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://jafl.org/ Australian rules football in Japan Sports governing bodies in Japan

Jap ''Jap'' is an English abbreviation of the word " Japanese". In the United States, some Japanese Americans have come to find the term offensive because of the internment they suffered during World War II. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, ''Jap ...

Sports organizations established in 2004

Top League

Current Leagues & Clubs

See also

References

External links