is a Japanese

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. He plays for

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

and for the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

national team. due to his amazing skillset he start playing in the national team even before have a professional contract.

Career

Club

He plays for

playing in the Japan University Rugby Championship.

International

He was named in the Japan under-19 squad for their tour of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

going on to score in the first test against Ireland under-19. He went on to be called up to the Japan under-20 squad, making his debut against New Zealand Universities. He went on to start in all of Japan under-20s games in the 2023 World Rugby U20 Championship. He featured in all of Japan XV games in the

World Rugby Pacific Challenge The World Rugby Pacific Challenge, formerly the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup, is an annual rugby union football tournament held in Oceania since 2006. It is contested by national 'A' teams (formed from the best locally based players, with most not alre ...

, scoring a try against Manuma Samoa and Tonga A, going to score a brace against the Fiji Warriors. He played against the

Māori All Blacks The Māori All Blacks, previously called the New Zealand Maori, New Zealand Maoris and New Zealand Natives, are a rugby union team from New Zealand. They are a representative team of the New Zealand Rugby Union, and a prerequisite for playing is ...

twice in 2024, starting at fullback in both matches he scored a penalty in the second match. His impressive performances led him to being called up to the senior

squad by Eddie Jones. He made his debut for the senior

side in their first match of 2024, starting at fullback in a 17–52 loss against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Honors

Japan XV

** Champions: (1) 2024

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yazaki, Yoshitaka Living people Japanese rugby union players Waseda University Rugby Football Club players Waseda University alumni 2004 births Japan international rugby union players 21st-century Japanese sportsmen