Brave Blossoms Lipovitan D Tour 2025 Squad
Japan Head Coach Eddie Jones has announced his 38-member Brave Blossoms squad for their four-match Lipovitan D Tour 2025 to Europe and the UK. Set to take on the World Champion Springboks at Wembley Stadium in London, followed by away matches against Ireland, Wales and Georgia, the next four weeks present a huge challenge for the Brave Blossoms as they build towards 2027.
Coming off the back of their narrow four-point loss to the Wallabies at home in Tokyo last Saturday, the remaining four tests of the year will be among the most demanding autumn tours ever undertaken by the Japan National Team. The tour will expose this young Japan side to a variety of playing styles, venues and conditions. With less than two years to go before Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia, it will form an invaluable part of the team’s preparation.
Facing the world number one South Africans at Wembley, then the third-ranked Ireland at their Dublin fortress of Aviva Stadium over two consecutive weekends, is about as tough a challenge as the rugby world can offer. Japan will then follow up with their third test of the year against 12th-ranked Wales in Cardiff before travelling on to Tbilisi to face 11th-ranked Georgia.
Comprising 21 forwards and 17 backs, the youthful squad has an average of just 11 caps per player, including 12 players yet to make their national team debuts. Further highlighting the relative inexperience of the group, among the already capped members, 13 players have ten caps or less.
Despite the youthful nature of the squad, there is a core of experienced campaigners and leaders within the group. In the forwards, the talismanic Michael Leitch, who earned his 90th cap against the Wallabies, is joined by Captain Warner Dearns with 28 caps, while in the backline, stalwart centre Dylan Riley adds his 34 caps of experience.
The Brave Blossoms’ first match of the tour, against South Africa at Wembley Stadium, kicks off at 16:10 local time on Saturday, 1 November (01:10 JST, Sunday, 2 November).
Japan National Team Squad – Lipovitan D Tour 2025
Forwards (21)
| Name | Club Team | Graduate | Height (cm) | Weight (kg) | DOB | Cap |
| Ryosuke IWAIHARA | YOKOHAMA CANON EAGLES | Meiji Univ. | 184 | 115 | 1996/10/6 | 3 |
| Kenta KOBAYASHI | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Waseda Univ. | 181 | 113 | 1999/6/2 | 5 |
| Sho FURUHATA | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Daito Bunka Univ. | 185 | 118 | 1996/12/10 | 0 |
| Shoma SAGAWA | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars | Nihon Univ. | 180 | 103 | 2002/1/20 | 0 |
| Kenji SATO | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Waseda Univ. | 177 | 108 | 2003/1/4 | 5 |
| Shodai HIRAO | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Kwansei Gakuin Univ. | 174 | 103 | 2002/10/11 | 0 |
| Sanshiro KIHARA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Senshu Univ. | 181 | 108 | 2003/1/20 | 0 |
| Shuhei TAKEUCHI | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ. | 183 | 115 | 1997/12/9 | 20 |
| Keijiro TAMEFUSA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Meiji Univ. | 180 | 108 | 2001/9/3 | 16 |
| Shohei ITO | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Kyoto Sangyo Univ. | 190 | 115 | 1997/5/1 | 0 |
| Epineri ULUIVITI | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars | Ratu Kadavulevu School | 196 | 122 | 1996/7/7 | 8 |
| Jack CORNELSEN | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Univ. of Queensland | 195 | 110 | 1994/10/13 | 25 |
| Warner DEARNS | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Ryutsu Keizai Univ. KASHIWA HS. | 201 | 117 | 2002/4/11 | 28 |
| Harry HOCKINGS | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Univ. of Queensland | 208 | 124 | 1998/7/28 | 0 |
| Shu YAMAMOTO | RICOH BlackRams Tokyo | Kindai Univ. | 190 | 96 | 1999/6/1 | 0 |
| David VAN ZEELAND | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Takushoku Univ. | 196 | 116 | 2000/2/11 | 0 |
| Ben GUNTER | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Brisbane Boys’ College | 195 | 120 | 1997/10/24 | 15 |
| Kanji SHIMOKAWA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Waseda Univ. | 188 | 105 | 1999/1/17 | 19 |
| Tyler PAUL | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Nelson Mandela Univ. | 195 | 111 | 1995/1/20 | 1 |
| Michael LEITCH | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Tokai Univ. | 189 | 113 | 1988/10/7 | 90 |
| Faulua MAKISI | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Tenri Univ. | 187 | 112 | 1997/1/20 | 20 |
Backs (17)
| Name | Club Team | Graduate | Height (cm) | Weight (kg) | DOB | Cap |
| Naoto SAITO | Stade Toulousain | Waseda Univ. | 165 | 73 | 1997/8/26 | 24 |
| Asahi DOEI | YOKOHAMA CANON EAGLES | Kyoto Sangyo Univ. | 170 | 73 | 2003/1/9 | 0 |
| Kenta FUKUDA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Meiji Univ. | 173 | 83 | 1996/12/19 | 6 |
| Shinobu FUJIWARA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Tenri Univ. | 171 | 76 | 1999/2/8 | 17 |
| Shinya KOMURA | TOYOTA VERBLITZ | Teikyo Univ. | 180 | 92 | 2002/5/28 | 0 |
| Seungsin LEE | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | Osaka Korean HS. | 176 | 86 | 2001/1/13 | 25 |
| Yuki IKEDA | RICOH BlackRams Tokyo | Tokai Univ. | 187 | 100 | 1995/5/21 | 1 |
| Yuya HIROSE | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Meiji Univ. | 182 | 94 | 2001/4/7 | 4 |
| Dylan RILEY | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Bond Univ. | 187 | 102 | 1997/5/2 | 34 |
| Charlie LAWRENCE | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars | Hamilton Boys’ HS. | 170 | 89 | 1998/5/27 | 5 |
| Kippei ISHIDA | YOKOHAMA CANON EAGLES | Meiji Univ. | 167 | 75 | 2000/4/28 | 6 |
| Kazuma UEDA | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | Kindai Univ. | 177 | 87 | 2002/12/4 | 0 |
| Tomoki OSADA | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Waseda Univ. | 179 | 90 | 1999/11/25 | 22 |
| Tiennan COSTLEY | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | International Pacific Univ. | 192 | 102 | 2000/6/14 | 10 |
| Kotaro ITO | RICOH BlackRams Tokyo | Meiji Univ. | 177 | 86 | 2001/11/15 | 0 |
| Sam GREENE | SHIZUOKA BlueRevs | Brisbane Grammar HS. | 178 | 85 | 1994/8/16 | 4 |
| Yoshitaka YAZAKI | Waseda Univ. | Toin Gakuen HS. | 180 | 86 | 2004/5/12 | 6 |
Japan National Team Autumn Match Schedule
Saturday 18 October
JAPAN XV vs Australia A (Uncapped)
7-71 (L)
Asahi Super Dry CHALLENGE MATCH 2025
YODOKO Sakura Stadium, Osaka
Friday 24 October
Hong Kong China vs JAPAN XV (Uncapped)
14-59 (W)
Kai Tak Stadium, Hong Kong
Saturday 25 October
Japan vs Australia
15-19 (L)
Lipovitan D Challenge Cup 2025
National Stadium, Tokyo
Saturday 1 November
Kick-off 16:10 local time (01:10 JST – Sunday, November 2)
Japan vs South Africa
Lipovitan D Tour 2025
Wembley Stadium, London
Saturday 8 November
Kick-off 12:40 local time (21:40 JST)
Ireland vs Japan
Autumn Nations Series
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Saturday 15 November
Kick-off 17:40 local time (02:40 JST – Sunday, November 16)
Wales vs Japan
Autumn Nations Series
Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Saturday 22 November
Kick-off 16:00 local time (21:00 JST)
Georgia vs Japan
Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi