Brave Blossoms’ 2026 Nations Championship Squad Announced
The JRFU have named the Brave Blossoms squad for the 2026 Nations Championship. The 37-member squad, comprising 21 forwards and 16 backs have been together in their training camp in Miyazaki, on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, ahead of their first Nations Championship match against Italy in Tokyo on July 4.
Japan’s match against Italy will be the first of three matches in the Southern Hemisphere leg of the Nations Championship which will also see them face Ireland on July 11 at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle, Australia followed by France at Tokyo’s National Stadium on July 18.
The competition will reconvene again in November for the Northern Hemisphere leg with the Brave Blossoms set to face Wales, England and Scotland in Cardiff, London and Edinburgh respectively. All 12 participating teams will then battle it out across the Finals weekend in London on November 27-29.
While the Brave Blossoms squad includes a solid core of experienced test campaigners and leaders, the coaching team have continued their focus on bringing through Japan’s next generation of playing talent ahead of next year’s World Cup in Australia. Of the 37 players announced, 13 are uncapped while 13 hold just ten caps or fewer. As an entire squad, they average 10.5 caps per player, however this figure is somewhat swayed by the inclusion of 92-cap Brave Blossoms talisman, Michael Leitch.
Of the 37 players in the squad 30 played last season in the JRLO, while four members play in Japan’s university competition. The remaining three players spent their 2026 club season outside of Japan. This includes Warner Dearns and Mamoru Harada who played in Super Rugby Pacific and Naoto Saito who recently finished his stint with French Top 14 club, Stade Toulousain.
Fans looking to catch the action live for the matches played in Tokyo can purchase tickets via the JRFU’s English-language ticketing website at: https://quick.pia.jp/japan-rugby_en/. Limited tickets are still available for the Italy match at Prince Chichibunomiya Stadium, with more availability for the test against France on July 18 at Tokyo’s National Stadium.
2026 Nations Championship Brave Blossoms Squad
Forwards (21)
| Name | Club Team | Graduate | Height (cm) | Weight (kg) | DOB | Cap |
| Sojiro OTSUKA | Kansei Gakuin Univ. | Kansei Gakuin Senior HS. | 178 | 110 | 2004/7/5 | 0 |
| Takato OKABE | YOKOHAMA CANON EAGLES | Kansei Gakuin Univ. | 180 | 105 | 1995/2/19 | 8 |
| Shigure TAKAO | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ. | 177 | 113 | 1996/8/15 | 0 |
| Shun ARAKAWA | Doshisha Univ. | Tokai Univ. Osaka Gyosei HS. | 176 | 102 | 2004/10/1 | 0 |
| Hayate ERA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Teikyo Univ. | 172 | 106 | 2001/9/18 | 6 |
| Kenji SATO | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Waseda Univ. | 177 | 108 | 2003/1/4 | 9 |
| Mamoru HARADA | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Keio Univ. | 175 | 101 | 1999/4/15 | 12 |
| Izi SWORD | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Takushoku Univ. | 190 | 120 | 2001/6/7 | 0 |
| Shuhei TAKEUCHI | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ. | 183 | 115 | 1997/12/9 | 24 |
| Keijiro TAMEFUSA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Meiji Univ. | 180 | 108 | 2001/9/3 | 20 |
| Jack CORNELSEN | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Univ. of Queensland | 195 | 110 | 1994/10/13 | 29 |
| Michael STOLBERG | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Anglican Church Grammar School | 202 | 116 | 1992/3/27 | 0 |
| Warner DEARNS | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO * Joined the Hurricanes (Super Rugby Pacific) on a temporary transfer for the 2026 season. | Ryutsu Keizai Univ. KASHIWA HS. | 201 | 117 | 2002/4/11 | 32 |
| Harry HOCKINGS | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Univ. of Queensland | 208 | 124 | 1998/7/28 | 2 |
| Ben GUNTER | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Brisbane Boys’ College | 195 | 120 | 1997/10/24 | 17 |
| Tiennan COSTLEY | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | International Pacific Univ. | 192 | 102 | 2000/6/14 | 11 |
| Kanji SHIMOKAWA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Waseda Univ. | 188 | 105 | 1999/1/17 | 23 |
| Esei HAANGANA | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS *Departure announced by the club on June 6, 2026. | St. Paul Catholic H.S. | 198 | 120 | 1999/4/21 | 0 |
| Aseri MASIVOU | TOCHIGI Honda HEAT | Takusyoku Univ. | 189 | 113 | 1997/3/9 | 0 |
| Michael LEITCH | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Tokai Univ. | 189 | 113 | 1988/10/7 | 92 |
| Waisake RARATUBUA | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS *Departure announced by the club on June 9, 2026. | Tokai Univ. | 193 | 120 | 1998/3/17 | 5 |
Backs (16)
| Name | Club Team | Graduate | Height (cm) | Weight (kg) | DOB | Cap |
| Itsuki KAMIMURA | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | Teikyo Univ. | 168 | 72 | 2002/12/13 | 0 |
| Naoto SAITO | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Waseda Univ. | 165 | 73 | 1997/8/26 | 28 |
| Haruto WATANABE | Kindai Univ. | Hotoku Gakuen HS. | 171 | 76 | 2004/12/10 | 0 |
| Ryunosuke ITO | Meiji Univ. | Kokugakuin Univ. Tochigi HS. | 172 | 77 | 2004/11/20 | 0 |
| Sam GREENE | SHIZUOKA BlueRevs *Departure announced by the club on May 16, 2026. | Brisbane Grammar HS. | 178 | 85 | 1994/8/16 | 6 |
| Yuki IKEDA | RICOH BlackRams Tokyo | Tokai Univ. | 187 | 98 | 1995/5/21 | 2 |
| Samisoni TUA | URAYASU D-Rocks | Setsunan Univ. | 182 | 108 | 1995/5/24 | 3 |
| Shota TAIRA | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars | Meiji Univ. | 178 | 94 | 2003/11/18 | 0 |
| Yuya HIROSE | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Meiji Univ. | 182 | 94 | 2001/4/7 | 5 |
| Dylan RILEY | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Bond Univ. | 187 | 102 | 1997/5/2 | 38 |
| Kippei ISHIDA | YOKOHAMA CANON EAGLES | Meiji Univ. | 167 | 75 | 2000/4/28 | 9 |
| Kazuma UEDA | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | Kindai Univ. | 177 | 87 | 2002/12/4 | 2 |
| Inoke BURUA | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | Ryutsu Keizai Univ. | 178 | 100 | 1999/5/30 | 0 |
| Shunsuke UENOBO | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | Tenri Univ. | 183 | 86 | 2003/9/29 | 0 |
| Takuro MATSUNAGA | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Tenri Univ. | 172 | 82 | 1998/8/13 | 5 |
| Taira MAIN | RICOH BlackRams Tokyo | Gose Industria HS. | 178 | 89 | 2000/9/5 | 1 |
Southern Hemisphere Series
Saturday, July 4 Japan v Italy Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo
Saturday, July 11 Japan v Ireland McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle, Australia
Saturday, July 18 Japan v France National Stadium, Tokyo