2025 Sees Expanded Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series
The Japan Rugby Football Union is delighted to announce an expanded format for this year’s Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2025. First played in 2014, the series has grown into one of the major events on the domestic women’s rugby calendar and is a key pillar in the development and promotion of the women’s game in Japan.
The 2025 addition will see the inclusion of a new Challenger Tournament to mark the opening weekend of the series. Taking place during the Golden Week holiday at JAPAN BASE in Fukuoka on May 5 and 6, the top-four placed teams from the tournament will earn the chance to play in a promotion-relegation series to be played alongside the Grand Final Tournament on August 17 in Sapporo.
Following the Challenger Tournament, three rounds of regular competition will take place for the 12 core teams based on the tournament’s 2024 standings. This includes the Hokkaido Barbarians Diana who won promotion to the series last year. The three tournaments making up the series will be held in Kumagaya, Kitakyushu and Higashi-Osaka across June, July and August.
Once the final standings are confirmed, the teams will then face off in a one-day, Grand Final Tournament on August 17 at Daiwa House Premist Dome in Sapporo. Unlike previous years, where series standings were based on the cumulative results from across all four tournaments, this year will see the top-eight ranked teams from the three rounds of regular competition compete for a spot in a winner-takes-all Grand Final match.
Meanwhile the bottom-four ranked teams will face off against the top four teams from the Challenger Tournament played in May, in a promotion-relegation battle to decide which teams will make the cut for the series’ 2026 addition. With potentially up to four promotion spots available, the competition is likely to be fierce as the challenging teams fight for promotion against the incumbent teams desperate to remain part of the main series.
“The Taiyo Seimei Women’s Seven Series in an incredibly important part of the women’s game here in Japan and one of our major drivers for growth. With the introduction of a Grand Final Tournament and a promotion-relegation competition on the final weekend, the 2025 season promises to be the most exciting yet,” commented Akane Kagawa, JRFU Director of Women’s Rugby.
“The Taiyo Seimei Women’s Seven Series began in 2014 as a national competition to give our best players from across the country the chance to compete against each other. The series is not only fundamental to our growth in Sevens but also provides us an opportunity to identify talent that can cross over to our elite Fifteens programmes.
“Delivering well-structured, high-quality competitions is essential for enhancing the performance of our national teams in both Sevens and Fifteens. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the Taiyo Seimei Corporation for their continued support of women’s rugby in Japan, as well as to the regional and local rugby unions and the dedicated volunteers who make this incredible series possible.”
Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2025:
- ・Introduction of a Challenger Tournament to kick-off the series
- ・Three regular tournaments – Kumagaya, Kitakyushu and Higashi-Osaka, culminating in a Grand Final Tournament in Sapporo
- ・12 core teams (The 11 top-ranked teams form the 2024 series and one team that won selection following the 2024 Promotion Tournament)
- ・Eight top-ranked teams to fight for a spot in a winner-takes-all Grand Final
- ・Bottom-four ranked teams to face the top-four ranked teams from the Challenger Tournament in promotion-relegation series played alongside the Grand Final Tournament
Series Schedule:
Challenger Tournament – Fukuoka
May 5 & 6, 2025
Venue: JAPAN BASE, Fukuoka
Tournament One – Kumagaya
June 21 & 22, 2025
Venue: Kumagaya Rugby Stadium
Tournament Two – Kitakyushu
July 20 & 21, 2025
Venue: Mikuni World Stadium
Tournament Three – Higashi-Osaka
August 2 & 3, 2025
Venue: Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Higashi-Osaka
Grand Final Tournament – Sapporo
August 17, 2025
Venue: Daiwa House Premist Dome
12 Core Teams & (2024 Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series Result)
- Nagato Blue Angels (1st)
- PEARLS (2nd)
- Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix Rugby Club (3rd)
- Yokohama TKM (4th)
- Nippon Sports Science University Women’s Rugby Club (5th)
- Nanairo Prism Fukuoka (6th)
- Arukas Queen Kumagaya Women’s Rugby Football Club (7th)
- JSDF Physical Training School (8th)
- Otemon Gakuin Women’s Rugby Club VENUS (9th)
- Challenge Team (10th)
- Yokogawa Musashino Artemi-Stars (11th)
- Hokkaido Barbarians Diana (Promoted 2024)
Fans can catch the action live at all five stadia free of charge across the nine days of competition.