Sakura Fifteen Team Named for Hong Kong China Match

Fresh from their solid 12-64 win over hosts Kazakhstan, the JRFU have announced the Sakura Fifteen team to face Hong Kong China in Round Two of the 2026 Asia Rugby Emirates Women’s Championship. Kicking off at 16:00 local time, 20:00 JST on Tuesday, May 5 in Almaty, Japan go into the match looking to secure their seventh consecutive Asia Rugby Championship title.

Sakura Fifteens Interim Head Coach, Toshizumi Kitagawa has once again picked a side featuring a raft of new talent, alongside a core of experienced test players. Sarah Takahashi is the sole debutant in the side as the replacement halfback on the reserves bench. She is joined by another five players who earned their first cap last week. If Takahashi comes onto the field to replace starting halfback and Captain, Moe Tsukui, it will see all seven uncapped players who joined the squad from Japan getting their first Japan caps on the tour.

Rookie flyhalf Sawa Harada, who guided the team with aplomb in the last match, earns her second start in as many tests, while in the front row, loosehead Nanako Ushijima and tighthead Juka Fuji will both earn their first test match starts after debuting off the bench against Kazakhstan.

Following Japan’s match against Hong Kong China, Round Three will see Kazakhstan take on Hong Kong China on Sunday, May 10. Fans looking to catch every match of the Asia Rugby Emirates Women’s Championship can tune in live via Asia Rugby’s Facebook page or through the YouTube channel.

https://www.facebook.com/asia.rugby/

https://www.youtube.com/c/asiarugbylive

Sakura Fifteen Team List

	Name	Team	Company	Height(cm)	Weight(kg)	DOB	Cap
1	Nanako USHIJIMA	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	Hinomaru Bus Corporation	163	77	2002/3/6	1
2	Moe NAGAOKA	YOKOHAMA TKM	Mitsubishi Jisho Property Management Co., Ltd.	163	67	1999/6/7	5
3	Juka FUJI	YOKOHAMA TKM	TMG Head Office, Yokohama Branch	171	78	2001/1/22	1
4	Mei OKUBO	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA	Rissho Univ.	176	69	2004/4/19	1
5	Otoka YOSHIMURA	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA	Saitamaken Shinkin Bank.	174	83	2001/5/15	33
6	Nduka JENNIFER	Hokkaido Barbarians Diana	Medical System Network	168	75	2000/10/18	18
7	Sakurako KORAI	Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix	Sankyu Inc.	166	67	2003/4/9	23
8	Mele Yua HAVILI KAGAWA	YOKOHAMA TKM	Medical Corporation Yokohama Mirai Healthcare System	171	74	2001/9/29	7
9	Moe TSUKUI (C)	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	LIBEST Corp.	153	54	2000/3/28	46
10	Sawa HARADA	Japan Univ. of Economics	Japan Univ. of Economics	165	63	2005/3/12	1
11	Sora NISHIMURA	MIE PEARLS	Choko Co.，Ltd.	167	67	2000/9/29	25
12	Minori YAMAMOTO	YOKOHAMA TKM	Medical Corporation Yokohama Mirai Healthcare System	168	68	1996/12/9	42
13	Mana FURUTA	Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix	NTT Facilities Inc.	167	69	1997/11/16	40
14	Rinka MATSUDA	Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix	Toppan Inc.	171	77	2001/12/5	15
15	Kanna HAYASHI	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	SECOM CO., LTD.	166	65	2001/4/30	1
16	Kotomi TANIGUCHI	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	Yokogawa Eco-cycle Solutions Corporation	163	73	1995/4/10	29
17	Nami YOSHIDA	YOKOHAMA TKM	Human Life care Yokohama	165	76	1999/4/13	3
18	Miharu MACHIDA	Japan Univ. of Economics	Japan Univ. of Economics	173	95	2004/5/26	5
19	Yuna SATO	Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix	Sankyu Inc.	170	76	1998/9/11	28
20	Mio NISHIMURA	YOKOHAMA TKM	Totsuka Kyoritsu Medical Satellite Medical Check-up Center	168	85	2002/11/29	8
21	Sara TAKAHASHI	YOKOHAMA TKM	Totsuka Kyoritsu Dai-2 Hospital	153	55	2001/10/26	0
22	Komachi IMAKUGI	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA	OKINAYA Co.,Ltd.	158	58	2002/1/6	34
23	Kanako KOBAYASHI	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	Shonan Kamakura General Hospital	163	68	1998/11/13	22

(c) Captain

2026 Asia Rugby Women’s Championship Fixtures

Round 1	THU 30 APR	Kazakhstan vs Japan	12 – 64
Round 2	TUE 5 MAY 16:00 KO (20:00 JST)	Hong Kong China vs Japan	–
Round 3	SUN 10 MAY 14:00 KO (18:00 JST)	Kazakhstan v Hong Kong China	–