The beginning (1917–1936)

Japan's national team had its first international tournament at the 3rd Far Eastern Games held in Tokyo in 1917, at which Japan was represented by the team of the Kyoto YMCA.

Later, the team was a founding member of the Olympics Basketball competition in Berlin 1936.

Establishment as a competitor at the global stage (1937–1976)

After 1936, Japan Henceforth, they participated almost every time until 1976. Team Japan was a regular at world tournaments. It had its debut at the FIBA World Championship in 1963. It was the top team in Asia, as it won the championship there in 1965 and 1971.

At the 1976 Summer Olympics, Japan's Shigeaki Abe put up a noteworthy performance of 38 points and 10 assists against Puerto Rico.^[3]

Since the rise of China, Japan declined a little bit and appearances at global events became scarcer.

Continued success (1995–1998)

As runner-up at the Fukuoka Universiade in 1995, Team Nippon (as the Japanese are also called) had a streak of success and qualified for the 1998 FIBA World Championship, its first qualification in over 30 years. Coached by the Croat Željko Pavličević, the team played well but did not make it out of the primary round, where it lost its fourth-place battle against former Semi-finalist New Zealand.

Competition from the Middle East intensifies (1999–2009)

In the late 1990s, Japan played against more intense competition from the Middle East. Combined with many player absences from the team, Team Nippon struggled to win medals at the Asian Championships since its silver medal in 1997. At the 2008 event in their home country (Tokushima), the team finished at the 8th position and missed qualification for both the Beijing Olympic Tournament and qualification to the 2010 FIBA World Championship. At the 2009 FIBA Asia tournament the team sank to No. 10 position, its worst performance. This was partly due to the change of the head coach just before the tournament.

Recovery (2010–present)

Overshadowed by the drawbacks at international competitions, Japan brought forth several of Asia's elite basketball players who competed in the NBA and in Europe. These players included Yuta Tabuse, J.R. Sakuragi, Takuya Kawamura, Takumi Ishizaki and others. However, they rarely played for the national team, which caused Team Japan to fall behind Asia's elite competition from Iran, South Korea, the Philippines and China.

To better the results, the American coach Thomas Wisman took over the management of the team in 2010 and made some considerable improvements. Wisman just came off a phenomenal year in the Japanese Basketball League (JBL) where he had led Tochigi Brex to its first and only national title. At the FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup in 2010, Team Nippon was defeated by host Lebanon but exceeded expectations as it finished as runner-up. At the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship, the listed goal of the Final Four was missed as the team reached the 7th position out of 15. The team managed to defeat finalists Jordan but then lost to South Korea in the first playoff round and was defeated.

In March 2012, the Japan Association dismissed Wissmann and the country's coaching legend Kimikazu Suzuki took over the reins of the team. Suzuki, concurrently coaching the Aisin SeaHorses Mikawa had initial success as Team Nippon finished Runner-up at the next FIBA Asian Cup which was held in Tokyo in September 2012. Aimed at the acquisition of a 2014 FIBA World Cup berth, the team finished the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship at the 9th position where it lost its last three games.

In 2014, Yuta Tabuse and several of Japan's top players returned to the national team and helped to reach its best finish in almost 20 years.

Japan will co-host the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup along with Philippines and Indonesia.

Olympic Games

FIBA World Cup

FIBA World Cup Record
Year	Position	Pld	W	L
1950–1959	did not qualify
1963	Preliminary round	3	1	2
1967	Classification round	8	2	6
1970–1994	did not qualify
1998	Classification round	5	1	4
2002	did not qualify
2006	Preliminary round	5	1	4
2010	did not qualify
2014
2019	Preliminary round	5	0	5
2023	Classification round	5	3	2
2027	Future event
Total		31	8	23

FIBA Asia Cup

Year	Position	Pld	W	L
1960	3rd place	9	5	4
1963	did not enter
1965	Champions	9	8	1
1967	3rd place	9	7	2
1969	Runners-up	8	7	1
1971	Champions	8	8	0
1973	4th place	10	6	4
1975	Runners-up	8	7	1
1977	3rd place	9	7	2
1979	Runners-up	8	7	1
1981	3rd place	7	5	2
1983	Runners-up	7	5	2
1985	5th place	6	5	1
1987	3rd place	8	6	2
1989	4th place	7	4	3
1991	3rd place	8	5	3
1993	7th place	6	3	3
1995	3rd place	9	7	2
1997	Runners-up	7	4	3
1999	5th place	7	5	2
2001	6th place	6	2	4
2003	6th place	7	3	4
2005	5th place	8	5	3
2007	8th place	8	4	4
2009	10th place	8	3	5
2011	7th place	9	5	4
2013	9th place	7	3	4
2015	4th place	9	5	4
2017	9th place	4	2	2
2022	7th place	5	3	2
2025	to be determined
Total	29/31	221	146	75

Current roster

Roster for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.^[5]

Japan national basketball team – 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. PG 2 Yuki Togashi (C) 30 – (1993-07-30)30 July 1993 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in) Chiba Jets PG 5 Yuki Kawamura 22 – (2001-05-02)2 May 2001 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) Yokohama B-Corsairs SG 6 Makoto Hiejima 33 – (1990-08-11)11 August 1990 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Utsunomiya Brex SF 12 Yuta Watanabe 28 – (1994-10-13)13 October 1994 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Phoenix Suns SG 18 Yudai Baba 27 – (1995-11-07)7 November 1995 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Texas Legends SG 19 Yudai Nishida 24 – (1999-03-13)13 March 1999 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) SeaHorses Mikawa C 24 Josh Hawkinson 28 – (1995-06-23)23 June 1995 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Sun Rockers Shibuya G 30 Keisei Tominaga 22 – (2001-02-01)1 February 2001 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Nebraska Cornhuskers SF 31 Shuta Hara 29 – (1993-12-17)17 December 1993 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Chiba Jets PF 75 Soichiro Inoue 24 – (1999-05-07)7 May 1999 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Sun Rockers Shibuya SF 91 Hirotaka Yoshii 25 – (1998-06-04)4 June 1998 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Alvark Tokyo C 99 Koya Kawamata 25 – (1998-06-16)16 June 1998 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Shiga Lakes	Head coach Tom Hovasse[6] Assistant coach(es) Corey Gaines Geoffrey Katsuhisa Yoshio Sasa Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 25 August 2023

Head coaches

Past rosters

1936 Olympic Games: finished 13th among 21 teams

Riichi Cho, T.Nakae, S.Ri, K.Yokoyama, T.Kanakogi, M.Maeda, U.Munakata, S.Matsui

1956 Olympic Games: finished 10th among 15 teams

Setsuo Nara, Jose Rodriguez, Kenichi Imaizumi, Hiroshi Saito, Reizo Ohira, Hitoshi Konno, Takashi Itoyama, Manabu Fujita, Takeo Sugiyama, Tetsuro Noborisaka, Riichi Arai (Coach: M.Maeda)

1960 Olympic Games: finished 15th among 16 teams

Setsuo Nara, Shutaro Shoji, Hiroshi Saito, Takashi Itoyama, Takeo Sugiyama, Kenichi Imaizumi, Yasukuni Oshima, Shoji Kamata, Masashi Shiga, Takashi Masuda, Kaoru Wakabayashi, Hideo Kanekawa (Coach: M.Maeda)

1963 World Championship: finished 13th among 13 teams

Setsuo Nara, Takashi Masuda, Masashi Shiga, Yasukuni Oshima, Kaoru Wakabayashi, Keizo Okayama, Isamu Yamaguchi, Yoshikuni Awano, Fumihiko Moroyama, Katsuji Tsunoda, Kunihiko Nakamura, Yoshitaka Egawa (Coach: Shiro Yoshii)

1964 Olympic Games: finished 10th among 16 teams

Takashi Masuda, Setsuo Nara, Masashi Shiga, Kaoru Wakabayashi, Fumihiko Moroyama, Katsuji Tsunoda, Kunihiko Nakamura, Yoshitaka Egawa, Nobuo Kaiho, Akira Kodama, Katsuo Bai, Seiji Fujie (Coach: Marco Antonio de Venetis)

1967 World Championship: finished 11th among 13 teams

Kaoru Wakabayashi, Fumihiko Moroyama, Kunihiko Nakamura, Yoshitaka Egawa, Akira Kodama, Masatomo Taniguchi, Nobuo Hattori, Kenji Soda, Masahiko Yoshida, Isao Kimura, Seiji Igarashi (Coach: Shutaro Shoji)

1972 Olympic Games: finished 14th among 16 teams

Kenji Soda, Masatomo Taniguchi, Nobuo Hattori, Kunihiko Yokoyama, Atsushi Somamoto, Hirofumi Numata, Shigeaki Abe, Mineo Yoshikawa, Kazufumi Sakai, Nobuo Chigusa, Satoshi Mori, Katsuhiko Sugita (Coach: S.Kasahara)

1976 Olympic Games: finished 11th among 12 teams

Hirofumi Numata, Shigeaki Abe, Satoshi Mori, Norihiko Kitahara, Hideki Hamaguchi, Kiyohide Kuwata, Koji Yamamoto, Yutaka Fujimoto, Shigeto Shimizu, Fumio Saito, Nobuo Chigusa, Shoji Yuki (Coach: Masahiko Yoshida)

1998 World Championship: finished 14th among 16 teams

Kenichi Sako, Maikeru Takahashi, Akifumi Yamasaki, Hiroshi Nagano, Makoto Hasegawa, Takehiko Orimo, Satoshi Sakumoto, Hiroyuki Tominaga, Takahiro Setsumasa, Makoto Minamiyama, Takeshi Yuki, Satoru Furuta (Coach: Mototaka Kohama)

2006 World Championship: finished 20th among 24 teams

Takehiko Orimo, Satoru Furuta, Takahiro Setsumasa, Shunsuke Ito, Joji Takeuchi, Kei Igarashi, Shinsuke Kashiwagi, Daiji Yamada, Ryota Sakurai, Kosuke Takeuchi, Takuya Kawamura, Tomoo Amino (Coach: Zeljko Pavlicevic)

2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournaments

Roster for the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournaments:^[11]

Japan men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
} Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club PG 0 Yuta Tabuse 35 – (1980-10-05)5 October 1980 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) Link Tochigi Brex PG 3 Naoto Tsuji 26 – (1989-09-08)8 September 1989 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Toshiba BT SG 6 Makoto Hiejima 24 – (1990-08-11)11 August 1990 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Aisin SeaHorses Mikawa C 8 Atsuya Ota 32 – (1984-04-06)6 April 1984 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Higashimikawa Phoenix C 10 Kosouke Takeuchi 31 – (1985-01-29)29 January 1985 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Hiroshima Dragonflies PG 11 Ryoma Hashimoto 28 – (1988-05-11)11 May 1988 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Aisin SeaHorses Mikawa F 12 Yuta Watanabe 21 – (1994-10-13)13 October 1994 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) George Washington Colonials C 15 Joji Takeuchi 31 – (1985-01-29)29 January 1985 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) Hitachi SR G 16 Keijuro Matsui 30 – (1985-10-16)16 October 1985 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Toyota Alvark SG 25 Takatoshi Furukawa 28 – (1987-10-20)20 October 1987 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Link Tochigi Brex SF 34 Ryumo Ono 28 – (1988-01-06)6 January 1988 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Chiba Jets G 42 Kenta Hirose 26 – (1989-08-29)29 August 1989 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Hitachi SR	Head coach Kenji Hasegawa Assistant coach(es) Norio Sassa Legend Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 4 July 2016

2016 FIBA Asia Challenge

At the 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge.^[12]

Japan men's national basketball team – 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge roster
Players	Coaches
} Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. PG 3 Naoto Tsuji 27 – (1989-09-08)8 September 1989 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Kawasaki Brave Thunders PF 5 Yuki Mitsuhara 26 – (1989-12-12)12 December 1989 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Sunrockers Shibuya PG 6 Makoto Hiejima 26 – (1990-08-11)11 August 1990 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Seahorses Mikawa PG 7 Ryusei Shinoyama 28 – (1988-07-20)20 July 1988 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Kawasaki Brave Thunders C 8 Atsuya Ota 32 – (1984-06-04)4 June 1984 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) San en Neophoneix PG 11 Ryoma Hashimoto 28 – (1988-05-11)11 May 1988 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Seahorses Mikawa SF 20 Takanobu Nishikawa 24 – (1992-01-14)14 January 1992 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Levanga Hokkiado PG 22 Yuma Fujii 24 – (1991-12-23)23 December 1991 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Kawasaki Brave Thunders SG 25 Takatoshi Furukawa 28 – (1987-10-20)20 October 1987 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Tochigi Brex PF 35 Ira Brown 34 – (1982-08-03)3 August 1982 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Sunrockers Shibuya PF 43 Yuya Nagayoshi 25 – (1991-07-14)14 July 1991 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Kawasaki Brave Thunders SF 88 Tenketsu Harimoto 24 – (1992-01-08)8 January 1992 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Nagoya Diamond Dolphins	Head coach Kenji Hasegawa Assistant coach(es) Kenji Sato Legend Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 9 September 2016

Manufacturer

2015–2019 : Under Armour^[13]
2021–2022 : Nike, Inc.
2022–present : Jordan Brand

Sponsor

2015: Xebio^[13]
2016: Sportsnavi live
2017–2019: SoftBank^[14]

Videos

• Japan – Highlights – 2015 FIBA Asia Championship YouTube.com video
• Japan Offense Highlights – FIBA Asia Cup 2017 YouTube.com video