Japan men's national volleyball team

Japan
Nickname(s)Ryujin Nippon
AssociationJapan Volleyball Association (JVA)
ConfederationAVC
Head coachLaurent Tillie
FIVB ranking 7 (5 October 2025)
Uniforms
Home
Away
Third
Summer Olympics
Appearances10 (First in 1964)
Best result (1972)
World Championship
Appearances17 (First in 1960)
Best result (1970, 1974)
World Cup
Appearances16 (First in 1965)
Best result (1969, 1977)
Asian Championship
Appearances22 (First in 1975)
Best result (1975, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1995, 2005, 2009, 2015, 2017, 2023)
www.jva.or.jp/national_team/2024/men_member/ (in Japanese)
Honours
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 1 1
World Championship 0 0 2
World Cup 0 3 0
World Grand Champions Cup 0 0 1
Nations League 0 1 1
Asian Championship 10 4 4
Asian Games 8 2 3
Asian Cup 0 1 3
Eastern Asian Championship 6 0 4
Universiade 3 3 4
Total 28 15 23
Medal record
Olympic Games
1972 Munich Team
1968 Mexico City Team
1964 Tokyo Team
World Championship
1970 Sofia Team
1974 Mexico City Team
World Cup
1969 East Germany Team
1977 Japan Team
World Grand Champions Cup
2009 Osaka/Nagoya Team
Nations League
2024 Łódź Team
2023 Gdańsk Team
Asian Championship
1975 Melbourne Team
1983 Tokyo Team
1987 Kuwait City Team
1991 Perth Team
1995 Seoul Team
2005 Suphanburi Team
2009 Manila Team
2015 Tehran Team
2017 Gresik Team
2023 Urmia Team
1989 Seoul Team
1997 Doha Team
2007 Jakarta Team
2021 Chiba/Funabashi Team
1979 Manama Team
1993 Nakhon Ratchasima Team
2001 Changwon Team
2019 Tehran Team
Asian Games
1958 Tokyo Team
1962 Jakarta Team
1966 Bangkok Team
1970 Bangkok Team
1974 Tehran Team
1982 New Delhi Team
1994 Hiroshima Team
2010 Guangzhou Team
1978 Bangkok Team
2014 Incheon Team
1990 Beijing Team
2022 Hangzhou Team
2002 Busan Team
Asian Cup
2022 Nakhon Pathom Team
2012 Vinh Yen Team
2016 Nakhon Pathom Team
2018 Taipei Team
Eastern Asian Championship
1998 Macau Team
2000 Ulaanbaatar Team
2004 Taicang Team
2006 Pingtung Team
2015 Ulaanbaatar Team
2017 Ulaanbaatar Team
2002 Shanghai Team
2008 Ulaanbaatar Team
2010 Jeju Team
2013 Taipei Team
Universiade
1967 Tokyo Team
1985 Kobe Team
1993 Buffalo Team
1999 Palma de Mallorca Team
2003 Daegu Team
2005 Izmir Team
1979 Mexico City Team
1981 Bucharest Team
2013 Kazan Team
2017 Taipei Team
Goodwill Games
1986 Moscow Team

The Japan men's national volleyball team (Japanese: 男子バレーボール日本代表), also referred to as Ryujin Nippon (Japanese: 龍神ニッポン; Lit. trans: Dragon God of Japan) or simply Nippon, represents Japan in international volleyball competitions and friendly matches, governed by Japan Volleyball Association. As of September 2024, the team is ranked sixth in the FIVB Senior World Rankings, with their peak coming at second place prior to the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Japan first won a bronze medal at the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games, followed by silver at Mexico 1968 and a gold at Munich 1972. In the years that followed, Japan has been unsuccessful and missed three successive Olympic Games before returning at Beijing 2008, where they failed to win a match. Japan then failed to qualify for London 2012 and Rio 2016. At the FIVB World Championship, Japan has won bronze medals in 1970 and 1974, as well as silver medals at the 1969 and 1977 FIVB World Cup.

Despite their past struggles in the world leagues, Japan has been recognized as one of the best volleyball teams in Asia, and Japan's SV.League is typically regarded as the most prestigious volleyball league on the continent. The team has won the Asian Championships nine times and the Asian Games eight times.

At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan and the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, Japan advanced to the Quarterfinals round and eventually finished in seventh place, its best result since the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. As of the last 3 years, the team has been successful in the world leagues as they have achieved both bronze and silver medals at the 2023 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League and the 2024 edition, respectively. These results have been the nation's best since the tournament's creation in 2017.