Japan women's national volleyball team

Japan
Nickname(s)Nippon (火の鳥NIPPON)[1]
AssociationJapan Volleyball Association[2]
Head coachMasayoshi Manabe
FIVB ranking7 (as of 10 July 2024)
Uniforms
Home
Away
Third
Summer Olympics
Appearances14 (First in 1964)
Best result (1964, 1976)
World Championship
Appearances16 (First in 1960)
Best result (1962, 1967, 1974)
www.jva.or.jp/en/senior_women/ (in English)
Honours
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 2 2 2
Nations League 0 1 0
World Grand Prix 0 1 0
World Championship 3 3 1
World Cup 1 2 0
World Grand Champions Cup 0 0 3
Asian Games 5 4 4
Asian Championship 5 7 7
Asian Cup 1 1 0
Montreux Volley Masters 1 2 2
Total 18 23 19
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1964 Tokyo Team
Gold medal – first place 1976 Montreal Team
Silver medal – second place 1968 Mexico City Team
Silver medal – second place 1972 Munich Team
Bronze medal – third place 1984 Los Angeles Team
Bronze medal – third place 2012 London Team
World Championship
Gold medal – first place 1962 Soviet Union
Gold medal – first place 1967 Japan
Gold medal – first place 1974 Mexico
Silver medal – second place 1960 Brazil
Silver medal – second place 1970 Bulgaria
Silver medal – second place 1978 Soviet Union
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Japan
World Cup
Gold medal – first place 1977 Japan
Silver medal – second place 1973 Japan
Silver medal – second place 1981 Japan
World Grand Champions Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Japan
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Japan
World Grand Prix
Silver medal – second place 2014 Japan
FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League
Silver medal – second place 2024 Bangkok Team
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 1962 Jakarta Team
Gold medal – first place 1966 Bangkok Team
Gold medal – first place 1970 Bangkok Team
Gold medal – first place 1974 Tehran Team
Gold medal – first place 1978 Bangkok Team
Silver medal – second place 1982 New Delhi Team
Silver medal – second place 1986 Seoul Team
Silver medal – second place 2006 Doha Team
Silver medal – second place 2022 Hangzhou Team
Bronze medal – third place 1990 Beijing Team
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Hiroshima Team
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Bangkok Team
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Busan Team
Asian Championship
Gold medal – first place 1975 Melbourne
Gold medal – first place 1983 Fukuoka
Gold medal – first place 2007 Suphanburi
Gold medal – first place 2017 Manila
Gold medal – first place 2019 Seoul
Silver medal – second place 1979 Hong Kong
Silver medal – second place 1987 Shanghai
Silver medal – second place 1991 Bangkok
Silver medal – second place 1993 Shanghai
Silver medal – second place 2003 Ho Chi Minh City
Silver medal – second place 2011 Taipei
Silver medal – second place 2013 Nakhon Ratchasima
Bronze medal – third place 1989 Hong Kong
Bronze medal – third place 1995 Chiang Mai
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Manila
Bronze medal – third place 1999 Hong Kong
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Taicang
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Hanoi
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Nakhon Ratchasima
Asian Cup
Gold medal – first place 2022 Pasig
Silver medal – second place 2018 Nakhon Ratchasima
Montreux Volley Masters
Gold medal – first place 2011 Switzerland
Silver medal – second place 2019 Switzerland
Silver medal – second place 2015 Switzerland
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Switzerland
Bronze medal – third place 1989 Switzerland
Universiade
Gold medal – first place 1967 Tokyo
Gold medal – first place 1985 Kobe
Silver medal – second place 2021 Sichuan
Silver medal – second place 2017 Taipei
Silver medal – second place 1995 Fukuoka
Silver medal – second place 1995 Mexico City
Silver medal – second place 1970 Tulin
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Naples
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Gwangju
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Sicily
Bronze medal – third place 1983 Edmonton

The Japan women's national volleyball team (Hinotori Nippon, 火の鳥NIPPON), or All-Japan women's volleyball team, is currently ranked 7th[4] in the world by FIVB. The head coach is Masayoshi Manabe.

One of their greatest successes was at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, when they defeated the heavily favored Soviet Union on the way to the gold medal.

Masae Kasai standing in the center of podium as the captain of Oriental Witches [ja],[5] 1964 Tokyo Olympics Women's Volleyball

Japan was qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics by winning the Women's Olympic Qualifier that was held from 8 May to 16 May in Tokyo, Japan. In Athens, Greece the team took fifth place in the overall-rankings.

Finally after almost three decades of medal drought in the Olympics, Japan took home the bronze medal by defeating South Korea in the 2012 Summer Olympics.[6]

  1. ^ "Nickname：HINOTORI NIPPON". jva.or.jp.
  2. ^ "JVA".
  3. ^ "AVC".
  4. ^ "FIVB Senior World Ranking - Women". The FIVB. FIVB. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  5. ^ Remembering Volleyball's 'Oriental Witches' - The New York Times
  6. ^ "LONDON 2012 VOLLEYBALL, VOLLEYBALL WOMEN". olympic.org. August 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2015.