Basketball in Japan
 | This article may contain excessive or inappropriate references to self-published sources. (March 2021) |
Basketball is included in top sports being played in Japan but it is less popular than soccer and baseball.[1]
Team[]
B. League is a professional league in Japan that has been established last 2016.[1] It is a combination of Super League and bj league enforced by FIBA.[2]
B. League has 3 divisions, with 18 teams in Divisions 1 and 2. Meanwhile, Division 3 only has 12 teams.[2]
It has captured the growing popularity of the sport among the young people of Japan. It has developed homegrown players that is now playing in NBA like Rui Hachimura.[3]
Competitions[]
1976 World Olympics[]
This was the last major appearance of the National Team at the Olympics. The Women's National Team reached its highest ranking, at 5th place.[2]
2019 FIBA World Cup[]
The Men's National Team was able to enter after a great performance during the qualifiers, even though they ranked #48 in the world.[2] They ranked #31 in the final standings of the competition.[4]
The Women's National Team ranked #9 in this competition.
2020 Tokyo Olympics[]
Since Japan is the host country for this Olympic Games, the Men and Women's National Teams automatically qualified for this competition.[2] However, the games were postponed to a later date due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
References[]
- ^ a b Blog, Japan Wonder Travel (2021-03-16). "10 Most Popular Sports In Japan". Japan Wonder Travel Blog. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
- ^ a b c d e Moore, Shotaro Honda (2019-06-15). "Japanese Basketball On The Rise?". Medium. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
- ^ "Basketball finds its footing in Japan". Rakuten Today. 2019-12-19. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
- ^ "Final standings of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
- ^ "The game changer for men's basketball in Japan". Tokyo 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
- Basketball in Japan