Japan men's national volleyball team

Japan
Nickname(s)Ryujin Nippon
AssociationJapan Volleyball Association (JVA)
ConfederationAVC
Head coachLaurent Tillie
FIVB ranking6 (as of 8 January 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
Appearances15 (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 MunichTeam
1968 Mexico CityTeam
1964 TokyoTeam
World Championship
1970 SofiaTeam
1974 Mexico CityTeam
World Cup
1969 East GermanyTeam
1977 JapanTeam
World Grand Champions Cup
2009 Osaka/NagoyaTeam
Nations League
2024 ŁódźTeam
2023 GdańskTeam
Asian Championship
1975 MelbourneTeam
1983 TokyoTeam
1987 Kuwait CityTeam
1991 PerthTeam
1995 SeoulTeam
2005 SuphanburiTeam
2009 ManilaTeam
2015 TehranTeam
2017 GresikTeam
2023 UrmiaTeam
1989 SeoulTeam
1997 DohaTeam
2007 JakartaTeam
2021 Chiba/FunabashiTeam
1979 ManamaTeam
1993 Nakhon RatchasimaTeam
2001 ChangwonTeam
2019 TehranTeam
Asian Games
1958 TokyoTeam
1962 JakartaTeam
1966 BangkokTeam
1970 BangkokTeam
1974 TehranTeam
1982 New DelhiTeam
1994 HiroshimaTeam
2010 GuangzhouTeam
1978 BangkokTeam
2014 IncheonTeam
1990 BeijingTeam
2022 HangzhouTeam
2002 BusanTeam
Asian Cup
2022 Nakhon PathomTeam
2012 Vinh YenTeam
2016 Nakhon PathomTeam
2018 TaipeiTeam
Eastern Asian Championship
1998 MacauTeam
2000 UlaanbaatarTeam
2004 TaicangTeam
2006 PingtungTeam
2015 UlaanbaatarTeam
2017 UlaanbaatarTeam
2002 ShanghaiTeam
2008 UlaanbaatarTeam
2010 JejuTeam
2013 TaipeiTeam
Universiade
1967 TokyoTeam
1985 KobeTeam
1993 BuffaloTeam
1999 Palma de MallorcaTeam
2003 DaeguTeam
2005 IzmirTeam
1979 Mexico CityTeam
1981 BucharestTeam
2013 KazanTeam
2017 TaipeiTeam
Goodwill Games
1986 MoscowTeam

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.