JAPAN RUGBY LEAGUE ONE

Rugby in Japan is facing a major turning point.
A new league, JAPAN RUGBY LEAGUE ONE, will start in the 2022 season.

JAPAN RUGBY LEAGUE ONE will consist of three divisions, the top division will be Division 1, the second division will be Division 2, and the third division will be Division 3.
In Division 1, 12 teams will compete for the championship.
Division 2 and Division 3 will have 6 teams.
There are also replacement games.
The bottom three teams in Division 1 (10th to 12th) and the top three teams in Division 2 (1st to 3rd) will fight for retention or promotion.
The bottom three teams in Division 2 (4th to 6th) and the top three teams in Division 3 (1st to 3rd) will also fight for retention or promotion.

Division 1

Teams	Prefecture	Home stadium
Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights	Saitama	Kumagaya Rugby Stadium
NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu	Chiba	Kashiwanoha Stadium
NTT Communications Shining Arcs Tokyo-Bay Urayasu	Chiba	Yumenoshima Stadium
KUBOTA Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay	Tokyo	Edogawa City Track & Field Stadium
Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath	Tokyo	Ajinomoto Stadium
TOSHIBA Brave Lupus Tokyo	Tokyo	Ajinomoto Stadium
RICOH BlackRams Tokyo	Tokyo	Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium
Yokohama Canon Eagles	Kanagawa	Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Football Stadium
Shizuoka Blue Revs	Shizuoka	Yamaha Stadium
Toyota Verblitz	Aichi	Toyota Stadium
NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes Osaka	Osaka	YODOKO SAKURA Stadium
Kobelco Kobe Steelers	Hyogo	Noevir Stadium Kobe

Division 2

Teams	Prefecture	Home stadium
Kamaishi Seawaves R.F.C.	Iwate	Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium
Hino Red Dolphins	Tokyo	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara DYNABOARS	Kanagawa	Sagamihara Gion Stadium
Mie Honda HEAT	Mie	Mie Kotsu Group Sports no Mori Suzuka Soccer Rugby Stadium
Hanazono Kintetsu Liners	Osaka	Hanazono Rugby Stadium

Division 3

Teams	Prefecture	Home stadium
Kurita Water Gush Akishima	Tokyo
Shimizu Corporation Koutoh Blue Sharks	Tokyo	Yumenoshima Stadium
Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi	Aichi	Paloma Mizuho Rugby Stadium
Chugoku Electric Power Red Regulions	Hiroshima
Munakata Sanix Blues	Fukuoka
Kyuden Voltex	Fukuoka	Best Denki Stadium

Venue

Stadium	Prefecture
Ajinomoto Stadium	Tokyo
Akigin Stadium	Akita
Best Denki Stadium	Fukuoka
Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium	Tokyo
Ecopa Stadium	Shizuoka
Edogawa City Track & Field Stadium	Tokyo
Egao Kenko Stadium	Kumamoto
Fuchu Asahi Football Park	Tokyo
Hanazono Rugby Stadium	Osaka
Hinata Athletic Stadium	Miyazaki
Hinata Budokan	Miyazaki
Ishikawa Athletics Stadium	Ishikawa
Iwagin Stadium	Iwate
JIT Recycle Ink Stadium	Yamanashi
K's Denki Stadium Mito	Ibaraki
Kagawa Prefectural Soccer and Rugby Stadium	Kagawa
Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium	Iwate
Kashihara Sports Athletic Stadium	Nara
Kashiwanoha Stadium	Chiba
Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium	Tokyo
Kumagaya Rugby Stadium	Saitama
Machida GION Stadium	Tokyo
Mie Kotsu Group Sports No Mori Ise Athletics Stadium	Mie
Mie Kotsu Group Sports no Mori Suzuka Soccer Rugby Stadium	Mie
Mikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu	Fukuoka
Miyazaki Prefectural Comprehensive Sports Park Rugby Field	Miyazaki
National Stadium (Tokyo)	Tokyo
ND Soft Stadium Yamagata	Yamagata
Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Football Stadium	Kanagawa
Nissan Stadium	Kanagawa
Noevir Stadium Kobe	Hyogo
Ojiyama Athletic Stadium	Shiga
Pocari Sweat Stadium	Tokushima
Rohto Field	Nara
Sagamihara Gion Stadium	Kanagawa
Sania Park Sugadaira Rugby Stadium	Nagano
Showa Denko Dome Oita	Oita
Sunpro Alwin	Nagano
Tochigi Green Stadium	Tochigi
Toyohashi City Stadium	Aichi
Toyota Stadium	Aichi
Yanmar Field	Osaka
Yokkaichi City Central Athletic Stadium	Mie
Yumenoshima Stadium	Tokyo
Yurtec Stadium Sendai	Miyagi

Rugby League by 2021

Top League

The Top League is a league of adult teams that started in the 2003-2004 season. The Top League is the highest league with 16 teams, the second division is the Top Challenge League, and there are regional leagues below it.
Some of the players who play in the league are under professional contracts, but in terms of the overall ratio, it is said that 20% are professionals and 80% are company employees.

Japan's Top League does not overlap with Super Rugby, so you can watch the world's superstars play.
In the 2021 season, very famous players such as Beauden Barrett (Suntory), Greig Laidlaw (NTT Com), and Michael Hooper (Toyota) will compete in the Top League.

Top League 16 teams
Top Challenge League (2nd Division)
Regional Leagues (Kanto, Kansai, Kyushu)

Top League Championships

Toshiba Brave Lupus (5 times)
Suntory Sungoliath (5 times)
Panasonic Wild Knights (4 times)
Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers (2 times)