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Japan men's national basketball team

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This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Japan women's national basketball team.

Japan
FIBA ranking21 Steady (26 November 2024)[1]
Joined FIBA1936
FIBA zoneFIBA Asia
National federationJBA
CoachTom Hovasse
Nickname(s)アカツキジャパン (Akatsuki Japan)
Olympic Games
Appearances8
FIBA World Cup
Appearances6
Asian Championships
Appearances28
Medals Gold: (1965, 1971)
Silver: (1969, 1975, 1979, 1983, 1997)
Bronze: (1960, 1967, 1977, 1981, 1987, 1991, 1995)
Asian Games
Appearances19
Medals Silver: (1951, 1962)
Bronze: (1954, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2014)
Medal record
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
FIBA Asia Cup 2 5 7
Asian Games 0 2 6
East Asian Games 0 0 2
Total 2 7 15
Japan against China at the 1923 Far Eastern Games.
Takuya Kawamura drew the interest of scouts worldwide
Kosuke Takeuchi had been the face of the national team for many years

The Japan national basketball team, also known as Akatsuki Japan (Japanese: アカツキジャパン), is the national team representing Japan in international basketball competitions and is administered by the Japan Basketball Association (JBA), (Japanese: 日本バスケットボール協会, Nihon Basukettobōru Kyōkai).[2] As the 1936 founding member of FIBA Asia, Japan has one of Asia's longest basketball traditions.

Japan is one of the most successful basketball teams in Asia. It has won the Asian Basketball Championships twice and is the second leading nation in qualifications to the event. The team has qualified for the Olympic Games 7 times and for the FIBA World Cup six times.

History

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The beginning (1917–1936)

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Japan's national team had its first international tournament at the 3rd Far Eastern Games held in Tokyo in 1917, at which Japan was represented by the team of the Kyoto YMCA.

Later, the team was a founding member of the Olympics Basketball competition in Berlin 1936.

Establishment as a competitor at the global stage (1937–1976)

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After 1936, Japan Henceforth, they participated almost every time until 1976. Team Japan was a regular at world tournaments. It had its debut at the FIBA World Championship in 1963. It was the top team in Asia, as it won the championship there in 1965 and 1971.

At the 1976 Summer Olympics, Japan's Shigeaki Abe put up a noteworthy performance of 38 points and 10 assists against Puerto Rico.[3]

Since the rise of China, Japan declined a little bit and appearances at global events became scarcer.

Continued success (1995–1998)

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As runner-up at the Fukuoka Universiade in 1995, Team Nippon (as the Japanese are also called) had a streak of success and qualified for the 1998 FIBA World Championship, its first qualification in over 30 years. Coached by the Croat Željko Pavličević, the team played well but did not make it out of the primary round, where it lost its fourth-place battle against former Semi-finalist New Zealand.

Competition from the Middle East intensifies (1999–2009)

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In the late 1990s, Japan played against more intense competition from the Middle East. Combined with many player absences from the team, Team Nippon struggled to win medals at the Asian Championships since its silver medal in 1997. At the 2008 event in their home country (Tokushima), the team finished at the 8th position and missed qualification for both the Beijing Olympic Tournament and qualification to the 2010 FIBA World Championship. At the 2009 FIBA Asia tournament the team sank to No. 10 position, its worst performance. This was partly due to the change of the head coach just before the tournament.

Recovery (2010–present)

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Overshadowed by the drawbacks at international competitions, Japan brought forth several of Asia's elite basketball players who competed in the NBA and in Europe. These players included Yuta Tabuse, J.R. Sakuragi, Takuya Kawamura, Takumi Ishizaki and others. However, they rarely played for the national team, which caused Team Japan to fall behind Asia's elite competition from Iran, South Korea, the Philippines and China.

To better the results, the American coach Thomas Wisman took over the management of the team in 2010 and made some considerable improvements. Wisman just came off a phenomenal year in the Japanese Basketball League (JBL) where he had led Tochigi Brex to its first and only national title. At the FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup in 2010, Team Nippon was defeated by host Lebanon but exceeded expectations as it finished as runner-up. At the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship, the listed goal of the Final Four was missed as the team reached the 7th position out of 15. The team managed to defeat finalists Jordan but then lost to South Korea in the first playoff round and was defeated.

In March 2012, the Japan Association dismissed Wissmann and the country's coaching legend Kimikazu Suzuki took over the reins of the team. Suzuki, concurrently coaching the Aisin SeaHorses Mikawa had initial success as Team Nippon finished Runner-up at the next FIBA Asian Cup which was held in Tokyo in September 2012. Aimed at the acquisition of a 2014 FIBA World Cup berth, the team finished the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship at the 9th position where it lost its last three games.

In 2014, Yuta Tabuse and several of Japan's top players returned to the national team and helped to reach its best finish in almost 20 years.

Japan co-hosted the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup along with Philippines and Indonesia.

Japan played at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, and were allocated in Group B. In the first game, they lost to Germany.[4] In the second game, Japan was close to an upset win against hosts France, conceding the game only after overtime.[5] Yuki Kawamura followed Kevin Durant and Luol Deng as the third player in Olympic history to have more than 25+ points, 5+ rebounds and 5+ assists.[5] were eliminated after losing to Brazil on the final gameday.[6]

Competitive record

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Olympic Games

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Year Position Tournament Host
1936 9 Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics Berlin, Germany
1956 10 Basketball at the 1956 Summer Olympics Melbourne, Australia
1960 15 Basketball at the 1960 Summer Olympics Rome, Italy
1964 10 Basketball at the 1964 Summer Olympics Tokyo, Japan
1972 14 Basketball at the 1972 Summer Olympics Munich, Germany
1976 11 Basketball at the 1976 Summer Olympics Montreal, Canada
2020 11[7] Basketball at the 2020 Summer Olympics Tokyo, Japan
2024 11 Basketball at the 2024 Summer Olympics Paris, France

FIBA World Cup

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FIBA World Cup Record
Year Position Pld W L
1950–1959 did not qualify
Brazil 1963 Preliminary round 3 1 2
Uruguay 1967 Classification round 8 2 6
1970–1994 did not qualify
Greece 1998 Classification round 5 1 4
United States 2002 did not qualify
Japan 2006 Preliminary round 5 1 4
Turkey 2010 did not qualify
Spain 2014
China 2019 Preliminary round 5 0 5
Philippines Japan Indonesia 2023 Classification round 5 3 2
Qatar 2027 Future event
Total 31 8 23

FIBA Asia Cup

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Main article: FIBA Asia Cup
Year Position Pld W L
Philippines 1960 3rd place 9 5 4
Taiwan 1963 did not enter
Malaysia 1965 Champions 9 8 1
South Korea 1967 3rd place 9 7 2
Thailand 1969 Runners-up 8 7 1
Japan 1971 Champions 8 8 0
Philippines 1973 4th place 10 6 4
Thailand 1975 Runners-up 8 7 1
Malaysia 1977 3rd place 9 7 2
Japan 1979 Runners-up 8 7 1
India 1981 3rd place 7 5 2
British Hong Kong 1983 Runners-up 7 5 2
Malaysia 1985 5th place 6 5 1
Thailand 1987 3rd place 8 6 2
China 1989 4th place 7 4 3
Japan 1991 3rd place 8 5 3
Indonesia 1993 7th place 6 3 3
China 1995 3rd place 9 7 2
Saudi Arabia 1997 Runners-up 7 4 3
Japan 1999 5th place 7 5 2
China 2001 6th place 6 2 4
China 2003 6th place 7 3 4
Qatar 2005 5th place 8 5 3
Japan 2007 8th place 8 4 4
China 2009 10th place 8 3 5
China 2011 7th place 9 5 4
Philippines 2013 9th place 7 3 4
China 2015 4th place 9 5 4
Lebanon 2017 9th place 4 2 2
Indonesia 2022 7th place 5 3 2
Saudi Arabia 2025 qualified
Total 30/31 221 146 75

Team

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Current roster

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Roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

A 16-player roster was announced on 26 June 2024.[8] The final squad was announced on 8 July 2024.[9]

Japan men's national basketball team – 2024 Summer Olympics roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
PG 2 Yuki Togashi (C) 30 – (1993-07-30)30 July 1993 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in) Chiba Jets Funabashi Japan
SF 4 Akira Jacobs 20 – (2004-04-13)13 April 2004 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Hawaii Rainbow Warriors United States
PG 5 Yuki Kawamura 23 – (2001-05-02)2 May 2001 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) Yokohama B-Corsairs Japan
SG 6 Makoto Hiejima 33 – (1990-08-11)11 August 1990 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Utsunomiya Brex Japan
PG 7 Kai Toews 25 – (1998-09-17)17 September 1998 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Alvark Tokyo Japan
PF 8 Rui Hachimura 26 – (1998-02-08)8 February 1998 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Los Angeles Lakers United States
F 12 Yuta Watanabe 29 – (1994-10-13)13 October 1994 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Chiba Jets Funabashi Japan
SG 18 Yudai Baba 28 – (1995-11-07)7 November 1995 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Nagasaki Velca Japan
F/C 24 Josh Hawkinson 29 – (1995-06-23)23 June 1995 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Sun Rockers Shibuya Japan
PG 30 Keisei Tominaga 23 – (2001-02-01)1 February 2001 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Indiana Pacers United States
PF 34 Hugh Watanabe 25 – (1998-12-23)23 December 1998 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) Ryukyu Golden Kings Japan
SF 91 Hirotaka Yoshii 26 – (1998-06-04)4 June 1998 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Alvark Tokyo Japan
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the competition
  • Age – describes age
    on 27 July 2024

Head coaches

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Past rosters

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1936 Olympic Games: finished 13th among 21 teams

Riichi Cho, T.Nakae, S.Ri, K.Yokoyama, T.Kanakogi, M.Maeda, U.Munakata, S.Matsui

1956 Olympic Games: finished 10th among 15 teams

Setsuo Nara, Jose Rodriguez, Kenichi Imaizumi, Hiroshi Saito, Reizo Ohira, Hitoshi Konno, Takashi Itoyama, Manabu Fujita, Takeo Sugiyama, Tetsuro Noborisaka, Riichi Arai (Coach: M.Maeda)

1960 Olympic Games: finished 15th among 16 teams

Setsuo Nara, Shutaro Shoji, Hiroshi Saito, Takashi Itoyama, Takeo Sugiyama, Kenichi Imaizumi, Yasukuni Oshima, Shoji Kamata, Masashi Shiga, Takashi Masuda, Kaoru Wakabayashi, Hideo Kanekawa (Coach: M.Maeda)

1963 World Championship: finished 13th among 13 teams

Setsuo Nara, Takashi Masuda, Masashi Shiga, Yasukuni Oshima, Kaoru Wakabayashi, Keizo Okayama, Isamu Yamaguchi, Yoshikuni Awano, Fumihiko Moroyama, Katsuji Tsunoda, Kunihiko Nakamura, Yoshitaka Egawa (Coach: Shiro Yoshii)

1964 Olympic Games: finished 10th among 16 teams

Takashi Masuda, Setsuo Nara, Masashi Shiga, Kaoru Wakabayashi, Fumihiko Moroyama, Katsuji Tsunoda, Kunihiko Nakamura, Yoshitaka Egawa, Nobuo Kaiho, Akira Kodama, Katsuo Bai, Seiji Fujie (Coach: Marco Antonio de Venetis)

1967 World Championship: finished 11th among 13 teams

Kaoru Wakabayashi, Fumihiko Moroyama, Kunihiko Nakamura, Yoshitaka Egawa, Akira Kodama, Masatomo Taniguchi, Nobuo Hattori, Kenji Soda, Masahiko Yoshida, Isao Kimura, Seiji Igarashi (Coach: Shutaro Shoji)

1972 Olympic Games: finished 14th among 16 teams

Kenji Soda, Masatomo Taniguchi, Nobuo Hattori, Kunihiko Yokoyama, Atsushi Somamoto, Hirofumi Numata, Shigeaki Abe, Mineo Yoshikawa, Kazufumi Sakai, Nobuo Chigusa, Satoshi Mori, Katsuhiko Sugita (Coach: S.Kasahara)

1976 Olympic Games: finished 11th among 12 teams

Hirofumi Numata, Shigeaki Abe, Satoshi Mori, Norihiko Kitahara, Hideki Hamaguchi, Kiyohide Kuwata, Koji Yamamoto, Yutaka Fujimoto, Shigeto Shimizu, Fumio Saito, Nobuo Chigusa, Shoji Yuki (Coach: Masahiko Yoshida)

1998 World Championship: finished 14th among 16 teams

Kenichi Sako, Maikeru Takahashi, Akifumi Yamasaki, Hiroshi Nagano, Makoto Hasegawa, Takehiko Orimo, Satoshi Sakumoto, Hiroyuki Tominaga, Takahiro Setsumasa, Makoto Minamiyama, Takeshi Yuki, Satoru Furuta (Coach: Mototaka Kohama)

2006 World Championship: finished 20th among 24 teams

Takehiko Orimo, Satoru Furuta, Takahiro Setsumasa, Shunsuke Ito, Joji Takeuchi, Kei Igarashi, Shinsuke Kashiwagi, Daiji Yamada, Ryota Sakurai, Kosuke Takeuchi, Takuya Kawamura, Tomoo Amino (Coach: Zeljko Pavlicevic)

2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournaments

Roster for the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournaments:[15]

Japan men's national basketball team roster
Players Coaches
}
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club
PG 0 Yuta Tabuse 35 – (1980-10-05)5 October 1980 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) Link Tochigi Brex Japan
PG 3 Naoto Tsuji 26 – (1989-09-08)8 September 1989 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Toshiba BT Japan
SG 6 Makoto Hiejima 24 – (1990-08-11)11 August 1990 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Aisin SeaHorses Mikawa Japan
C 8 Atsuya Ota 32 – (1984-04-06)6 April 1984 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Higashimikawa Phoenix Japan
C 10 Kosouke Takeuchi 31 – (1985-01-29)29 January 1985 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Hiroshima Dragonflies Japan
PG 11 Ryoma Hashimoto 28 – (1988-05-11)11 May 1988 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Aisin SeaHorses Mikawa Japan
F 12 Yuta Watanabe 21 – (1994-10-13)13 October 1994 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) George Washington Colonials United States
C 15 Joji Takeuchi 31 – (1985-01-29)29 January 1985 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) Hitachi SR Japan
G 16 Keijuro Matsui 30 – (1985-10-16)16 October 1985 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Toyota Alvark Japan
SG 25 Takatoshi Furukawa 28 – (1987-10-20)20 October 1987 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Link Tochigi Brex Japan
SF 34 Ryumo Ono 28 – (1988-01-06)6 January 1988 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Chiba Jets Japan
G 42 Kenta Hirose 26 – (1989-08-29)29 August 1989 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Hitachi SR Japan
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on 4 July 2016
2016 FIBA Asia Challenge

At the 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge.[16]

Japan men's national basketball team – 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge roster
Players Coaches
}
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
PG 3 Naoto Tsuji 27 – (1989-09-08)8 September 1989 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Kawasaki Brave Thunders Japan
PF 5 Yuki Mitsuhara 26 – (1989-12-12)12 December 1989 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Sunrockers Shibuya Japan
PG 6 Makoto Hiejima 26 – (1990-08-11)11 August 1990 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Seahorses Mikawa Japan
PG 7 Ryusei Shinoyama 28 – (1988-07-20)20 July 1988 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Kawasaki Brave Thunders Japan
C 8 Atsuya Ota 32 – (1984-06-04)4 June 1984 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) San en Neophoneix Japan
PG 11 Ryoma Hashimoto 28 – (1988-05-11)11 May 1988 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Seahorses Mikawa Japan
SF 20 Takanobu Nishikawa 24 – (1992-01-14)14 January 1992 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Levanga Hokkiado Japan
PG 22 Yuma Fujii 24 – (1991-12-23)23 December 1991 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Kawasaki Brave Thunders Japan
SG 25 Takatoshi Furukawa 28 – (1987-10-20)20 October 1987 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Tochigi Brex Japan
PF 35 Ira Brown 34 – (1982-08-03)3 August 1982 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Sunrockers Shibuya Japan
PF 43 Yuya Nagayoshi 25 – (1991-07-14)14 July 1991 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Kawasaki Brave Thunders Japan
SF 88 Tenketsu Harimoto 24 – (1992-01-08)8 January 1992 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Nagoya Diamond Dolphins Japan
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on 9 September 2016
2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup: finished 19th among 32 teams

Roster for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.[17]

Japan national basketball team – 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
PG 2 Yuki Togashi (C) 30 – (1993-07-30)30 July 1993 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in) Chiba Jets Japan
PG 5 Yuki Kawamura 22 – (2001-05-02)2 May 2001 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) Yokohama B-Corsairs Japan
SG 6 Makoto Hiejima 33 – (1990-08-11)11 August 1990 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Utsunomiya Brex Japan
SF 12 Yuta Watanabe 28 – (1994-10-13)13 October 1994 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Phoenix Suns United States
SG 18 Yudai Baba 27 – (1995-11-07)7 November 1995 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Texas Legends United States
SG 19 Yudai Nishida 24 – (1999-03-13)13 March 1999 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) SeaHorses Mikawa Japan
C 24 Josh Hawkinson 28 – (1995-06-23)23 June 1995 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Sun Rockers Shibuya Japan
G 30 Keisei Tominaga 22 – (2001-02-01)1 February 2001 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Nebraska Cornhuskers United States
SF 31 Shuta Hara 29 – (1993-12-17)17 December 1993 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Chiba Jets Japan
PF 75 Soichiro Inoue 24 – (1999-05-07)7 May 1999 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Sun Rockers Shibuya Japan
SF 91 Hirotaka Yoshii 25 – (1998-06-04)4 June 1998 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Alvark Tokyo Japan
C 99 Koya Kawamata 25 – (1998-06-16)16 June 1998 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Shiga Lakes Japan
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on 25 August 2023

Kit

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Manufacturer

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2015–2019 : Under Armour[19]
2021–2022 : Nike, Inc.
2022–present : Jordan Brand

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2015: Xebio[19]
2016: Sportsnavi live
2017–2019: SoftBank[20]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 26 November 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  2. ^ "Profile | FIBA.COM".
  3. ^ "Yao, Hamed, and Patty shined as stars from Asia & Oceania at the Olympics". FIBA. 21 July 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Germany spread their wings, defeat Japan in front of packed stands". www.fiba.basketball. 27 July 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Wemby wins it in OT after Strazel's miracle four-point play". www.fiba.basketball. 30 July 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  6. ^ "Caboclo goes off for 33 points, 17 rebounds, Brazil stay alive". www.fiba.basketball. 2 August 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  7. ^ "Japan launch search for new coach after Hasegawa departure". FIBA. 2 December 2016. Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2016. "The JBA is not guaranteed participation in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games as the host country and has already begun a restructuring (of the program) and strengthening activities towards the 2019 FIBA World Cup and 2020 and beyond", Higashino said.
  8. ^ "Hachimura named in Japan's 16-man Olympic squad". fiba.basketball. 26 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  9. ^ "Japan announce Olympic team". FIBA. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  10. ^ "Team roster: Japan" (PDF). fiba.basketball. p. 7. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  11. ^ "Japan hoops set to hire Hasegawa". The Japan Times. 8 April 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  12. ^ a b "Japan launch search for new coach after Hasegawa departure". FIBA. 2 December 2016. Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  13. ^ "Basketball: World Cup qualification could prove turning point for Japan". Joel Fitzpatrick/Kyodo News+. 26 February 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  14. ^ "Basketball: Hovasse replaces Lamas as Japan men's team head coach". Kyodo News. 21 September 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  15. ^ "Japan select 12 men to chase Olympic dream".
  16. ^ Japan – FIBA Asia Challenge 2016, FIBA.COM. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  17. ^ "2023年度バスケットボール男子日本代表チーム 「FIBAバスケットボールワールドカップ2023」日本代表選手12名決定" (in Japanese). japanbasketball.jp. 21 August 2023.
  18. ^ "Team roster: Japan" (PDF). FIBA. 25 August 2023.
  19. ^ a b 2015 FIBA Asia Championship – Japan, FIBA.com. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  20. ^ Fiba Asia Cup 2017, FIBA.com. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
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