Japan Sevens Explained

Japan Sevens should not be confused with Japan national rugby sevens team.

Tokyo Sevens
Pixels:	160px
Sport:	Rugby sevens
Inaugural:	1993
Teams:	16
Champion:	(2015)

The Japan Sevens, also known as the Tokyo Sevens, is an annual rugby sevens tournament held at the Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. It was a part of the Sevens World Series from 2000 to 2001 and from 2012 to 2015.

History

The first Tokyo Sevens was held in 1993, with a number of Japan's top university teams and company teams competing. Meiji University won the cup in the first year, and Suntory the following year, 1994.

In 1995, the international tournament was added. Initially sponsored as the Canterbury Japan International Sevens by sportswear manufacturer Canterbury of New Zealand, the national teams from and were the finalists on all five occasions, with Fiji winning the first three cups and New Zealand the next two.

The international tournament was incorporated into IRB Sevens World Series as the Tokyo International Sevens in 2000 and 2001. A further cup win each to Fiji and New Zealand, respectively, was recorded in those two years. The Tokyo Sevens was then effectively replaced by the Singapore Sevens on the world circuit for the 2002 season.

A decade passed before Tokyo was included in the World Sevens Series again, hosting four events from 2012 to 2015. A preparatory international sevens tournament had been planned for Tokyo in 2011 but this had to be cancelled due to the earthquake and tsunami aftermath that year.

Results

Year		Venue	Cup final			Placings			Refs
		Tokyo 7s	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Cup semi-finalists	Plate
	1995	Chichibu Stadium		47–26					^[1] ^[2]
	1996	Chichibu Stadium		61–5					^[3] ^[4]
	1997	Chichibu Stadium		54–19		(3rd)	President's VII		^[5] ^[6]
	1998	Chichibu Stadium		24–7		(3rd)		President's VII	^[7] ^[8]
	1999	Chichibu Stadium		12–7		(3rd)			^[9] ^[10]
		Tokyo 7s	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Plate	Bowl	Shield
	2000	Chichibu Stadium		27–22				n/a
	2001	Chichibu Stadium		26–22				n/a
		No international Tokyo Sevens tournament for men's teams played from 2002 to 2011
	2012	Chichibu Stadium		28–26
	2013	Chichibu Stadium		24–19
	2014	Chichibu Stadium		33–26
	2015	Chichibu Stadium		21–14

Key:

Blue border on the left indicates tournaments included in the World Rugby Sevens Series.

See also

• Japan Women's Sevens

Notes and References

1. http://emilito.org/rugby/USA7s/eagle7s-history/dox/1995-04%20Japan%20Sevens%20results.pdf 1995-04 Japan Sevens results
2. News: 18 April 1995 . Fiji captures Japan Sevens rugby crown . Daily Yomiuri . 25 December 2018 . live. https://archive.today/20181225120316/https://groups.google.com/forum/%23!topic/rec.sport.rugby/ZFKhfhQ6rIw . 25 December 2018 .
3. Web site: 1996 . Japan Sevens: 4th Japansebunzu . ja . Takahiro Okonogi's Rugby Page . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20001031215240/http://www.infotopia.or.jp/~okonogi/rugby/1996/japan7s.html . 31 October 2000.
4. http://www.rugby7.com/st.asp?T=TOK-1996 Tokyo Sevens: Tokyo, Japan. 4/13/1996 - 4/14/1996
5. Web site: 1997 . Japan Sevens: 5th Japansebunzu . ja . Takahiro Okonogi's Rugby Page . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/19990429050718/http://www.infotopia.or.jp/~okonogi/rugby/1997/japan7s.html . 29 April 1999.
6. http://www.rugby7.com/st.asp?T=TOK-1997 Tokyo Sevens: Tokyo, Japan. 4/12/1997 - 4/13/1997
7. Web site: 1998 . Japan Sevens: 6th Japansebunzu . ja . Takahiro Okonogi's Rugby Page . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20001119115700/http://www.infotopia.or.jp/~okonogi/rugby/1998/japan7s.html . 19 November 2000.
8. http://www.rugby7.com/st.asp?T=TOK-1998 Japan 7s: Tokyo, Japan. 4/17/1998 - 4/19/1998
9. Web site: 1999 . Japan Sevens: 7th Japansebunzu . ja . Takahiro Okonogi's Rugby Page . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20001014205436/http://www.infotopia.or.jp/~okonogi/rugby/1999/japan7s.html . 14 October 2000.
10. http://www.rugby7.com/st.asp?T=TOK-1999 Japan 7s: Tokyo, Japan. 4/10/1999 - 4/11/1999