The rebranded Japan Rugby League One kicks off this weekend, so here's a XV of the league's top stars playing in this year's competition.
Queensland Reds coach Brad Thorn welcomed a groundbreaking alliance between the Super Rugby franchise and the Japanese Top League club.
The Sunwolves may have played their last-ever match of Super Rugby, so we look back at the best players to have represented the competition's first Japanese team.
With the World Rugby U20 Championship potentially postponed or cancelled, RugbyPass take a look at the top 50 U20 players in the world currently.
The public awareness campaign has gone into overdrive at the Rugby World Cup, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe receiving the red-and-white jersey of the national team from captain Michael Leitch.
Japan head coach Jamie Joseph has made seven changes to his starting XV for the opening match of the 2019 Rugby World Cup against Russia in Tokyo.
Luke Thompson will play at a fourth Rugby World Cup after being included in tournament host Japan's squad.
Host nation Japan have taken a giant step towards the start of the World Cup with Jamie Joseph confirming his 31-man squad following a camp with 41 players.
Japan have just two scheduled fixtures left to play before the World Cup kicks off next month. As such, Jamie Joseph seems to be playing with combinations leading into the final round of the Pacific Nations Cup.
Forget the talk about Argentina and Fiji, Jamie Joseph's in-form and improving Japan are the real Rugby World Cup dark horse to watch out for later this year.
