Basketball is included in top sports being played in Japan but it is less popular than football and baseball.[1]

Domestic competition edit

The B. League is a professional basketball league in Japan that was established in 2016.[1] It is a combination of Super League and bj league enforced by FIBA.[2]

B. League has three divisions, with 18 teams in Divisions 1 and 2. Division 3 only has 12 teams.[2]

International competition edit

Japan is represented in international competitions by the men's national team and the women's national team

1976 World Olympics edit

This was the last major appearance of the National Team at the Olympics. The Women's National Team reached its highest ranking, at 5th place.[2]

2019 FIBA World Cup edit

The Men's National Team was able to enter after a great performance during the qualifiers, even though they ranked 48th in the world.[2] They ranked 31st in the final standings of the competition.[3]

The Women's National Team ranked 9th in this competition.

2020 Tokyo Olympics edit

As host of the Olympics, the men and women's national teams automatically qualified to compete.[2] The men's team placed 11th, and the women's team earned the silver medal.

References edit

  1. ^ a b Blog, Japan Wonder Travel (2021-03-16). "10 Most Popular Sports In Japan". Japan Wonder Travel Blog. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
  2. ^ a b c d e Moore, Shotaro Honda (2019-06-15). "Japanese Basketball On The Rise?". Medium. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
  3. ^ "Final standings of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 2021-03-23.

External links edit