Japan national football team
The Japanese team is commonly known by the fans and media as , , or as abbreviated expressions. Although the team does not have an official nickname as such, it is often known by the name of the manager. For example, under Takeshi Okada, the team was known as . Recently, the team has been known or nicknamed as the "Samurai Blue", while Japanese news media during the 2018 FIFA World Cup still referred it to by the recently departed manager's (Akira Nishino) last name, as .
Japan at the AFC Asian Cup
Japan made debut at 1988 Asian Cup and it was the historical achievement that would put milestone for Japan to envision and develop its football, which was then-limited in amateur football. In the whole tournament however, Japan ended up finishing last, with just one draw and three defeats, scoring zero goal and conceded six goals.