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 .
American football in Japan
College football in Japan, often played at the club level, is made up of eight leagues, spanning all four islands. The East and West champions playing in the annual Koshien Bowl in Nishinomiya.The winners of the Japan X Bowl and Koshien Bowl play each other in the Rice Bowl.