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 .
AFL Japan
The Japan national Australian rules football team, the Japan Samurais, competed in the triannual Australian Football International Cup in 2003, finishing 10th out of 11 competing countries, in 2005, finishing 7th out of 10 competing countries and 2008, finishing 8th out of 16 competing countries. In 2011, they finished 12th in division 1, beating Fiji and narrowing losing to Sweden along the way.
In addition, a combined team of Japanese and Expat players compete in the annual Asian Australian Football Championships as the Japan Goannas. Also, every year, the University Samurais tour Australia in August.