Inside Sport: Japan

By John Gunning

The Japan American football team has arrived in the United States hoping to follow in the footsteps of this nation’s soccer and rugby sides and achieve a signature win that will boost the s […]

By Ken Marantz

Tsubasa Takagi might seem to have been preparing for this moment for four years.

In reality however, the dream began way back in first grade, when he started playing flag football for a team […]

The call finally came.

After all that time Al-Rilwan Adeyemi had spent keeping in shape over the two years since finishing college, never giving up on his dream, an NFL team was finally on the line at […]

The Fujitsu Frontiers head into the upcoming X-League season with a legitimate shot at winning a record-tying fourth straight championship, but also a major question mark hanging over their heads.

Fujitsu […]

For the Obic Seagulls, it was business as usual.

Another Pearl Bowl tournament, another championship.

By becoming the first team in 25 years to win three spring tournaments in a row, the Narashino-based s […]

For the past 14 years, the big defensive end wearing No. 11 for the Obic Seagulls wreaked havoc on opponents, making sacks, harassing quarterbacks, and even getting the occasional interception. Not to mention the […]

The top American football league in Japan, the XLeague, has revamped its playing format completely and now introduces a three-tier system.

The top tier, X1 Super includes eight teams who will all play each […]

Fujitsu Frontiers take on Kwansei Gakuin University Fighters in the 72nd edition of the Rice Bowl at Tokyo Dome on Jan 3rd.

The game has, since 1984, been a matchup of the XLeague and college […]

Fujitsu Frontiers won their third straight XLeague championship and fourth title in five years when they beat IBM Big Blue 35-18 at Tokyo Dome on Dec 17th.

RB Trashaun Nixon, with 196 yards rushing and three […]

Remember Super Bowl XXXII? The defending champion Packers, overwhelming favorites after their third Super Bowl win one year earlier, were facing a Broncos side that had been blown out increasingly badly in each […]

For the second year in a row, the Panasonic Impulse take on IBM Big Blue in the Xleague Semifinals.

Last year, IBM pulled off the upset, traveling down to Osaka and knocking off the previously unbeaten Impulse […]

The latest edition of the Kanto Classico, and just as with last year’s playoff matchup, a place in the Japan X Bowl is at stake.

These two teams played arguably the game of the season back in week five when F […]

Japan’s XLeague has reached the quarterfinal stage with a couple of old rivalries and surprises as well.

The defending champion Fujitsu Frontiers, winners of three X Bowl titles take on the A […]

Japan’s XLeague has reached the quarterfinal stage with a couple of old rivalries and surprises as well.

The Obic Seagulls, winners of eight X Bowl titles take on the Nojima Sagamihara Rise in one quarterfinal […]

When the All-Mitsubishi Lions defeated the Asahi Beer Silver Star in the Wild Card round last season it was a major upset. Lions after all were the first ever lower tier Battle 9 team to down a Super 9 side. Not j […]

Arguably the most historic weekend in XLeague history came to a close with Lixil Deers 14-7 defeat at the hands of Tokyo Gas Creators in the second Wild Card game last Sunday.

Deers will join fellow two-time […]

The XLeague playoffs kick off this weekend with two wild card matchups.

The Lixil Deers slumped to a 2-4 record and find themselves in a do or die game against the 5-1 Tokyo Gas Creators, who topped the Battle […]

The last XLeague playoffs under the current system are about to begin and straight away they have significance not only for this year but also the 2019 season. That’s because the two wild card winners will join t […]

As Japan’s X League heads into the final week of the regular season there are a couple of key matchups that could still shake up the picture.

The X League Game of the Week on Saturday, October 20 is definitely […]

Japan’s X League heads into its 7th week of action with the defending champion Fujitsu Frontiers still unbeaten and still in top spot in the Inside Sport: Japan Top 12 Power Rankings.

The Frontiers survived a c […]