Top 7 Most Popular Sports In Japan

Here are the top 7 most popular sports in Japan.

Table of contents

1. Baseball
2. Football
3. Sumo
4. Tennis
5. Figure Skating
6. Marathon
7. Rugby Union

1. Baseball

• The most popular modern sports in Japan is Baseball
• The biggest Japanese baseball teams are The Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants
• Japan has got a huge number of fanbase for baseball which is around 21 million fans.

2. Football

• Football is also a very popular sport in Japan
• At the group stage of the 2022 World Cup, more the 41 million people watched it.
• Samurai Blue is the name of the Japanese National Team.
• Famous Japanese football player in Japan is Kunishige Kamamoto.

3. Sumo

• Sumo is considered as the national sport of Japan
• Once it was most the popular sport in Japan but now it is a national sport in Japan where every year six major tournaments are organised
• More than 776.6 thousand people watched the professional sumo wrestling in the year 2015.

4. Tennis

• In the Olympics, Japan got their first-ever medal in tennis in the 1920s
• The first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles is Naomi Osaka
• Famous Japanese tennis player Kei Nishikori

5. Figure Skating

• Between the age of 18-79, more than 24% of people enjoy watching ice sports.
• In the 2023 ISU World Skating Championship, Japan won three disciplines out of Four Disciplines
• Its popularity is increasing in Japan among the younger audiences

6. Marathon

• Marathon is so popular in Japan that they choose participants in a lottery system.
• Every year over 30 major marathon events are hosted in Japan
• Japan has a long history of athletics

7. Rugby Union

• In rugby, the Japanese National Team holds the 10th position in the World
• Around 122,589 people in Japan are registered as Rugby Union players
• A huge number of people which is around 425 million people was tuned to the Rugby World Championship which was held in 2019.