Japan is a collection of several thousand islands, the distance from its northern most tip to the southern most point roughly the same distance as from Oslo in Norway to Naples in Italy.
A largely mountainous country with numerous volcanoes - the most famous Mount Fuji - Japan is located in a part of the world prone to earthquakes and has a population of around 125 million people.
The Japan Rugby Football Union was formed in 1926, the game taken to those shores by expatriate Europeans in the early 1900s. The Union became a member of the International Rugby Board in 1987.
Competing with football and baseball represents a certain challenge to the sport, but it is very popular in universities and there are around 4,700 clubs and nearly 80,000 senior and 60,000 junior players in the country.
The National Championship involving teams from the leading Japanese companies such as Toshiba and Suntory has been the lifeblood of the sport for a long time, although a new professional league was launched in September.
Japan’s highlight on the world scene remains the Epson Cup title they won in 1999, but a strong showing at Rugby World Cup 2003 could prove a catalyst for further success.