Japanese NT 2017

  • generally a different japanese player used to come out as the star of the match in the tournaments but i will ask though, who is the star of this recent japanese roster if one exists ? Koga ?

  • I think most people give the star to southpaw Miyu Nagaoka, who is/was injured and is not going to play this Grand Prix.


    Nagaoka might be the strongest attacker but that's about all she's got, imo. Koga can hit the ball just as hard but seldom does, opting more for offspeed sinkers. Koga can also receive and pass really well.

  • japanese players have always looked equally(pretty) talented to me maybe bcz i dont know much about them and cant differentiate them from one another well enough
    but i remember in a match comes out Ishi in another match Sakoda then Koga then Nagaoka another day Ebata..all these players technically looked pretty talented to my eyes.



    can you make me know Japanese NT players better..what are these players differences from one another ? are they equally good or not ? what are their weak and strong points from one another ?


    Nagaoka,Ebata,Sakoda,Koga,Ishi,Saori (i know her better) ??

  • Koga right now is the expected biggest star for the future of the Japanese team. Ai Kurogo who just graduated from high school is considered to be the next Saori Kimura. Kurogo is on the big roster, but I don't expect her to see much action in the World Grand Prix. Yuki Ishii has been a consistent player for the Japanese women the last few years. Miyashita will be the starting setter. Iwasaka will be the leading blocker in the middle, plus she is also the captain. Shimamura just doesn't do as much in the middle, but she's on the squad too. Shinnabe is about the same as Ishii, plus they play on the same team in the same position, just different rotation.
    Nabeya is a sparkplug, who can play off the bench. Mari Horikawa has played in the junior national team and is finally getting a chance with the top team. Last year she finally got some playing time with Toray and it helped her.
    Erika Araki is back, probably not for the Grand Prix, but will be back for the Grand Champions Cup.
    It will be an interesting three weekends to see who comes out for the future.

  • can you make me know Japanese NT players better..what are these players differences from one another ? are they equally good or not ? what are their weak and strong points from one another ?


    Nagaoka,Ebata,Sakoda,Koga,Ishi,Saori (i know her better) ??


    You asked for it :cheesy: They mostly all have the same body type and bob hairdo. :D I won't kid you, I don't know a lot about volleyball, so consider this a rough draft. I'll let others add to the final version.


    Miyu Nagaoka. She's a lefty, plays opposite. Japanese thin but looks like she does more weightlifting than the other girls. Has the shortest, thickest hair. She has a strong attack, but as a lefty opposite goes crosscourt a lot and becomes predictable, imo. She is one of the only players who tries a jump spike serve. I don't think she's got enough wasabi on it to be effective. I don't think she has any other pluses, frankly. She doesn't seem quick enough on defense, or courageous enough to give up her body to a full on swan dive belly-flop. She's usually also hidden when the other team serves because her reception and passing aren't strong. She's just a big hitter. Snore. Currently on the injured list, not playing in the Grand Prix.


    Yukiko Ebata cranked it in 2010 to the 2012 Olympics as OH, but I think she has had some injuries and has trailed off a bit since then. She's not even on the long list of the NT this year. Usually a short ponytail or bun. I think she looks Japanese/French or Portugese, more Eurasion than the other girls, maybe a little more junk in her trunk. Strong hitter with a good eye for where the holes are, imo. Nothing fancy beyond that, but not many liabilities.


    Saori Sakoda. Sadly, has retired. She was one of only a few you might describe as "explosive". Often flying in from the backcourt. Seemed equally good from both sides of the court. Always looked busy on defense, ready to dive for loose balls. She always upped the energy on court. She will be missed.


    Sarina Koga. I'm hoping this girl is the future. She just turned 21, played in the Rio qualifiers but not the real games. She needs to build confidence, and I think she is. She seems both childishly young and pretty smart--good game IQ. She can crank the ball as hard as anyone but seldom does. She's focused on finding holes, but good tall blockers can frustrate her. She's one of a very few players, on any team I've seen, that has about five different speeds on her shot. The offspeed sinker is her forté. She has good reaction time on defense, but if she has to move her feet, she's not the quickest. She's working on a change up knuckleball float serve, which is great. Most of her teammates just lollypop the ball over the net. She's got a big smile with some crooked teeth, wearing invisible braces now. Usually wears bangs that make her look younger or challenged. Saori Kimura has said Koga seems ahead of her when she was that age. She's an enigma. May either crash and burn or really shine. Like Saori, she has excellent receive and pass skills. I'm waiting for her to show some blocking skills. She might be the tallest of the bunch at 180cm.


    Yuki Ishii. Probably the most solid all-round dependable player on the team at every spot. Hits hard enough, seldom makes a service error, will dive for balls, but you could watch a game and miss her. I refer to her as one of the Sleepy Sisters, along with her Hisamitsu Springs (and NT) teammates Miyu Nagaoka and Risa Shinnabe. All good solid players, but they aren't explosive or sassy or fun-loving enough to bring the court energy up. Suffers a bit from hairstyle issues, but at least she can receive and pass.


    Saori. Sadly retired. Great attitude and excellent at everything. Funky weird serve; thoughtful attacks. Best receiver/passer. I think it's up to either Koga or Ishii to fill her shoes. Both are good all-around players, but I think Koga is the one who will grow. Ishii has about peaked as far as I can tell.


    Wing spikers are a dime a dozen but that's not Japan's game. They win by keeping the ball off the floor, making their opponents earn their points. I won't go through the rest of the squad but will mention the Setter (Haruka Miyashita) and Libero (Arisa Sato).


    Haruka Miyashita. She's gigantic for a Japanese setter at 177cm, but has gigantic shoes to fill (Yoshie Takeshita). She's not as brainy or as elegant as Yoshie but I think she's as good, if not better, defensively. I think she's the quickest, most courageous defensive player on the team. But as a setter, I see too many spikers having to just save the ball over the net from her (as compared to Yoshie) instead of having the timing and height just right so they can do their stuff. This makes the attackers not as good. She needs to get better. I think she should spike the ball a LOT, herself to keep the opponents on their toes. I also don't see her as having a great timing relationship with any of the middle blockers, yet. More work needed to get the quick set/smash going.


    Arisa Sato. I think she's closer to filling Yuko Sano's shoes than Miyashita is Takeshita's. She's quick, courageous, low to the ground, and pretty no-nonsense. I think she excels as a Libero with her block coverage. That's important for the Japanese team and she does it as well as anyone I've seen. Others may disagree.


    I love the Japanese team and their style of play. And I had a hard time figuring out who was who, at first. I like the fact that, as you say: "a match comes out Ishi in another match Sakoda then Koga then Nagaoka another day Ebata". I don't care much for team sports that rely on one superstar (KYK, I'm looking at you).


    Hope this helps, and others will supply more technical stuff.


  • Ebata is also hidden from reception like Nagaoka but I believe Japan played better with Ebata as a non-receiver than with Nagaoka as a traditional european opposite. I feel like more combination of offense can be made with that than with Nagaoka. Even nagaoka spikes from the pipe a lot more often now than Saori and Ebata did in London because Saori and Ishii were a lot more exposed in the reception when Nagaoka is on the floor. The only problem is Ebata is not the same girl since London and most opposites and middle blockers are now taller and faster than before so I'm not sure if she'll survive in this era of physicality rather than technique.

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  • I wonder what happened to Airi Miyabe..she was once a good prospect as she was once part of japan NT at the age of 16.and played wgp 2015 with koga then if I'm not mistaken. I'm really quite looking forward to see this japanese team play this wgp I hope they get really good results. :)

  • I wonder what happened to Airi Miyabe..she was once a good prospect as she was once part of japan NT at the age of 16.and played wgp 2015 with koga then if I'm not mistaken. I'm really quite looking forward to see this japanese team play this wgp I hope they get really good results. :)


    During the last high school championships, Miyabe was still in the media spotlight to some degree. The problem for her right now is that she's not as talented as the current players in the team. Kurogo got in because of star player on the best high school team, Shimokitazawa Seitoku, which is like a training school for the national team.


    Airi Miyabe is going to the states to play at a Junior College! Article I am just surprised that she is going there. Some of it may be due to language issues, her English may not be good enough. She may have already talked to Nakata about what she thinks she needs to be doing. However by coming to the states, that is a big surprise to me. She is hoping to get on with a USA university team by doing this.

  • During the last high school championships, Miyabe was still in the media spotlight to some degree. The problem for her right now is that she's not as talented as the current players in the team. Kurogo got in because of star player on the best high school team, Shimokitazawa Seitoku, which is like a training school for the national team.


    Airi Miyabe is going to the states to play at a Junior College! Article I am just surprised that she is going there. Some of it may be due to language issues, her English may not be good enough. She may have already talked to Nakata about what she thinks she needs to be doing. However by coming to the states, that is a big surprise to me. She is hoping to get on with a USA university team by doing this.

    Thank you for this info Brahmin. I guess this is the reason why she's not part of Japan NT. does this also means she might be able to play for USA team in the near future if she resides in the US for her studies and volleyball career there?. There are a lot of talented young japanese volleyball players. But finding really tall ones is not easy. I guess japanese team don't really bank on height. More on their talent. :)

  • During the last high school championships, Miyabe was still in the media spotlight to some degree. The problem for her right now is that she's not as talented as the current players in the team. Kurogo got in because of star player on the best high school team, Shimokitazawa Seitoku, which is like a training school for the national team.


    Airi Miyabe is going to the states to play at a Junior College! Article I am just surprised that she is going there. Some of it may be due to language issues, her English may not be good enough. She may have already talked to Nakata about what she thinks she needs to be doing. However by coming to the states, that is a big surprise to me. She is hoping to get on with a USA university team by doing this.


    I really hope you are wrong about that. I thought Airi Miyabe declined to play in V.League so she can study in college since she'll be sitting on the bench anyway if she gets drafted. I didn't know she will be pursuing USA NCAA btw. Wish it could help her development since she'll probably have a much different tempo from what she's used to with the sets she'll be given.


    Anyway,I still remember Ai Kurugo making more errors than points in a loss against Russia from 2015. :whistle:


    So I hope she improved upon that. Imo the previous players of Japan are much more talented than what they have in the under 20 team. If Ai Kurugo is Japan's best in the u20 department then Japan is probably screwed.

    Favorite players: M: Maxim Mikhaylov, Murilo, Serginho, Aaron Russell, Otavio, Simone Giannelli, Ivan Zaytsev, Tsvetan Sokolov, Michał Kubiak, Mariusz Wlazly, Pawel Zagummy W: Sheilla, Zhu Ting, Natalia, Fe Garay, Fofao, Gabi, Thaisa, Foluke Akinradewo, Wei Qiuyue, Ding Xia, Carli Lloyd, Fabi, Natalia Goncharova, Yuko Sano, Saoris Kimura and Sakoda


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  • I've tried to seek out some games with Ai Kurugo (aka Love, After Dark) since that's the name mentioned often when speculating on youngsters coming up. I've watched 2016.07.31 AVC U19 Championship JPN v CHN a few times now, and she seemed fairly nondescript, maybe because I got swept away by WU Han on the China side. I've also watched the U18 and U23 finals matches from this year, both of which Japan has won. No one on any of those three teams jumped out at me like WU Han, but I was overall impressed with their team play. Very much. They look like they've got the fundamentals down, they play quick like the big girls, and they don't make many mistakes...except for a few reception errors, which bugs me. So I'm happy with the juniors as a whole. I breezed about a handful of other games but the level of competition wasn't interesting enough to draw me in. Lordy, I think it was the U18ers JPN vs KOR, and it was like Japan was playing against 3rd graders. I felt sorry for the Korean girls. They looked scared, both of the game and a little bit of their coach--not him personally, maybe, but the idea that someone in authority would see their lack of confidence.


    Japan and China take the sport seriously from a young age, it seems. Thailand looked pretty good as well, in the U23 Finals. That was a cool game, Japan came back after losing the first two sets. And that speaks to something else that makes me optimistic about the youngsters: attitude. They have that Japanese attitude: keep your chin up. That's why I need to see these games in HD, with pro cameras, or whatnot. I need to see how the girls cope. I think you can see winners in the face. Maybe not the best in the world, but people worth rooting for.


    On a side note, watching those youngin games. China has taken the after point High-Five to a new level with their Victory Lap celebration. :dance4: I think half of them are supposed to run clockwise, and the other half counterclockwise, and they High-Five one another on their way past. Sometimes they mess up and everybody goes in the same direction and they just look at one another like, 'what do we do now?" It's hilarious. But when executed properly, it almost seems like taunting. I'd give 'em a yellow card. :P

  • China has taken the after point High-Five to a new level with their Victory Lap celebration.

    This celebration has been going on since the early 2000s in the Feng Kun era when Chinese players run around in circles after a getting a point.

  • So .. Shinnabe didn't play much in WGP game 1, Koga not much in game 2, Ishii not much in game 3; Tominaga has been the main setter, Inoue the main Libero although she and Kobata took turns in game 3, Horikawa has looked great but didn't play much in game 3; Nabeya is making some moves; Shimamura and Okumura shouldered most of the MB duties today, but Iwasaka has been the main MB.


    It seems like Japan is using most of their players. I haven't seen a lot of other teams yet, besides the ones who've played Japan. I wonder, are other teams doing this? Of the teams I've seen, and granted I don't know them as well, it seems like they've been sticking to a core squad.


    I hope this is a master plan the Japanese have going on so they can go far in this tournament.


    Edit - Is there a place that shows who the 14 of the 18 for each week are listed?


    Complicated sport :wall:

  • Edit - Is there a place that shows who the 14 of the 18 for each week are listed?


    Complicated sport :wall:

    Which Federation usually release their roster on their website/social media etc, a few days before. And then some people will post over here. I think brahmin is usually the one with the scoop on the Japanese, I`m sure if he see anything will he post over here..


    This weekend Japan is playing at against Thailand, Brazil and Serbia. That will be fun, cuz even tough Serbia is way stronger they still struggles a lot with the Japanese.


    I have not see a lot of games this weekend because I was focused on the World League. But mostly team are doing a lot of players rotation for sure.

  • cuz even tough Serbia is way stronger they still struggles a lot with the Japanese.


    Japan gets to play them twice!


    I thought someone posted the roster here but all I can find is the 18

  • Hey Canter, not sure if you follow this thread but since most of the players I mentioned before aren't playing in the WGP I thought I'd try a few words about a few who are playing so far. Most are new to the NT, and you probably know more about that phenomenon in a Post OG Grand Prix than I do:


    Mari HORIKAWA Uniform Number: 19 Age: 24 Wing spiker, playing OP. Lefthanded. I think of her as the 'redhead' even though her hair isn't red. It's kind of unkempt frizzy redheadish, I guess. She's filling in for the injured Miyu Nagaoka and doing well so far, except for a few too many service errors. I think she's about equal to Nagaoka in most respects but with a better court presence. Not great on reception or defense, but she tries harder than Nagaoka, imo. She has a serious face most of the time but seems full of positive energy. I'm a fan.


    Koyomi TOMINAGA; Uniform Number: 10 Setter Age: 28. A surprise to me that she's been fulfilling most of the setter duties over Miyashita. I don't really know how to judge a setter, but I have seen, I think, fewer attackers having to just save the ball over the net than I complain about from Miyashita. She's nowhere near as quick and courageous as Miyashita on defense, but I've been satisfied with her performance overall.


    Kotoe INOUE Uniform Number: 21 Age: 27 Libero Only a surprise to see her handling most Libero duties because we don't know why Arisa Sato isn't in the lineup. She's a muscular looking, low to the ground, little thing. From what I've seen she's been fine in the digging and basic receiving department, but is not up to Arisa's standards on block coverage. I think when Arisa comes back they might stash her as a non-Libero defensive specialist like they did in Rio with Zayasu. I saw her play a little in Club play and she wasn't playing Libero. She has a nice serve, too. Saw her come in as a serve specialist and toss off some aces. I'm intrigued by her but I'm a big fan of Arisa so I can't be fair.


    Nana IWASAKA Uniform Number: 3 Middleblocker Age: 26. She's the captain and we're grateful she's 187cm. I also don't know much about MB except I notice when they do a quick slice and smash, which has as much to do with the setter as the MB, I think. I don't see her do that a lot. Kana Ohno, who's on the injured list is the MB who's good at that. Iwasaka will probably get most of the floor time until/when/if Erika Araki and/or Ohno come back. I don't think she's very quick. She's probably better than I'm aware of.


    Haruyo SHIMAMURA Uniform Number: 9 Middle blocker Age: 25. Another MB. You can spot her as the one who wears tights (or whatever). Don't see much skin of her legs. Nothing remarkable about her play but I like her a lot. She seems like a mom of the team, so I think her presence is important. A few years ago she was a goofy looking, chubby kid. Now she seems like the only one on the team with a sense of style. She probably listens to music I would like. Her nickname is John. She has great posture and a wonderful sturdy gait. Seldom puts forth a service error. One of the only women in volleyball who has played a top level game with product in hair. Style, baby. I think she is slightly cross-eyed. You notice when she's on the court.


    Yurie NABEYA Uniform number: 11 Wing spiker Age: 23. I think brahmin nicknamed her the Sparkplug. She's a gas. Usually comes off the bench and brings energy. She's kind of weird in the face and gangly looking, but not skinny gangly, just Japanese thin gangly. She looks like a bird. She really celebrates a point. Doesn't seem terribly athletic but she jumps around as if she is, often bumping into others accidentally. Seems her strength is hitting between the blockers. She showed up well in this 3rd WGP game against NED, and I think it was her energy that ignited Sarina Koga--who I wasn't too happy with until the last few sets of that game.


    Allow me this digression on Koga. I think she is smart and good all-around. Receives and passes well, serves okay. I think she may surprise us all as a good blocker someday. When she decides to fully unload on an attack, you'll notice. It surprises me that someone so young and kind of meek looking can dish up with so much wasabi. She was not receiving well enough so far this tournament, and I think that's because she was lacking confidence in her attack. I think she was lacking confidence in her attack because her strength is the off speed sinker which she has to get over the block and to the floor before it reaches the campfire. That's easier to do when she's playing Club games against other Japanese shorts. She'll either figure it out or change tactics. She's smart enough to do that. I think she moved to hitting around the block today. I'm still a fan, but need her to be consistently good--against big girls.


    Finally, I'll mention:


    Risa SHINNABE Uniform Number: 4 Wing spiker Age: 26 who if you look real hard you'll probably see more of her as time goes on. She's been on and off the NT since at least the 2012 games (I think). She's one of the Hisamitsu Club Sleepy Sisters. To be fair, I do think she is 2nd to, if not equal to, her Sleepy Sister Yuki Ishii in terms of all around solid and dependable at every spot on the floor. Good passer, decent serve. Best at quick attacks.


    So we have Koga, a brainy attacker who probably doesn't scare many opponents (at their peril). The closest we have to anyone being deemed "explosive" is newcomer the lefty Horikawa. Nabeya is sometimes accidentally 'explosive'. Kudos to her.


    I'm aware of the irony when, as I describe many of these players individually, I might say 'needs to improve their defense". But when I talk about the team, I praise their defense. That's the magic. They get TEAM. That's why I like watching them.


    Here's the rub. Their two best individual defenders are the Setter Miyashita (who's not playing much so far this WGP), and the Libero Arisa Sato (who's not on the team for this tournament for unknown reasons). Japan took Bronze in 2012 OG. They had Saori and Ebata peaking in their offensive game. And they had world class (forgive me) players at Setter and Libero. I think Arisa is up to the Libero standard, and I think Miyashita is equal to, if not better than, Takeshita when it comes to defensive scrambling for loose balls. But Miyashita's got to get better at actually setting and controlling the pace. She's got to learn how to keep the blockers off guard. She's got to get faster. All the Japanese attackers attack better when it's quick. Those big lobby, floating sets are a waste of time. It actually pisses me off that none of the Japanese spikers knows how to actually spike one of those sky balls that happen often in a game. They just lollypop the ball over. Japan can keep the ball off the floor all day long and hope to tire their opponent into making an error, but if they want to earn their own points, they've got to attack. Quicklier. More quickly. Faster. They're never going to overpower their opponents. Martial Arts, over time in the weight room, I say. Get better at what you're already good at. There's a mighty weight on Miyashita's shoulders if Japan wants to stand on the podium.


    It cracks me up that, here I am, a guy who knows very little about this sport, certainly less than you do, but I can go on and on about it because it brings me joy. I've tried, and hope I've succeeded in helping you distinguish some of the players (even if it's not terribly enlightening).


    I'm here all week. Remember to tip your waiters and waitresses. :drink:

  • Japan gets to play them twice!


    I thought someone posted the roster here but all I can find is the 18


    For the roster of the WGP each week. JVA usually updates the roster on this page http://www.jva.or.jp/index.php…017/worldgrandprix/member on Thursday or Friday morning.


    I think Tominaga will become the main setter in this Olympic cycle. She is Nakada's favourite out of the three. Her performance during the first weekend lived up to the expectations.


    As for Miyashita, I don't know if she will be given any more chances after the WGP. After all these years, she shows no signs of improvements. As a setter, her skills are still lacking - precison, connections with MBs and the control of rhythm. If she wants to stay competitive. the first thing she needs to do is to leave Okayama Seagulls to see if things will work out better for her in a new environment, a better team. Otherwise, it is probably not worth investing in her since she is not going to get better anyway. Hisamitsu Springs is saying Hi to her :teach: with Nakaoji leaving the team and the coming of Akinradewo is a bonus. [however, I know it is very unlikely to for her to go for a transfer as she still believes she can polish her skills with Okayama Seagulls and so does the coach of Okayama Seagulls :whistle: ]


    I believe Sato Miya will play in the coming weeks. Nakada praised the quality of her sets in an interview earlier. She has the best connections with the MBs amd can play at a faster pace, but she can also be quite shaky at times. I guess we will see how she performs when she plays against the strong opponents.

  • I think Tominaga will become the main setter in this Olympic cycle. She is Nakada's favourite out of the three. Her performance during the first weekend lived up to the expectations.


    As for Miyashita, I don't know if she will be given any more chances after the WGP. After all these years, she shows no signs of improvements.


    Yikes! I think you may be right. I hadn't considered the possibility but something has to change. Get better or step aside.


    Has Nakaoji retired or is she going somewhere else? I like her.


    I"ve only ever seen the 18 player list on that jav.or.jp site. Maybe I haven't looked at the right time.