Japan - V.Premier League 2016-2017

  • Final 6 Match 1 of 5, February 12, 2017,


    JT Marvelous 2-3 Toray Arrows (25-23, 22-25, 23-25, 25-17, 10-15)
    Mizuki Tanaka (JT) 28 (2a), Mai Okumura (JT) 18 (5b), Yuka Kitsui (JT) 13 (1a), Ayumi Nakamura (JT) 13 (1b), Yumi Terai (JT) 6, Misaki Tanaka (JT) 2 (1b), Mako Kobata (JT) L, Aika Akutagawa (JT) sub 0, Kotoe Inoue (JT) sub 0, Mika Shibata (JT) sub 0
    Saori Sakoda (Toray) 21 (2b), Mari Horikawa (Toray) 17 (1a), Carly Wopat (Toray) 15 (6b, 1a), Saori Kimura (Toray) 15 (1b), Kanami Tashiro (Toray) 7 (2b, 1a), Kaho Ohno (Toray) 5 (1b), Misato Kimura (Toray) L, Wakaba Sugihara (Toray) sub 1, Asuka Nomura (Toray) sub 0, Shino Nakata (Toray) sub 0, Miku Nakashima (Toray) sub 0, Yumi Nakagawa (Toray) sub L


    NEC Red Rockets 3-0 Hitachi Rivale (25-18, 25-23, 25-19)
    Sarina Koga (NEC) 16 (5b, 1a), Haruyo Shimamura (NEC) 8 (4b), Kana Ohno (NEC) 7 (1a), Akari Oumi (NEC) 6, Mizuki Yanagita (NEC) 5, Kaname Yamaguchi (NEC) 2 (2a), Miku Torigoe (NEC) L, Emiliya Nikolova (NEC) sub 11 (1b, 1a), Kaori Ueno (NEC) sub 3 (3a), Misaki Yamauchi (NEC) sub 0
    Cursty Jackson (Hitachi) 14 (2b), Nanami Inoue (Hitachi) 7 (1a), Moemi Tohi (Hitachi) 6, Mami Uchiseto (Hitachi) 4, Miya Satoh (Hitachi) 2 (1b), Hisae Watanabe (Hitachi) 1, Arisa Satoh (Hitachi) L, Megumi Kurihara (Hitachi) sub 8 (1a), Kaori Mabashi (Hitachi) sub 2, Anna Koike (Hitachi) sub 0, Maiha Haga (Hitachi) sub 0, Miwako Osanai (Hitachi) sub 0


    Hisamitsu Springs 3-2 Toyota Auto Body Queenseis (21-25, 22-25, 25-19, 27-25, 18-16)
    Miyu Nagaoka (Hisamitsu) 26 (2b, 2a), Yuki Ishii (Hisamitsu) 18 (1b), Maja Tokarska (Hisamitsu) 13 (3b), Risa Shinnabe (Hisamitsu) 12, Nana Iwasaka (Hisamitsu) 9 (4b), Ayano Nakaoji (Hisamitsu) 1, Sayaka Tsutsui (Hisamitsu) L, Rika Nomoto (Hisamitsu) sub 2, Chizuru Kotoh (Hisamitsu) sub 0, Erika Sakae (Hisamitsu) sub 0, Fumika Moriya (Hisamitsu) sub 0, Mana Toe (Hisamitsu) sub L
    Polina Rahimova (Toyota) 41 (3b, 1a), Erika Araki (Toyota) 19 (5b), Saori Takahashi (Toyota) 12, Miyuki Hiramatsu (Toyota) 11 (1a), Momoka Oda (Toyota) 9, Momoko Higane (Toyota) 1, Misato Sakakibara (Toyota) L, Akari Takeuchi (Toyota) sub 1 (1a), Mari Yamada (Toyota) sub 0, Nao Muranaga (Toyota) sub 0


    Final 6 Standings
    Rank, Team, Match Points, Match Wins, Sets Won-Sets Lost
    1. NEC Red Rockets 8, 1, 3-0
    ----- Advance Directly to Final Match -----
    2. Hisamitsu Springs 6, 1, 3-2
    3. Hitachi Rivale 3, 0, 0-3
    ----- Advance to Final 3 (Semifinal) -----
    4. JT Marvelous 3, 0, 2-3
    5. Toyota Auto Body Queenseis 2, 0, 2-3
    6. Toray Arrows 2, 1, 3-2
    If tied on points, higher regular season position is tiebreaker

  • Watanabe for Hitachi tried playing, but didn't even finish the first set as Kurihara came in to replace her. I don't know if she reinjured, or it is still that bad.


    Onuma, I can't find anything from photos over the last month and a quick google search in Japanese.

  • Just to make sure? In this Final 6 rounds, they only play against each other once???


    The Rockets are playing really well, I think will be very unlikely if they don`t finish in the TOP 3, and is good news for the NT when Koga is playing well. JT and Hitache are in big trouble playing without Onuma and Watanabe.

  • Forgive me as I'm very new to this, but after reading the last few posts here I have a couple questions.


    Does Saori Kimura really have a sister who plays on her team, or is that reference being used the way (I think) I've seen it used when talking about Saori Kimura and Saori Sakoda?


    Is it common for 'foreign' players to land the best stats in the Asian Premier leagues? I think I noticed this in the Korean league as well.


    How long do we have to wait before the NT will be announced? To the best of my investigative abilities the World Grand Prix, in August, will be their first competition this year?


    Is there a place to watch these matches that has quality streams?

  • Oh noooo, Japanese and Korean league are very different.


    Korean League is a joke, All teams makes their game solely based on their foreigner player, that includes every single game and every play. And now they are only signing players with low experience, so they still score a lot, but not a like before when experienced players would score 50-60 points. Watch one game and you will see how pathetic it is.


    Japanese women are extremely talented ( probably the most), but unfortunately they don`t have height ( something they can`t change), and they are not very physically stronger ( something they could change if they ate more and spent more time in the gym ololololo).


    So when a foreigner is tall and strong, she of course can make a difference in the team. One example is Rahimova, She`s 6'6 and super strong, she is Toyota`s best score every single game, ( and I think Rahimova is so good and she would be scoring almost this much in any other league). But when you look at the other teams, that is not the case, Jennifer Doris plays for Blue Cats and she is same height and weight as Rahimova but she cant score as much as Rahimova does and they tried to make their game like in Korea, having the foreigner as main attacker and did not work, they got last place. ( But still Jennifer was not always their best score).


    Onuma has been JT`s best score also, but she is short, 5`9. She is really talented and really strong.


    And then there`s Nikolova (6'0), Jackson (6'2) and Wopat (6'2) and Tokarska (6'3). But they are not their teams best player and neither best score. Jackson,Wopat and Tokarska are MB, and u would think they would come up with a lot of blocks per game because of their height advantage, but that is not the case.


    So when you look at it, only 2 ( Rahimova and Onuma) are their teams best players. Very different from what happens in Korea.


    And you can watch the games on youtube, the stream is not the best, but it is good enough for me.
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2nTb2BPvAsPOjVBnGF8HRQ



    and it comes on here as well when they are playing ( I think next games are either Friday and/or Saturday). ( Usually 6pm,8pm and 10pm Pacific Time).
    http://videostream.dn.ua/video…WR1cA%E2%84%96f%E2%84%96f

  • Very interesting. I did try watching some "local" games, if you will, after falling in love with the Olympics, and found it a little unsatisfying. I did notice the reliance on foreigners in the Korean games but thought it might have been just a game or two that I watched. I don't recall many foreigners in the Japan league, but again, I didn't watch much because the quality wasn't that great. I don't think I saw any foreigners in the China league.


    Re:

    Quote

    Japanese women are extremely talented ( probably the most), but unfortunately they don`t have height ( something they can`t change), and they are not very physically stronger ( something they could change if they ate more and spent more time in the gym ololololo)


    I really noticed the difference in body types from Japan and others. It's like the USA team, for example, must have a specific piece of gym equipment that exercises every single muscle in their bodies. And they have designer bandages, lol. The Thailand women, and others, tape themselves up with masking tape.


    I like the Japanese bodies. Of the NT team that I've seen, Nagaoka might be the only one pushing a muscular body look. I like the way they play, too, their sense of fun, and their quickness.


    I'll have to take another look at the J Premier league on youtube. I'm really jonesing for some action. I'd like to learn about more players and get my hopes up for the ones that I like to make the national team. Do you have any hopes or predictions for who might make it, or is it too early?


  • Does Saori Kimura really have a sister who plays on her team, or is that reference being used the way (I think) I've seen it used when talking about Saori Kimura and Saori Sakoda?


    Misato Kimura, the Libero of Toray, is the little sister of Saori Kimura.

  • Misato Kimura, the Libero of Toray, is the little sister of Saori Kimura.


    Cool. Except that if she's the Libero that means she's probably not as tall as her sister. :) Who's going to step up when Saori retires? She's not only one of the tallest, she seems like one of the smartest hitters.

  • Well, Volleyball Club and National team are 2 things very different. For example, I have been all my life a huge fan of volleyball, but I would watch only National Teams games, like Olympics, World Championship etc....I lived in Brazil so i would follow only some of the playoffs of the Brazilian Superliga....I was never into League Games... I only got into League Games maybe 3 years ago...I dont know what it is, maybe they are just different. Is like Soccer, a lot of people will never watch local league games, but everyone basically will watch the World Cup.



    And the bad stream can be part of the reason why you are not liking so much... it does make a difference.


    There`s international players in China, I think they have around 10 this season. And there`s international players in every single league basically, some only with a few and some with hundreds like in Italy and Turkey for example. And do you follow NCAA volleyball? There`s hundreds of international players as well (mostly Europeans), Volleyball is a global sport, just like soccer and basketball.


    I really don`t know who might make the NT this season. They will have a new coach and things could change.
    But Saori Kimura retired from the National Team :wacko: .. Nagaoka for sure will be there, she`s the best Japanese player at the moment. But other players that could make are Shinnabe, Ishii, I think Watanabe should be, Uchiseto,Satoh, Shimamura, Miyashita, Ebata, Saori Sakoda, Horikawa,Nabeya.

  • I'm not familiar with Watanabe or Horikawa. I'll presume Satoh is Arisa, the Libero. I like her a lot, and all the others you named except maybe Uchiseto. But remember, this is from a guy who has only seen what he could find of the National team 2012-2016. There was a Tanaka, I think, who I preferred over Uchiseto, as that kind of player. If they need another big, Iwasaka? And there's a lot of buzz for Sarina Koga. I believe I've read she plays better in the League games than she did in the 2016 Olympic Qualifiers and Grand Prix. That's all I've seen of her and she was okay. I agree that it's likely Nagaoka's team at this point if Saori's gone. Aww, that makes me sad. I'd like to see Nagaoka play smarter. She's strong maybe that's enough. I'm probably biased a little against her because she takes minutes away from my favorite player, the other Saori :)


    I'm excited to see what rolls out with the new coach. I liked Manabe. I have no idea if he was a good coach. I liked the way he treated the players. I hope the new coach isn't a hothead.


    I'd watch the league games for sure if the streams were better. I may give it another shot anyway. My only choice for more Saori love.

  • Yeah I forgot to mention Sarina Koga. I think she should for sure be back in the NT, she did not make to the OG, but she`s young and I think she`s 1.80, she is kind short but not terribly short. And she is playing well this season, She plays for Rockets and they are in 1st place in the standings.


    If you go back to the first page of this topic, you will see Brahmin has all the teams with rosters competing in the league. Satoh and Watanabe plays for Hitache, they got 2nd place last season and are doing well this season, but Watanabe just got injured few days ago and I hope she can 100% very soon otherwise Ritache could end up out the Top 3.


    Manabe was a great coach. Japan got Bronze at the 2010 WCH and 2012 OG and Silver 2014 GP, but they failed at the 2014 WCH and were not playing great after that.


    There were rumors Saori was retiring for good from volleyball after the OG, but of course she did not, but who knows, this could be her last season...

  • Saori Kimura is retiring after the season. She got married to a foreign indoor and beach Japanese player.


    I don't watch the Japanese league games because I have other stuff to do on the weekend, plus I do the league writeups every Saturday and Sunday for the men and women, so it is not like I don't follow what is happening.


    Japanese league rules only allow 1 foreigner. There are hard ways to get around it, find a foreigner who is going to high school or college in Japan (easiest route), or have a Japanese parent but dual nationality (Horikawa never played for Canada but has a Canadian father).


    With that said, most teams try to target a foreigner that will contribute. Some teams go about that a little differently though. Hisamitsu, Toray, Hitachi, PFU goes for a middle blocker. While Toyota went to an opposite who gets the majority of the offense (bar Araki and another outside hitter). The reason for the shift is due to the fact that there are so many readily available outside hitters from Japanese high schools and colleges. Middles just aren't as good, let alone as tall.


    As for the national team, you'll see a number of players from last year's Olympic team on the team going towards 2020. Nagaoka right now is the biggest star on the team. The Japanese press will focus on Koga, but still learning to play on the highest level. The best player from high school championship is Ai Kurogo and she'll be the next media darling because of it. Ai Miyabe who got a couple of sets in the World GP a couple of years ago will probably be in the mix too.


    Horikawa finally got some playing time this year with Toray, she has been a great national team player at junior levels, but with Toray being a stacked team in the past (winning titles), she never got on the court.


    Yamaguchi and Saori will be gone. Araki will be back through 2020 (in my mind). Zayasu will probably be back after playing in France this year for Cannes. Arisa Satoh is a decent player, Uchiseto and Watanabe have done well for Hitachi this season, but can it transfer to the national team?


    The new coach is not a hothead, she is a firecracker though. Playing on the national team at 15, and is driven to succeed. But she's worked in Italy before becoming the coach at Hisamitsu, taken them to the top and now going up to the national team. Manabe had a good run, but it was time for someone new and she's what the team needs going forward.

  • Thanks everyone for the input. I'm really looking forward to enjoying the team this year.

  • February 18, 2017, Final 6 Match 2 (Day 1) of 5


    Hisamitsu Springs 3-2 Hitachi Rivale (22-25, 18-25, 25-18, 25-20, 15-10)
    Risa Shinnabe (Hisamitsu) 24 (1a), Miyu Nagaoka (Hisamitsu) 22 (1a), Yuki Ishii (Hisamitsu) 18, Maja Tokarska (Hisamitsu) 13 (3b), Nana Iwasaka (Hisamitsu) 5 (3b, 1a), Ayano Nakaoji (Hisamitsu) 3, Sayaka Tsutsui (Hisamitsu) L, Rika Nomoto (Hisamitsu) sub 1, Chizuru Kotoh (Hisamitsu) sub 0, Erika Sakae (Hisamitsu) sub 0, Hikaru Katoh (Hisamitsu) sub 0, Mana Toe (Hisamitsu) sub L
    Hisae Watanabe (Hitachi) 22, Cursty Jackson (Hitachi) 19 (2b), Moemi Tohi (Hitachi) 14, Mami Uchiseto (Hitachi) 10 (2b), Nanami Inoue (Hitachi) 6 (1a), Miya Satoh (Hitachi) 4 (1b), Arisa Satoh (Hitachi) L, Megumi Kurihara (Hitachi) sub 2, Anna Koike (Hitachi) sub 0, Maiha Haga (Hitachi) sub 0


    JT Marvelous 0-3 Toyota Auto Body Queenseis (26-28, 23-25, 21-25)
    Mai Okumura (JT) 15 (5b, 1a), Mizuki Tanaka (JT) 14 (2b), Yumi Terai (JT) 9 (1b), Ayumi Nakamura (JT) 8 (1b), Yuka Kitsui (JT) 5, Misaki Tanaka (JT) 0, Ai Inden (JT) sub 3, Noriko Andoh (JT) sub 1, Onuma Sittirak (JT) sub 0, Kotoe Inoue (JT) sub 0, Mika Shibata (JT) sub 0
    Polina Rahimova (Toyota) 29 (2a), Saori Takahashi (Toyota) 14 (3b), Erika Araki (Toyota) 11 (5b, 1a), Momoka Oda (Toyota) 7 (1b), Miyuki Hiramatsu (Toyota) 3 (1b), Momoko Higane (Toyota) 1 (1b), Misato Sakakibara (Toyota) L, Akari Takeuchi (Toyota) sub 1 (1a), Ayaka Hosokawa (Toyota) sub 1,Mari Yamada (Toyota) sub 0


    Final 6 Standings
    Rank, Team, Match Points, Match Wins, Sets Won-Sets Lost
    1. NEC Red Rockets 8, 1, 3-0
    ----- Advance Directly to Final Match -----
    2. Hisamitsu Springs 8, 2, 6-4 (2 played)
    3. Toyota Auto Body Queenseis 5, 1, 5-3 (2 played)
    ----- Advance to Final 3 (Semifinal) -----
    4. Hitachi Rivale 4, 0, 2-6 (2 played)
    5. JT Marvelous 3, 0, 2-6 (2 played)
    6. Toray Arrows 2, 1, 3-2
    If tied on points, higher regular season position is tiebreaker

  • I watched a video of Ebata after playing with the national team in 2010 and she was in the 2nd division in Japan. She would play matches on the weekend and then have to work on Monday. It makes no damn sense, if players want to devote their lives to playing, they should be able to practice and develop their skills further instead of working.


    Link for Ebata video go about 5 min in


    What a wonderful video. I think I was able to follow the story, although many of the plot points were out of reach. I would love to see more videos like that (preferably with english subs). So ... against my better judgement I googled "Saori Sakoda (Naked athlete)" and there may or may not be one out there marked as a Private Video. Damn. I did stumble upon some of the NT players on some game show with a boy band playing weird game show games. It had english subtitles and was kind of funny. I loved Araki's personality. Obayashi (?) seemed kind of fun. She must have been before my time. I don't think I ever saw her play volleyball.


    That thing of playing for a volleyball team and then working for the corporate sponsor of the team when you're not practicing is weird. Seeing Ebata pump iron was also a little odd.

  • What a wonderful video. I think I was able to follow the story, although many of the plot points were out of reach. I would love to see more videos like that (preferably with english subs). So ... against my better judgement I googled "Saori Sakoda (Naked athlete)" and there may or may not be one out there marked as a Private Video. Damn. I did stumble upon some of the NT players on some game show with a boy band playing weird game show games. It had english subtitles and was kind of funny. I loved Araki's personality. Obayashi (?) seemed kind of fun. She must have been before my time. I don't think I ever saw her play volleyball.


    That thing of playing for a volleyball team and then working for the corporate sponsor of the team when you're not practicing is weird. Seeing Ebata pump iron was also a little odd.


    Ebata's "naked athlete" video was very good to show the difficulty for a Japanese athlete going abroad. As for videos with English subtitles, they are going to be few and far between. For me having studied in Japan for a year and studied Japanese in grad school, I can keep up.
    Ohbayashi played in the 80s and 90s. She was the best player at that time for the Japanese women and is still used on commentary when the national team plays.


    Here is a video on Haruka Miyashita from 2014"Spirit of the Athlete"

  • February 19, 2017, Final 6 Match 2 (Day 2) & Match 3 (Day 1) of 5


    NEC Red Rockets 0-3 Toyota Auto Body Queenseis (22-25, 21-25, 34-36)
    Sarina Koga (NEC) 17 (1b), Akari Oumi (NEC) 13 (1b, 1a), Kana Ohno (NEC) 11, Emiliya Nikolova (NEC) 6, Haruyo Shimamura (NEC) 5 (1b), Kaname Yamaguchi (NEC) 1 (1a), Miku Torigoe (NEC) L, Kaori Ueno (NEC) sub 5 (1b), Mizuki Yanagita (NEC) sub 2, Misaki Yamauchi (NEC) sub 0, Sayaka Iwasaki (NEC) sub L
    Polina Rahimova (Toyota) 35 (1b, 2a), Saori Takahashi (Toyota) 14 (2b), Erika Araki (Toyota) 12 (5b, 1a), Momoka Oda (Toyota) 6 (1a), Miyuki Hiramatsu (Toyota) 5 (1b), Momoko Higane (Toyota) 0, Misato Sakakibara (Toyota) L, Akari Takeuchi (Toyota) sub 0, Ayaka Hosokawa (Toyota) sub 0


    Hisamitsu Springs 3-2 Toray Arrows (25-27, 25-20, 25-21, 18-25, 15-9)
    Miyu Nagaoka (Hisamitsu) 23 (1b,2a), Yuki Ishii (Hisamitsu) 22 (1b), Risa Shinnabe (Hisamitsu) 15, Maja Tokarska (Hisamitsu) 11 (3b, 1a), Nana Iwasaka (Hisamitsu) 7 (2b, 1a), Ayano Nakaoji (Hisamitsu) 1 (1a), Sayaka Tsutsui (Hisamitsu) L, Rika Nomoto (Hisamitsu) sub 1, Chizuru Kotoh (Hisamitsu) sub 0, Erika Sakae (Hisamitsu) sub 0, Hikaru Katoh (Hisamitsu) sub 0, Mana Toe (Hisamitsu) sub L
    Mari Horikawa (Toray) 28 (2b, 1a), Carly Wopat (Toray) 23 (5b), Saori Sakoda (Toray) 17 (2b), Kaho Ohno (Toray) 9 (2b, 1a), Saori Kimura (Toray) 7, Kanami Tashiro (Toray) 5 (2b), Misato Kimura (Toray) L, Nozomi Itoh (Toray) sub 1, Asuka Nomura (Toray) sub 0, Miku Nakashima (Toray) sub 0, Yumi Nakagawa (Toray) sub L


    Final 6 Standings
    Rank, Team, Match Points, Match Wins, Sets Won-Sets Lost
    1. Hisamitsu Springs 10, 3, 9-6 (3 played)
    ----- Advance Directly to Final Match -----
    2. NEC Red Rockets 8, 1, 3-3 (2 played)
    3. Toyota Auto Body Queenseis 8, 2, 8-3 (3 played)
    ----- Advance to Final 3 (Semifinal) -----
    4. Hitachi Rivale 4, 0, 2-6 (2 played)
    5. JT Marvelous 3, 0, 2-6 (2 played)
    6. Toray Arrows 3, 1, 5-5 (2 played)
    If tied on points, higher regular season position is tiebreaker

  • Here is a video on Haruka Miyashita from 2014"Spirit of the Athlete"


    Thank you for that.
    I should, I wish I could, learn Japanese. I watch Japanese films all the time and haven't absorbed more than a few words. It seems like that video explained a bit how the Japanese offense works, and has/is changed from when Takeshita was the setter. I think. I'd like to talk about Miyashita (and some others) but I feel like I'm hijacking your thread and should wait until a Japan NT 2017 thread gets under way.