Japan - V.League V1 (Division 1, Women) 2022-2023

    I posted about Kano discussing her salary with a baseball player. Kano never played an active role for the team so it's understandable that her pay was lower despite being an Olympic medalist. She was already an inhouse model for Mizuno and Champion by 2016 so she gets a bigger cut from those sponsors. She is now one of the highest paid former volleyball players which was revealed by PR Times.


    Another great example would be Ranna Shiraiwa who gets a bigger cut from brands/stores in her area than previously in Forest Kumamoto. None of those brands have any relationship with the club. As for the specifics, I don't know exactly how much she earns from those.


    Nagaoka is also doing side jobs under Bon Image Corp.

    Quote from Phoenix

    I posted about Kano discussing her salary with a baseball player. Kano never played an active role for the team so it's understandable that her pay was lower despite being an Olympic medalist. She was already an inhouse model for Mizuno and Champion by 2016 so she gets a bigger cut from those sponsors. She is now one of the highest paid former volleyball players which was revealed by PR Times.


    Another great example would be Ranna Shiraiwa who gets a bigger cut from brands/stores in her area than previously in Forest Kumamoto. None of those brands have any relationship with the club. As for the specifics, I don't know exactly how much she earns from those.


    Nagaoka is also doing side jobs under Bon Image Corp.

    Is Maiko Kano considered an "influencer"?

    My interest is not in how much a player makes. It's in what they are required to do for their "salary"


    Every NEC player listed on their member page has an "Affiliation" listed, like 'NEC Platforms' or 'Sports Business Promotion Department'.


    Volunteer work? Unpaid 'training/internship'? Extra pay beyond playing volleyball? Required by NEC as part of being paid to play volleyball?


    Other teams have similar. Chiba players all work at the same old folks home


    I know we can't be privy to the minutiae inner workings of a business, but all teams have something like this going on and it seems uniquely, weirdly Japanese. When players "leave" a team they 退団 or 任意引退

    Tsugumi Fukazawa (Toray) is outperforming her (more famous?) sister Megumi (SAGA) in the U20s, seems to me. Megumi has moments, usually starts better than she carries on. Tsugumi is just more "active".


    It may be the HS setter's fault, much to my chagrin. She seems better with the right side and back court attacks ... although Anna Uemura OH was high scorer (14) in the loss last night. Japan made 31 errors in three sets. It was a crumby watch, unworthy of me getting up at 2:00am to see it

    Per this article in August 2021, NEC started the Sports Business Group at that time.

    https://news.mynavi.jp/techplus/article/20210801-1936282/


    The team was part of employee welfare and morale enhancement, per Google translate.

    Quote from brahmin

    Per this article in August 2021, NEC started the Sports Business Group at that time.

    https://news.mynavi.jp/techplus/article/20210801-1936282/


    The team was part of employee welfare and morale enhancement, per Google translate.

    That's nice. For Sarina Koga, is her "affiliation" with that group Volunteer work? Unpaid 'training/internship'? Extra pay beyond playing volleyball? Required by NEC as part of being paid to play volleyball? Or something else?

    Quote from sitenoise

    That's nice. For Sarina Koga, is her "affiliation" with that group Volunteer work? Unpaid 'training/internship'? Extra pay beyond playing volleyball? Required by NEC as part of being paid to play volleyball? Or something else?

    sitenoise it seems this "affiliation" thing in V.League is required (except for Himeji because it is considered as a club/professional team, not a corporate team).


    "The players who belong to the club team are practically professional players because they have individual contracts with the team, but the players of the corporate team are mainly employee players who play while working at the company of the team to which they belong. " - Source


    Arrangement for everybody else except Himeji players:

    "Employee athletes are employees of the parent companies of teams such as JT, Toray, and Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical, just like general office workers and office ladies. I am obliged to comply with work rules, and I am assigned to the same departments of the company as general employees, such as the sales department and general affairs department. As a general rule, I come to work every morning at the time decided by the company, but many of the parent companies of the teams belonging to the V League are large companies, and it is understood that volleyball is prioritized even in the workplace. For this reason, work is often as simple as making copies and organizing materials. As an employee, of course, the salary is paid by the company." - Source


    Arrangement for Himeji players:

    "Players belonging to club teams, which have been increasing in recent years, often have professional contracts. Professional contract players have contracts with teams on an annual salary system, similar to professional baseball and J.League. Professional contract players can concentrate on volleyball, but there is no guarantee after retirement, and even if they play an active role as players for a long time, there is no pension system like professional baseball players." - Source


    Which is better?:

    "For those who want to play volleyball while working in a stable manner, it is recommended to aim to be an employee player of the corporate team. If you want to play favorably as a professional player, you should try an overseas league like Saori Kimura." - Source


    This corporate team thing is unique to Japan huh? You can check their daily schedule here and see how their situation works. Now I know why Airi Miyabe is going to play in Japan despite saying she didn't want to play in Japan as per her Minnesota interview because she's in Himeji anyway :rolll::dance6:


    Off-season arrangement:

    "When the season is off, professional players and contract players will renew their contracts for the next season and sign new contracts.

    On the other hand, in the case of employee athletes, the contract is not renewed, and many athletes work for the company as employees during the off-season." - Source

    So, technically they are not labeled as professional volleyball players except for the imports and the girls in Himeji. I think Himeji's status is probably the reason why that university student can play in Himeji, just as how Yuki Ishikawa and Ran Takashi were able to play in Italy while in university?? I feel kinda sad for the corporate athletes tho coz they are treated as servants. I guess their morning work also made them vulnerable to COVID-19 during the past 2 seasons, resulting in the postponement of some matches and the cancellation of JT vs Hisamitsu FInals. On the flip side, local players from the rest of the world are treated like celebrities.

    Quote from staccato lightning

    Ishii Nomoto Nonaka from Hitachi and Miya Sato all watched the men's game today. Sato was not with her husband, I forgot his name. I hope he's doing well.

    Naonobu Fujii;( He may not be allowed to go to such events due to his condition

    Quote from Zack Fair

    sitenoise it seems this "affiliation" thing in V.League is required (except for Himeji because it is considered as a club/professional team, not a corporate team).

    Thank you thank you! I don't know anything about that source but that's more or less the way I've understood things to be. I was just surprised recently when you, I think, or someone else, posted the infamous Ebata video and the responses were 'things have improved' and 'no one works a desk job any more unless they choose to', and the like


    Same as it ever was, I guess. I'm still open to details or examples of 'improvement', though


    Himeji is the future , although their players endure such things as trainings on how to walk in high heels, which is a bit of a throwback


    I believe Okayama is an outlier as well. Their players don't seem to have 'corporate' jobs as much as having to do community type work, and teach volleyball classes, etc., to gain sponsors (get paid?)


    It's also worth noting that , at least new team Artemis Hokkaido, and I believe one of the new teams from Fukuoka, are structuring their organizations like Himeji, with a focus on how to make a life out of being a volleyball player. Unfortunately Artemis Hokkaido's web site has been offline for months (for me) so I can't link to it. (They think it's online, as they just tweeterboxed the other day that it had been revamped and was ready to go.


    I'm not sure about what Veertien Mie is doing


    There's also a couple players who have started an organization geared toward 'how to be a retired volleyball player': Start now, before you retire. Phoenix knows a bit about this


    Anyway, it is what it is. Peculiar as it is

    Quote from volleyb

    Toyota announced the transfer of Yuka Tateishi from Kurobe (LINK)

    #gogoToyota *


    This is just what the doctor ordered. Damn, I wish kRob would come back


    I'm also hoping Yukiho Hara is ready to rumble, but she didn't play, don't think she even dressed for, Summer League. How tragic to suffer an ACL in , like , your third match in a V.League uniform :( She may never make it back ;(


    * Tateishi is the other libero, along with Satomi Fukudome, who was a giant bag of fun last season and nobody knew their names (we're still working on Satomi -- one of my favorite Japanese names)

    These are the players who have openly declared as Transfer Hopers and haven't landed a gig yet. There may be others who were less forthcoming about their intentions


    V1

    Sakura Kanda MB (JT)

    Aya Hosonuma MB (Kurobe)

    Miharu Yoshioka OH (Okayama)

    Megumi Sato OP (Okayama)

    Aoi An Furukawa OH (Okayama)


    V2

    Ami Takahashi OH (Brilliant Aries)

    Akane Terasaka OH (Gunma Bank)

    Sho Arai OH (Gunma Bank)

    Ayaka Hamada OH (Hiroshima)


    I'd like to see Ami Takahashi and/or any of the V1 girls land in Kurobe. Toyota could maybe use one of them as well. Sho Arai is a decent all 'rounder as well


    I wonder if any of the V1 girls will go to V2, and if that might become a trend over the next few years. At this point the only likely destination points would be Brilliant Aries, Gunma Bank, or Prestige. It might be attractive to think you could help a team promote, especially if more players join them in the future. In other words, why cast about on the bench with a perennial bottom half V1 team when you could win a Championship in V2. If only Hikari Kato were born a few years later in life


    Depending on ambitions, some players may opt to join outsiders looking in like Artemis Hokkaido, Veertien Mie, or A Fukuoka Team. Maybe Ligare Sendai has an appeal


    I wouldn't want Japan V.League to become like a Euro League where lots of players jump around every year, but spreading the love around a little more than has been the case would be nice. I'd really like to see good setters spread around rather than congregating to the same top half V1 teams all the time

    Quote from Hassan Kadem

    I think JT is in need of an MB since Akutagawa retired. I'm not sure they even have any atm.

    Nana Sakikabara and Marina Takahashi, both mildly promising, but that's slim pickins. As far as I know Thatdao is still an unknown (but will likely return?)


    Seems like MBs are a little scarce all around the league