Japan Rugby League One

Japan Rugby League One (Japanese: ジャパンラグビーリーグワン, romanized: Japanragubīrīguwan), formerly known as the Top League (Japanese: トップリーグ, romanized: Toppurīgu), is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of industrial-professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the Japan Company Rugby Football Championship. The chief architect of the league was Hiroaki Shukuzawa who strongly felt the urgency of improving Japanese domestic company rugby to a professional level which would allow Japan to compete more convincingly at Rugby World Cups.

It is an industrial league, where many players are employees of their company and the teams were all owned by major companies. While the competition was known for paying high salaries, only world-class foreign players and a small number of Japanese players played fully professionally, which meant most of the players still played in an amateur capacity. The delayed 2021 season was the final season of the Top League, with the JRFU adopting a new fully-professional three-tier system from 2022. Despite this measure,the league still remains as a mix of professional and employee players and it has not yet transitioned to a fully professional competition. More details about the new structure was announced to the media in January 2021. Featuring 25 teams, the 12 top-tier clubs would be split into two conferences, with seven teams competing in division two and six in division three. The new competition was formally announced as Japan Rugby League One in July 2021.

The first season in 2003–04 featured 12 teams. The league was expanded to 14 teams in 2006–07 and 16 teams in 2013–14. While Japan Rugby League One's season overlaps with the start of Super Rugby's season, the Top League played during the off-season of the Super Rugby. Therefore, many full-time foreign professionals from Southern Hemisphere countries played in the Top League, notably Tony Brown, George Gregan and Dan Carter. In the 2010s, salaries in the Top League rose to become some of the highest in the rugby world; in 2012, South Africa's Jaque Fourie, now with Kobelco Steelers, was widely reported to be the world's highest-paid player.

Japan Rugby League One is the premier professional rugby union competition in Japan, showcasing the nation's top domestic talent and attracting international stars. Established as the successor to the Top League, it features a highly competitive league structure with multiple divisions, including the top-tier Division 1, where the best teams compete for national supremacy. The tournament emphasizes fast-paced, skillful rugby and has played a significant role in elevating Japan's profile on the global rugby stage, especially following Japan's impressive performance in the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Fans can enjoy thrilling matches, passionate rivalries, and a growing rugby culture that continues to develop across Japan.