Japan Football Shirts
The Japanese national team are
one of the strongest in the Asian Confederation and a regular feature at FIFA
World Cup Finals and in the latter stages of the Asian Cup. Boasting world
class players including Shinji Kagawa, Keisuke Honda and Shinko Okazaki, the
profile of Japanese football has never been higher and Japan remain strong
favourites to qualify for the next World Cup.
Japanese football was put firmly
on the map when they co-hosted the 2002 World Cup Finals with South Korea,
qualifying from the group stages before being eliminated in the second phase.
The Japanese home shirt consists
of a blue jersey, blue shorts and blue socks. This is unusual, as Japan are one
of few national teams to wear a strip which does not represent the colours of
the national flag. However, this is due to superstition. In Japan’s first major
international tournament, the 1936 Summer Olympics, they wore a blue kit in a
3-2 victory over Sweden. Despite suffering many losses in future, they have continued
to wear the blue home jersey for this reason.
Ironically, their first ever
competitive match was also played in a blue jersey when they faced China in
Tokyo in 1917. Even the 5-0 thrashing they suffered in this game did not
convince them the kit was unlucky! Between 1988-1991 they wore a red home shirt, but soon reverted back to
the blue jersey.
Japan Shirt History
The Japanese have had a long
standing partnership with Adidas, who have been the national team sponsor since
1986 and most recently extended their partnership in early 2016.
Previous kits had been
manufactured by Asics and Puma but it is with Adidas that the Japanese jerseys
will be most commonly associated. One of the most famous kits was the 1998
World Cup shirt, which were designed by the JFA and incorporated red and white
flame designs onto the sleeves.