When the Japanese team takes the field for the Japan-U.S. Dream Bowl at Tokyo's National Stadium on Sunday, it will offer a brief look at the nation’s collective football might in international competition.
Japan is one of the most vibrant football hotbeds outside of North America. The Japanese won the first two editions of the IFAF World Championship of American Football (in 1999 and 2003, before the United States got involved) and are No. 2 in the tackle football world rankings. The sport, while not at the level of baseball or soccer, also has a growing and devoted following in the country.
Football officials are hopeful then that the inaugural Dream Bowl, which will pit a Japanese All-Star team against an Ivy League All-Star team (a U.S. team comprised of college players from the eight schools in the Ivy League), will help further the growth of football in Japan and provide proof of the gains the nation has made on the gridiron.