Copy linkFacebookXPinterestEmailShare this article 0Join the conversationFollow usAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleNewsletterSubscribe to our newsletterBrazil wear yellow and green, England wear white, France and the USA wear red, white and blue...so why don't Japan wear red and/or white as the main colour in their home kit?Japan have been ever-present at the World Cup since first qualifying in 1998, and they are a genuine powerhouse of the women's game after making back-to-back World Cup finals in 2011 and 2015, winning the first.But they have done it all in blue home shirts - and the explanation for why involves exploding a myth or two in favour of more prosaic explanations.Japan wearing blue is unlikely to have anything to do with samuraiJapan are nicknamed the Samurai Buru (Blue), and there is a bit of kit folklore that blue was chosen as a direct nod to their famous pre-industrial warriors.Journalist and keen kit historian Joey D'Urso believes that is nonsense, however, saying that claim is a bit of 20-year-old marketing guff that has been taken much too seriously over the past couple of decades. You may like The Japan World Cup 2026 away kit is out - and it's a contender for kit of the year Why are Switzerland playing in green vs Qatar? Japan World Cup 2026 squad: Hajime Moriyasu's final selection The more plausible explanation: Japan definitely first wore blue all the way back in in 1930, and it has been suggested that their team was apparently made up of players from Tokyo Imperial University...whose kit was light blue.It would be a bit like if the England national side had originally been a side comprised of players from Oxford or Cambridge who wore their traditional athletic blue.Get FourFourTwo NewsletterThe best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.The Japanese FA are unable to completely substantiate that, however, helpfully saying: "We're not sure what the exact reason was."Blue hasn't been a constant throughout Japan's entire history, though. They actually wore white with blue trim in the 1980s, and they did match the flag by wearing red and white between 1988 and 1992.However, Japan fell short of qualification for the 1990 World Cup and the 1992 Olympics while wearing that red and white strip, prompting them to scrap the notion and go back to blue, as Amy Winehouse didn't sing.It didn't hurt, either, that two of Japan's geographic rivals, China and South Korea, both wear red strips.That helps their blue strip to stand out a bit more in continental competition, and gave them a bit of useful distinctive branding at a time when that was starting to become pretty important.TOPICSJapanWorld CupWorld Cup 2026Steven ChickenSocial Links NavigationSteven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication,WeAreTerriers.com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023.
