Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2025 – Expansion And Exciting Signings

The Japan Rugby Football Union have confirmed that the Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2025 will see an expanded format as the top Japanese Women’s rugby clubs aim for the national championship with events from May to August.

The Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2025 has been running since 2014 and the defending champions are the Nagato Blue Angels. The Series now is seen as the major domestic women’s rugby 7s event and JRFU called it “A key pillar in the development and promotion of the women’s game in Japan.”

Akane Kagawa, JRFU Director of Women’s Rugby said, “The Taiyo Seimei Women’s Seven Series is an incredibly important part of the women’s game here in Japan and one of our major drivers for growth. With the introduction of a Grand Final Tournament and a promotion-relegation competition on the final weekend, the 2025 season promises to be the most exciting yet.”

“The Taiyo Seimei Women’s Seven Series began in 2014 as a national competition to give our best players from across the country the chance to compete against each other. The series is not only fundamental to our growth in Sevens but also provides us an opportunity to identify talent that can cross over to our elite Fifteens programmes.

“Delivering well-structured, high-quality competitions is essential for enhancing the performance of our national teams in both Sevens and Fifteens,” explained Akane Kagawa, JRFU Director of Women’s Rugby.

What Changes Are There – Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2025

Changes in 2025, sees the inclusion of a new Challenger Tournament to mark the opening weekend of the series. It will be held during the Japanese Golden Week holiday at JAPAN BASE in Fukuoka on May 5 and 6 and see the top-four placed teams from the tournament earning the chance to play in a promotion-relegation series to be played alongside the Grand Final Tournament on August 17 in Sapporo.

One other change is that unlike previous years, where series standings were based on the cumulative results from across all four tournaments, in 2024 the top-eight ranked teams from the three rounds of regular competition compete for a spot in a winner-takes-all Grand Final match (much like the format the HSBC SVNS now uses).

The bottom-four ranked teams will face off against the top four teams from the Challenger Tournament played in May, in a promotion-relegation battle to determine which teams will make the cut for the series’ 2026 addition (again following the current HSBC SVNS Series format – which we believe will actually change in 2026). Four promotion spots will be available.

Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series Core Teams 

Photo Credit- JRFU -Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2025 – Nagato Blue Angels are defending champions

1. Nagato Blue Angels (1^st)
2. PEARLS (2^nd)
3. Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix Rugby Club (3^rd)
4. Yokohama TKM (4^th)
5. Nippon Sports Science University Women’s Rugby Club (5^th)
6. Nanairo Prism Fukuoka (6^th)
7. Arukas Queen Kumagaya Women’s Rugby Football Club (7^th)
8. JSDF Physical Training School (8^th)
9. Otemon Gakuin Women’s  Rugby Club VENUS (9^th)
10. Challenge Team (10^th)
11. Yokogawa Musashino Artemi-Stars (11th)
12. Hokkaido Barbarians Diana (Promoted 2024)

New Signings – Taiyo Seimei Women’s 7s Series 2025

Among the host of the news signings for the 2025 Series, notably are the addition of Conor Hirini as coach, and Sarah Hirini as player for the Mie Pearls – The couple also run the Hirini Rugby Academy in NZ and Sarah is the captain of the NZ Black Ferns Sevens team who won the HSBC World Sevens Series League title in 2025.

She previously had a stint at the club and said of her re-signing “I’m really looking forward to joining the Pearls again. I have always loved playing rugby in Japan, especially for the cultural experience.”

They also announced that NZ 7s Black Fern Olive Watherston will be with them this season and signed on Japanese players Funa Katada, Michiyo Suda, Natsuki Ouchida, Mao Higuchi, and Risa Shimomura.

A pair of HSBC SVNS Brazilians were also confirmed to join them for the 7s season – with Thalia Costa and Gabriela Lima, both announced to join Mie Pearls.

Thalia Costa,  who is in the Top 5 Women’s SVNS try scorers and reached 100 Series tries in 2025 said, “I am very excited about this first experience abroad representing a club. I hope to be able to contribute to the team throughout the season and bring a bit of Brazilian rugby to the Pearls.”

Current Brazil Women’s Head Coach Crystal Kaua began her career as a coach with the Pearls.

Defending champions Nagato Blue Angels, who recently were runners-up in the HKFC 10s 2025, are again coached by former NZ 7s and Thai Women’s 7s Coach Lote Raikabula. They confirmed that Australian Damita Betham has signed on with them as well as Japanese player Ami Tanaka.

The Tokyo Sankyo Phoenix announced that Japanese players Murase Kasumi and Rizuki Yamamoto have joined them.

Stay tuned as we have interviews from the Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix team coming soon!

Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2025 Schedule

The Japanese Series starts with the Challenger tournament in May before the three main events of the Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2025 are played from June-August leading into the final Grand Final Tournament in Sapporo.

The three rounds of regular competition will take place for the 12 core teams based on the tournament’s 2024 standings. Hokkaido Barbarians Diana won promotion to the series last year.

Based on the final standings from the three legs,  the teams will then face off in a one-day, Grand Final Tournament on August 17 at Daiwa House Premist Dome in Sapporo.

• Challenger Tournament – Fukuoka – May 5 & 6, 2025- Venue: JAPAN BASE, Fukuoka
• Tournament One – Kumagaya – June 21 & 22, 2025 – Venue: Kumagaya Rugby Stadium
• Tournament Two – Kitakyushu July 20 & 21, 2025 – Venue: Mikuni World Stadium
• Tournament Three – Higashi-Osaka – August 2 & 3, 2025 – Venue: Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Higashi-Osaka
• Grand Final Tournament – Sapporo – August 17, 2025 -Venue: Daiwa House Premist Dome

Photo Credit: Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix – Taiyo Seimei Women’s 7s Series 2024

Taiyo Life Women’s Sevens Series 2025 Challenger Tournament Details

The 2025 Challenger Tournament will be played from May 5-6 2025 at the JAPAN BASE facilities and features 11 Japanese teams”

• Azalea Seven
• RKU Grace
• Kamakura Sakura Winds
• Kobe Fast Gyro
• Shikoku University Women’s Rugby Club
• Shonan Bellmare Bell7
• Nagoya Ladies RFC
• Japan University of Economics Women’s Rugby Club AMATERUS
• Hirosaki Sakura Ovals
• BRAVE LOUVE
• Waseda University Women’s Rugby Football Club

How To Watch Taiyo Seimei Women’s 7s Series 2025

The JRFU said fans can catch the action live at all five stadia free of charge across the nine days of competition. There was no news at this stage whether the tournaments will be streamed or where.

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