Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix Three-Peat – A Club That Has Successfully Risen From the Ashes and Eying Expansion

rugbyasia247 Posted On February 24, 2025

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Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix CEO Yohei Shinomiya sports a big smile as he speaks comfortably in English after recent business meetings and before he left for a French-bound flight.

The former Japanese national team player’s women’s rugby club, the Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix, recently won the Japanese National Women’s Rugby Football Championship 2025 final to remarkably defend the title and win it for a third consecutive year – securing the fabled three-peat.

Yohei tells us that when he took over the club more than a decade ago, and even as recently as 2019, that would have seemed but a dream.

“I had returned from playing professionally in Italy due to an injury and I knew about the Phoenix club as they had a good reputation. But when I was introduced to them they were in a tough situation and very amateur. It was sad to see, as they really were one of the strongest women’s clubs in Japan in the past. It was an independent club too and not linked to a university or a high school and a very social club,” the club’s owner and CEO said.

“Once Sevens rugby was confirmed to be part of the Olympics in 2009 and was to debut in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, the JRFU put some more investment into the game and the players started leaving Phoenix to join other clubs.

I met with Misaki Suzuki, who is a real legend from the club (and she has just announced her retirement from the sport in 2025), she was at university and was asking what she was going to do in the future. University rugby then in Japan was really for the men. She had already represented the Sakura Japan national team but she wanted to play at a high club level too. I was also looking to rebuild for the future and the opportunity just appealed to me – to build this club up and attract the best women’s players.”

Although the Phoenix had been a dominant force locally in Japanese women’s rugby, their success over recent years has been borne out of hard work and passion.

“I think I was naive back then and I thought it would be easy to find sponsors, and I could coach, and many players would come back. But absolutely that’s not what happened,” said Yohei laughing in reflection.

“I used everything I had back then – emails, calls, social media – everything I had and I hoped as many players as possible wanted to be part of this rebuild. But as the months passed, one, two, three months later – we were in the same position. I even asked an English teacher, who never played rugby, but was an athlete, to help out – in our first tournament we lost everything, but we still enjoyed it. That was my first memory with the Phoenix in 2013.”

Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix side in their first Sevens tournament

Photo Credit: Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix – the club side in their first Sevens tournament 2013

What Changed – What was the ‘Eureka’ Moment for Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix?

“I started to recruit some top players, and Misaki was there from the start and had a strong relationship and network with other players so she helped recruit them. I reached out to a strong high school club in Japan and started using my connections for them to play with us and I helped them get into a good university in exchange – not just in Japan but also help them understand how they could study at the top level universities in Japan like Oxford or Cambridge (Keio and Wasada) The process, the entry forms, and the understanding of the system,” he explained.

“The Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series started in 2014 and we entered but we only had ten players. I recruited players from overseas – players like Samantha Teo (still an active 7s and 15s player), and Jia Yu Chan – both from Singapore.

Misaki Suzuki is a Tokyo Sanktu Phoenix club legend and national team 7s and 15s player - she rretired in 2025

Misaki Suzuki is a Tokyo Sanktu Phoenix club legend and national team 7s and 15s player – she retired in 2025 – Photo Credit – Takumi Photography

“They came across the Phoenix on a budget – we paid the airfares and they shared a small accommodation, very tiny but they loved it and loved playing with us. We only got together as a group to train two or three times a week, and the overseas players only arrived two weeks before the competition. We did really well and ended up runners-up overall and everyone else was shocked as we had been beaten and lost by 40 or 50 points only six months before.

Little by little that’s when things started improving and I was still working hard and trying to recruit, and calling the sponsors, like 10-20 companies by phone to get more support.”

It is clear he is a passionate but also loyal person. If you look at the partners the Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix now have, and the Japanese national players they have produced, the international partnerships signed, it’s inspiring,

“It was tough when I started the team. I was doing things that no one else was doing. I didn’t always know what was right, how to make a good team, or what to do to make the club and team stronger. I felt anxious and I was giving it all every day and getting home at 11 pm. Then I still had to prepare for the next day, issue invoices, and reply to emails.

If I stopped, the team would be over. I had no money, and I was anxious every day for many years. I prayed to God to help us to win, because to win would help us get sponsors – when I think about it, every day was a growing and learning opportunity.”

Photo Credit: Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix Facilities

The Pandemic Forced a Philosophy Change

The bigger commercial partners did come after all of the hard work. In 2019, Sankyu signed on with the Phoenix and they have been the Sankyu Tokyo Phoenix title sponsor ever since. Ironically it was just before the pandemic and the global event forced a change for the CEO at the club too.

“Sankyu has such a strong history and has been in operation for over 100 years. They appreciate their people, and it’s just one of the reasons for their success, as they really do appreciate the public. They share similar values to us as a club.

They come to our games, and when we first won a title, even though it was played far away from Tokyo, the Sankyu team came out to support us – and the stadium was full of people screaming. When we won this third 15s title recently – you could see how happy everyone was.”

When Yohei was building the club up, he did rely on overseas talent as well as Japanese players at the start, but the pandemic changed his philosophy.

“I changed the policy. In those early years, we got so many players from overseas, from New Zealand, Canada, Singapore etc. It did not always mean we won every tournament. The COVID situation meant it was very difficult to bring the players in from overseas, and we could hardly train or go on tour. So I decided, okay, the philosophy needs to change.

I invested in Japanese players and stopped recruiting from overseas because it’s difficult with visas, flights etc,

I recruited a good S&C coach and a head coach. I built a gym with equipment like the Watt bike, and purchased GPS monitors – we actually had better ones than some of the men’s rugby clubs and even the Japanese national teams.

Other players started hearing what we had and there were more players interested in joining our setup, and they recognised the quality of our staff. By giving more chances to local players it improved the relationship and trust between Japanese players – as before the club had a reputation for bringing in foreign players. They were getting more game time, they were enjoying the new environment more and they were training harder as a result.”

The unique player-corporate model in Japan is something the Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix owner and CEO also had to help his players understand.

“Sponsors want to help the club and the players, they are not always looking for us to win all the time, but obviously are happy when we do win. They pay the sponsor fee for the players and in return, the players play hard, and work hard, but need to show on the pitch they are enjoying themselves

That’s in return what the sponsors are looking for. This is also part of our team culture and I also had to learn that women’s rugby is different to men’s rugby. I wanted to make sure our players can express diversity but they have to work and play hard. But I ensured they have enough personal time – I give them every Sunday off and sometimes Monday too. When we train, they do so from 10am until 5pm and go back home.

It’s something our sponsors and partners understand too as I want them to be in the best possible shape. This schedule is important for the players – their mental health and physical health and it is important they get paid fairly – it’s very important they feel valued”.

Tokyo Sanktu Phoenix fans and sponsors are hugely important to the club

What Is Next For the Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix

Since the domestic 15s season concluded in early February 2025, as many as 8 club players were selected in the first 2025 Sakura 15s camp from March 2-15 with the goal of playing in the Rugby World Cup later in 2025.

Of those not selected, two players have gone to Australia Super W (Iroha Kishimoto at the Brumbies and Megumi Takagi at Western Force), and in the same week Yohei spoke with us, 5 players have been announced to join French club USAP Féminin (Masuda Yui, Jizodo Mei, Mizutani Sakura, Kadowaki Momoko, and Kosaka Mibu).

“It’s great for the players selected for the Sakura 15s and we have some still selected for the ongoing HSBC World Rugby SVNS in the Sakura 7s team. We are very lucky to have the opportunity to send some players to Western Force and Brumbies. The players going to France are so excited too and I will continue to help the women’s players who might need the help because they struggle to find recruitment or to find a sponsor.

The Japanese league only offers limited games and has limited exposure so we need to discover more ways to play and showcase Phoenix rugby to the media, people, and sponsors and to have more game time in the domestic leagues. Maybe we will look at joining Super W as an option in the future but I will need to figure out how many players we can send to Australia to participate.

Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix CEO Yohei Shinomiya after the three-peat final win

I want to send some more players to France to help the clubs get better. And if French women’s rugby gets better, and I can see they are doing more now to promote women’s rugby which will help with media coverage and maybe more sponsors and possibly broadcast rights and revenue?

In Japan, there is no revenue from the broadcast for our women’s clubs and little from the fan attendance. Over the next 5-10 years, I want to establish more marketing and have more pathways for potential players to join the Phoenix.”

The CEO is forever taking chances and exploring opportunities to benefit his players, the club, and Japanese women’s rugby.

“I’m looking at opportunities for our players who are coming to the end of their careers to pursue coaching opportunities overseas with smaller unions in Asia or elsewhere. It’s creating a whole journey from a young player, to having a rugby career with us – maybe getting selected for Japan, and having options for after playing. That’s my imagination for the future.”

Rugby Asia 247 has entered a content agreement with the Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix club and will be bringing you player, coach, and staff interviews over the next 12 months.