Detailed Japan Kit History From 1936 Until 2020 - Including Many Amazing Kits
Today we want to take a look at the football kit history of the Japan national football team, who this week revealed their new Adidas home jersey for 2020. And we can already say that Japan's jersey history is very, very interesting.
First, it is important to know that Japan was not a major football force until the end of 1980s with its team just a small and amateur team. Since the 1990s, Japanese football became fully professionalized, and Japan has quickly emerged as one of the most successful teams in Asia.
Japan Soccer Jersey History
Below is a short but quite good summary of what you should know about Japan's kit history from Wikipedia:
Japan uses blue and white rather than red and white due to a superstition. Japan used blue shirts in a 3–2 victory over Sweden in the first game of its maiden major international competition, the 1936 Summer Olympics. When Japan was coached by Kenzo Yokoyama (1988–1992) the kits were red and white, matching the colours of Japan's national flag. After failures at 1990 FIFA World Cup and 1992 Summer Olympics qualifications, the red shirt was scrapped.
The national team kit design has gone through several alterations in the past. In the early 1980s, the kit was white with blue trim. The kits worn for the 1992 Asian Cup consisted of white stripes (stylized to form a wing) with red diamonds. During Japan's first World Cup appearance in 1996 Asian Cup and in 1998, the national team kits were blue jerseys with red and white flame designs on the sleeves, and were designed by JFA (with the sponsor alternating each year between Asics, Puma, and Adidas).
Japanese brand Mizuno was the first supplier who had their logo on Japan's kits in 1979, while Puma and Adidas followed in the 1980s.
Adidas became the country's kit maker in April 1998, ending the phase in which Japan had no official kit maker but produced their kits in-house - Only the logo of a brand was added to Japan's kits back then (therefore, they had the same design with Adidas and Asics, in example [1997 / 1998]).
In early November 2019, Adidas presented the latest new Japanese national football team kit. Just as many previous shirts of the nation, it boasts a unique look.
Which Japan kit is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below and check out Japan' soccer jersey history on Football Kit Archive.
