Rice Bowl

For the Japanese rice dish, see Donburi. For the term used for highly productive agricultural areas, see Breadbasket.
Rice Bowl
Japan Championship Rice Bowl presented by Prudential
StadiumTokyo Dome
LocationTokyo, Japan
Previous stadiumsNational Stadium (1984-1990)
Operated1948-present
Conference tie-insX-League
Sponsors
2022 matchup
Panasonic Impulse, Fujitsu Frontiers

The Japan Championship Rice Bowl is an annual American football national championship game held in Japan every January 3 that determines the champion of the X-League. The game was originally a collegiate all-star game until 1983. From 1984 to 2021, the game matched the champions of the Japan X Bowl with the college Koshien Bowl winners. However, after lopsided victories to the professional teams, discussions took place over whether this was a reasonable contest,[1] and from 2022 the contest was changed so that it was between the two top professional teams. The game can draw over 30,000 spectators.

Current champions

The current 2025 champions are the Panasonic Impulse. They have played against the Fujitsu Frontiers in each of the Rice Bowl games since 2022, however the Frontiers had won each of the previous three games.[2]

All Star Era

National Championship Era

X-League vs College Era Results

Date Game College Team Score X-League Stadium Attendance
January 3, 1984 37 Kyoto 29-28 Renown Rovers National Stadium —
January 3, 1985 38 Nihon 53-21 Renown Rovers National Stadium —
January 3, 1986 39 Kwansei Gakuin 42-45 Renown Rovers National Stadium —
January 3, 1987 40 Kyoto 35-34 Renown Rovers National Stadium —
January 3, 1988 41 Kyoto 42-8 Renown Rovers National Stadium —
January 3, 1989 42 Nihon 47-7 Renown Rovers National Stadium —
January 3, 1990 43 Nihon 42-14 Asahi Beer Silver Star National Stadium —
January 3, 1991 44 Nihon 35-13 Matsushita Electric Works Impulse Tokyo Dome —
January 3, 1992 45 Kwansei Gakuin 6-28 Onward Oaks Tokyo Dome —
January 3, 1993 46 Kyoto 20-29 Asahi Beer Silver Star Tokyo Dome —
January 3, 1994 47 Kwansei Gakuin 23-28 Asahi Beer Silver Star Tokyo Dome —
January 3, 1995 48 Ritsumeikan 14-16 Matsushita Electric Works Impulse Tokyo Dome —
January 3, 1996 49 Kyoto 35-21 Matsushita Electric Works Impulse Tokyo Dome —
January 3, 1997 50 Kyoto 16-19 Recruit Seagulls Tokyo Dome —
January 3, 1998 51 Hosei 0-39 Kashima Deers Tokyo Dome —
January 3, 1999 52 Ritsumeikan 16-30 Recruit Seagulls Tokyo Dome —
January 3, 2000 53 Kwansei Gakuin 17-33 Asahi Beer Silver Star Tokyo Dome —
January 3, 2001 54 Hosei 13-52 Asahi Soft Drink Challengers Tokyo Dome —
January 3, 2002 55 Kwansei Gakuin 30-27 Asahi Soft Drink Challengers Tokyo Dome —
January 3, 2003 56 Ritsumeikan 36-13 Obic Seagulls Tokyo Dome —
January 3, 2004 57 Ritsumeikan 28-16 Onward Oaks Tokyo Dome —
January 3, 2005 58 Ritsumeikan 7-26 Matsushita Electric Works Impulse Tokyo Dome 28,000
January 3, 2006 59 Hosei 17-47 Obic Seagulls Tokyo Dome 28,041
January 3, 2007 60 Hosei 29-30 Onward Skylarks Tokyo Dome 32,598
January 3, 2008 61 Kwansei Gakuin 38-52 Panasonic Electric Works Impulse Tokyo Dome 34,487
January 3, 2009 62 Ritsumeikan 17-13 Panasonic Electric Works Impulse Tokyo Dome 34,655
January 3, 2010 63 Kansai 16-19 Kashima Deers Tokyo Dome 35,742
January 3, 2011 64 Ritsumeikan 0-24 Obic Seagulls Tokyo Dome 35,750
January 3, 2012 65 Kwansei Gakuin 28-38 Obic Seagulls Tokyo Dome 25,059
January 3, 2013 66 Kwansei Gakuin 15-21 Obic Seagulls Tokyo Dome 27,371
January 3, 2014 67 Kwansei Gakuin 16-34 Obic Seagulls Tokyo Dome 29,564
January 3, 2015 68 Kwansei Gakuin 24-33 Fujitsu Frontiers Tokyo Dome 30,361
January 3, 2016 69 Ritsumeikan 19-22 Panasonic Impulse Tokyo Dome 31,345
January 3, 2017 70 Kwansei Gakuin 13-30 Fujitsu Frontiers Tokyo Dome 33,521
January 3, 2018 71 Nihon 9-37 Fujitsu Frontiers Tokyo Dome 34,500
January 3, 2019 72 Kwansei Gakuin 17-52 Fujitsu Frontiers Tokyo Dome 33,242
January 3, 2020 73 Kwansei Gakuin 14-38 Fujitsu Frontiers Tokyo Dome 31,345
January 3, 2021 74 Kwansei Gakuin 18-35 Obic Seagulls Tokyo Dome

[3]

X-League Championship Era

Date Game Team Score Team Stadium Attendance
January 3, 2022 75 Panasonic Impulse 18–24 Fujitsu Frontiers Tokyo Dome
January 3, 2023 76 Panasonic Impulse 21–29 Fujitsu Frontiers Tokyo Dome
January 3, 2024 77 Panasonic Impulse 10–16 Fujitsu Frontiers Tokyo Dome
January 3, 2025 78 Fujitsu Frontiers 27–34 Panasonic Impulse Tokyo Dome 17,694

[3]

Records of teams

College Teams
Team Times Participated Wins Losses
Kwansei Gakuin University Fighters 14 1 13
Ritsumeikan University Panthers 8 3 5
Kyoto University Gangsters 6 4 2
Nihon University Phoenix 5 4 1
Hosei University Orange 4 0 4
Kansai University Kaisers 1 0 1

[3]

X-League teams
Team Times Participated Wins Losses
Panasonic Impulse 11 5 6
Obic Seagulls 9 8 1
Fujitsu Frontiers 9 8 1
Renown Rovers 6 1 5
Asahi Beer Silver Star 4 3 1
Onward Skylarks 3 2 1
Lixil Deers 2 2 0
Asahi Soft Drink Challengers 2 1 1

[3]

References

  1. ^ Harris, Thalia (2020-10-05). "The Rice Bowl: Japan's Unbalanced American Football Playoffs". Unseen Japan. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  2. ^ "American football: Panasonic overcomes Fujitsu to claim Rice Bowl". Japan Wire by KYODO NEWS. 2025-01-03. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  3. ^ a b c d "Rice Bowl Records". Rice Bowl. Archived from the original on November 26, 2015. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
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