is a men's volleyball team based in Hirakata City, Osaka, Japan. It plays in SV.League. The club was founded in 1951. It is owned by the Panasonic Corporation.
History Osaka Bluteon was established as a volleyball club for Matsushita Electric Industrial (now Panasonic) in 1951 and from 1992 to 2024 was known as the Panasonic Panthers.
The club participated in the inaugural 2024–25 season of the SV.League. It adopted its current name and branding in June 2024 ahead of their participation in the new league.
Names Panasonic Panthers (1992–2024) Osaka Bluteon (2024–)
Team
Current roster updated : 25 August 2025 Team roster – season 2025/26Player nameDate of birthPosition 1 Kunihiro Shimizu Opposite 3 Shunsuke Nakamura Setter 4 Kotaro Kaneta Middle Blocker 5 Shoma Tomita Outside Hitter 6 Antoine Brizard Setter 8 Kenyu Nakamoto Outside Hitter 9 Peng Shikun Middle Blocker 10 Akihiro Yamauchi Middle Blocker 11 Yuji Nishida (c) Opposite 13 Tomohiro YamamotoLibero 15 Masato Kai Outside Hitter 16 Kotaro IkeshiroLibero 18 Hiroto Nishiyama Outside Hitter 19 Keitaro Nishikawa Middle Blocker 22 Bryan Bagunas Outside Hitter 23 Larry Evbade-Dan Middle Blocker 81 Miguel Ángel López Outside Hitter Head coach: Tuomas Sammelvuo
Former roster Team roster – season 2023/2024Player nameDate of birthPosition 1 Kunihiro Shimizu Opposite 2 Hideomi Fukatsu Setter 3 Shunsuke Nakamura Setter 6 Thomas Jaeschke Outside Hitter 7 Yuga Tarumi Outside Hitter 8 Kenyu Nakamoto Outside Hitter 10 Akihiro Yamauchi (c) Middle Blocker 11 Yuji Nishida Opposite 12 Tomotake Ito Libero 13 Tomohiro YamamotoLibero 15 Tatsunori Otsuka Outside Hitter 17 Takeshi Nagano Libero 18 Hiroto Nishiyama Outside Hitter 19 Keitaro Nishikawa Middle Blocker 20 Setter 21 Yasunari Kodama Middle Blocker 22 Yuichiro Komiya Middle Blocker 23 Larry Evbade-Dan Middle Blocker Head coach: Laurent Tillie
Honours SV.League/Daido Life SV.League Champions (×1): 2025–26 Third place (×1): 2024–25 Japan Volleyball League/V.League/V.Premier League Champions (×6): 1971–72, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2018–19 Runners-up (×7): 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1972–73, 2012–13, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2023–24 Third place (×1): 2022-23 Kurowashiki All Japan Volleyball Tournament Champions (×9): 1964, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1981, 1998, 2009, 2014 Runners-up (×1): 2024 Emperor's Cup Champions (×3): 2011, 2012, 2023 Runner-up (×1): 2008 Asian Men's Club Volleyball Championship Runner-up (×2): 2019, 2025 Third place (×1): 2010 FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship Runner-up (×1): 2025
Notable players
Takahiro Yamamoto (2001–2013) Tatsuya Fukuzawa (2008–2014 and 2016–2019) Kunihiro Shimizu (2008–present) Akihiro Yamauchi (2016–present) Yuji Nishida (2023–present)
Nalbert Bitencourt (2002–2004) Luiz Felipe Fonteles (2007–2008) Dante Amaral (2013–2014 and 2015–2016) Thiago Alves (2011–2012 and 2014–2015)
Antoine Brizard (2025–)
Michał Kubiak (2016–2023)
Miguel Ángel López (2024–present)
Thomas Jaeschke (2023–2025)
Peng Shikun (2025–present)
Bryan Bagunas (2025–present)
League results Champion Runner-up
LeaguePosition TeamsMatchesWinLoseV.League1st (1994–95) 7th 8 21 10 11 2nd (1995–96) 6th 8 21 10 11 3rd (1996–97) 5th 8 21 10 11 4th (1997–98) 3rd 8 21 14 7 5th (1998–99) 4th 10 18 17 1 6th (1999-00) 6th 10 18 9 9 7th (2000–01) 6th 10 18 9 9 8th (2001–02) 6th 10 18 9 9 9th (2002–03) 3rd 8 21 13 8 10th (2003–04) 3rd 8 21 12 9 11th (2004–05) 4th 8 28 15 13 12th (2005–06) 5th 8 28 16 12 V・Premier2006–07 3rd 8 28 17 11 2007–08 Champion 8 28 19 9 2008–09 3rd 8 28 15 13 2009–10 Champion 8 28 20 42010–11 4th 8 24 14 102011–12 Champion 8 21 17 42012–13 Runner-Up 8 28 20 8 2013–14 Champion 8 28 21 72014–15 6th 8 21 13 82015–16 Runner-up 8 30 16 142016–17 5th 8 26 15 112017–18 Champion 8 28 23 5V.League Division 12018–19Champion 10 34 28 62019–20 Runner-up 10 28 24 42020–21 Runner-up 10 41 33 82021–22 3rd1036 25 112022–233rd103925142023–24Runner-up1038335SV.League2024–253rd10463792025–26Champion 10 44 38 6
References
External links Official Website