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, 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 2026 champions are the Panasonic Impulse. This is the first time the Impulse has won back-to-back Rice Bowl titles.

All Star Era

+DateGameEastern ArmyScoreWestern ArmyStadiumJanuary 17, 19481 Kanto University Selection33-12Kansai University SelectionNile Kinnick Stadium January 2, 19492 Kanto University Selection52-0Kansai University SelectionNile Kinnick Stadium January 4, 19503Kanto University Selection13-19Kansai University SelectionNile Kinnick Stadium January 1, 19514Kanto University Selection27-6Kansai University SelectionNile Kinnick Stadium January 5, 19525Kanto University Selection20-7Kansai University SelectionMeiji Jingu Gaien Stadium January 1, 19536Kanto University Selection43-0Kansai University SelectionMeiji Jingu Gaien Stadium January 1, 19547 Kanto University Selection20-7Kansai University SelectionMeiji Jingu Gaien Stadium January 1, 19558 Kanto University Selection20-0Kansai University SelectionMeiji Jingu Gaien Stadium January 1, 19569 Kanto University Selection19-0Kansai University SelectionMeiji Jingu Gaien Stadium January 13, 195710Kanto University Selection13-21 Kansai University SelectionKorakuen Velodrome January 1, 195811 Kanto University Selection31-0Kansai University SelectionKorakuen Stadium January 1, 195912 Kanto University Selection25-0Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 1, 196013 Kanto University Selection68-0Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 1, 196114 Kanto University Selection22-12Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 1, 196215 Kanto University Selection42-16Kansai University SelectionKorakuen Velodrome January 1, 196316 Kanto University Selection40-8Kansai University SelectionKorakuen Velodrome January 1, 196417Kanto University Selection6-12 Kansai University SelectionKorakuen Velodrome January 1, 196518 Kanto University Selection44-6Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 15, 196619Kanto University Selection14-20 Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 15, 196720Kanto University Selection30-34 Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 15, 196821Kanto University Selection8-18 Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 15, 196922 Kanto University Selection16-12Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 15, 197023Kanto University Selection8-14 Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 15, 197124Kanto University Selection6-28 Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 16, 197225 Kanto University Selection30-20Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 15, 197326Kanto University Selection26-28 Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 13, 197427Kanto University Selection0-47 Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 12, 197528 Kanto University Selection31-7Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 11, 197629Kanto University Selection10-14 Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 9, 197730Kanto University Selection7-21 Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 16, 197831 Kanto University Selection26-14Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 4, 197932 Kanto University Selection21-0Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 4, 198033 Kanto University Selection42-14Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 4, 198134 Kanto University Selection35-15Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 10, 198235 Kanto University Selection20-9Kansai University SelectionNational StadiumJanuary 16, 198336 Kanto University Selection37-34Kansai University SelectionNational Stadium

National Championship Era

X-League vs College Era Results

Date Game College team Score X-League Stadium Attendance January 3, 1984 37 Kyoto29-28Renown Rovers National Stadium— January 3, 1985 38 Nihon 53-21Renown Rovers National Stadium— January 3, 1986 39 Kwansei Gakuin 42-45Renown Rovers National Stadium— January 3, 1987 40 Kyoto35-34 Renown Rovers National Stadium— January 3, 1988 41 Kyoto42-8 Renown Rovers National Stadium— January 3, 1989 42 Nihon47-7 Renown Rovers National Stadium— January 3, 1990 43 Nihon42-14Asahi Beer Silver Star National Stadium— January 3, 1991 44 Nihon35-13Matsushita Electric Works Impulse Tokyo Dome— January 3, 1992 45 Kwansei Gakuin 6-28Onward Oaks Tokyo Dome— January 3, 1993 46 Kyoto20-29Asahi Beer Silver Star Tokyo Dome — January 3, 1994 47 Kwansei Gakuin23-28Asahi Beer Silver Star Tokyo Dome— January 3, 1995 48 Ritsumeikan14-16Matsushita Electric Works Impulse Tokyo Dome— January 3, 1996 49 Kyoto35-21Matsushita Electric Works Impulse Tokyo Dome— January 3, 1997 50 Kyoto16-19Recruit Seagulls Tokyo Dome— January 3, 1998 51 Hosei0-39Kashima Deers Tokyo Dome— January 3, 1999 52 Ritsumeikan16-30Recruit Seagulls Tokyo Dome— January 3, 2000 53 Kwansei Gakuin17-33Asahi Beer Silver Star Tokyo Dome— January 3, 2001 54 Hosei13-52Asahi Soft Drink Challengers Tokyo Dome— January 3, 2002 55 Kwansei Gakuin30-27Asahi Soft Drink Challengers Tokyo Dome— January 3, 2003 56 Ritsumeikan36-13Obic Seagulls Tokyo Dome— January 3, 2004 57 Ritsumeikan28-16Onward Oaks Tokyo Dome— January 3, 2005 58 Ritsumeikan7-26Matsushita Electric Works Impulse Tokyo Dome 28,000 January 3, 2006 59 Hosei17-47Obic Seagulls Tokyo Dome 28,041 January 3, 2007 60 Hosei29-30Onward Skylarks Tokyo Dome 32,598 January 3, 2008 61 Kwansei Gakuin38-52Panasonic Electric Works Impulse Tokyo Dome 34,487 January 3, 2009 62 Ritsumeikan17-13Panasonic Electric Works Impulse Tokyo Dome 34,655 January 3, 2010 63 Kansai16-19Kashima Deers Tokyo Dome 35,742 January 3, 2011 64 Ritsumeikan0-24Obic Seagulls Tokyo Dome 35,750 January 3, 2012 65 Kwansei Gakuin28-38Obic Seagulls Tokyo Dome 25,059 January 3, 2013 66 Kwansei Gakuin15-21Obic Seagulls Tokyo Dome 27,371 January 3, 2014 67 Kwansei Gakuin16-34Obic Seagulls Tokyo Dome 29,564 January 3, 2015 68 Kwansei Gakuin24-33Fujitsu Frontiers Tokyo Dome 30,361 January 3, 2016 69 Ritsumeikan19-22Panasonic Impulse Tokyo Dome 31,345 January 3, 2017 70 Kwansei Gakuin13-30Fujitsu 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 73Kwansei Gakuin14-38Fujitsu FrontiersTokyo Dome 31,345 January 3, 2021 74 Kwansei Gakuin 18-35Obic Seagulls Tokyo Dome 8,851

X-League Championship Era

Date Game Team Score Team Stadium Attendance January 3, 2022 75 Panasonic Impulse 18–24Fujitsu Frontiers Tokyo Dome 14,610 January 3, 2023 76 Panasonic Impulse 21–29Fujitsu Frontiers Tokyo Dome 16,796 January 3, 2024 77 Panasonic Impulse 10–16Fujitsu Frontiers Tokyo Dome 20,202 January 3, 2025 78 Fujitsu Frontiers 27–34 Panasonic Impulse Tokyo Dome 17,694 January 3, 2026 79 Obic Seagulls 7–9 Panasonic Impulse Tokyo Dome 20,214

Records of teams +College TeamsTeamTimes ParticipatedWinsLossesKwansei Gakuin University Fighters14113Ritsumeikan University Panthers835Kyoto University Gangsters642Nihon University Phoenix541 Hosei University Orange404Kansai University Kaisers101

+X-League teams TeamTimes ParticipatedWinsLossesPanasonic Impulse1266Obic Seagulls1082Fujitsu Frontiers981Renown Rovers615Asahi Beer Silver Star431Onward Skylarks321Lixil Deers220Asahi Soft Drink Challengers211

References

External links (Japanese)