The 2023–24 Japan Rugby League One – Division 1 season is the thirteenth top flight league season played from December 2023 through to May 2024, in the newly rebranded Japan Rugby League One. The competition consisted of twelve teams, including one promoted team from Division 2, the Mie Heat.

Format The format and schedule was announced on 6 September 2023. It will consist of a round-robin fixture, before entering into a knockout style play-off for the final four teams. It featured two conferences (A, B). Teams in each conference played the teams in their respective conference twice (one at home, one away), and six matches against all the teams in the other conference, three being at home and three away. Each team played a total of sixteen seasonal fixtures, plus additional play-off matches, including relegation play-offs.

Teams and personnel

Club Prefecture Coach Stadium CapacityBlack Rams TokyoTokyo Peter HewatKomazawa Olympic Park Stadium20,010Brave Lupus TokyoTokyo Todd BlackadderAjinomoto Stadium49,970Hanazono LinersOsaka Yoshitake Mizuma Hanazono Rugby Stadium 30,000Kobe SteelersHyōgo Dave RennieNoevir Stadium Kobe30,132Mie HeatMie Kieran Crowley Mie Suzuka Sports Garden12,000Sagamihara DynaBoarsKanagawa Glenn Delaney Sagamihara Gion Stadium15,300Saitama Wild KnightsSaitama Robbie DeansKumagaya Rugby Ground24,000 Shizuoka Blue RevsShizuoka Yuichiro FujiiYamaha Stadium15,165Spears Tokyo BayChiba Frans LudekeEdogawa Stadium6,950Tokyo SungoliathTokyo Tanka KiyonoriChichibunomiya Rugby Stadium27,188Toyota VerblitzAichi Ben Herring Paloma Mizuho Rugby Stadium15,000Yokohama EaglesKanagawa Keisuke SawakiNHK Spring Mitsuzawa Football Stadium15,454

Ladder

Fixtures Each team will play five teams twice and six teams once for a total of sixteen home and away matches.

Promotion/Relegation play-offs The relegation play-offs will take place in May 2024.

Overview

Matches All times Japan Standard Time (JST) (UTC+9)

Black Rams Tokyo v Green Rockets Tokatsu

Mie Heat v Shuttles Aichi

Hanazono Liners v Urayasu D-Rocks

Season play-offs Bracket

Semi-finals

3rd Place Playoff

Final

Attendances

The average attendance was 8,250.

References

External links Japan Rugby League One site