The squad includes 19 forwards and 17 backs, with Tevita Tatafu and Naoto Saito among the key players.
A training camp will begin on Sunday 13th October, running through to Sunday 27th October, in Miyazaki. The day before the camp starts, Japan will kick off their international November window by hosting the All Blacks at Yokohama's 72,000-seater stadium - a major event for Japan, who have never beaten New Zealand in their seven encounters.
Tatafu and Saito to join the squad in Europe
From Wednesday 30th October to Tuesday 26th November, Japan will head to the Northern Hemisphere for three more Test matches, starting with a clash against France on Saturday 9th November at the Stade de France. The other two fixtures will see Japan face Uruguay on November 16th in Chambéry (Savoie) - outside of their Autumn Nations Series campaign - and England on 24th November at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham.
The squad was revealed during a press conference earlier this week, with former England and Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones calling up two players based in France for the tour: Union Bordeaux-Bègles number eight Tevita Tatafu (28 years old, 18 caps) and Toulouse scrum-half Naoto Saito (27 years old, 20 caps).
Both players were starters for their respective Top 14 clubs in the sixth round of the league on October 12th and will only join the squad once it arrives in Europe at the end of the month.
An inexperienced group
Among the 36 players selected, Tatafu and Saito are among the most experienced. Only seven players have more than 15 caps, with the veterans being fly-half/centre Harumichi Tatekawa (34 years old, 60 caps), who also serves as captain, and hooker Atsushi Sakate (31 years old, 45 caps).
In total, the squad has just 376 caps. For comparison, the All Blacks squad boasts at least 1,361 caps - 3.5 times more.
"In my experience, it generally takes three years to rebuild a team," Jones remarked during the press conference, acknowledging the challenge ahead. "Right now, we're outside the top 10 and lack experience. The majority of our players have fewer than 10 or 20 caps in key positions. However, we're starting to lay the foundations for a strong team."
Japan's squad for the Autumn Nations Series
Forwards
Takayoshi Mohara (Shizuoka, 5 caps)
Takato Okabe (Yokohama, 4 caps)
Atsushi Sakate (Saitama, 46 caps)
Mamoru Harada (BL Tokyo, 7 caps)
Kenta Matsuoka (Kobe, 2 caps)
Shuhei Takeuchi (Urayasu, 10 caps)
Keijiro Tamefusa (Tokyo-Bay, 7 caps)
Opeti Helu (Tokyo-Bay, 0 caps)
Warner Dearns (BL Tokyo, 18 caps)
Sanaila Waqa (Hanazono, 7 caps)
Epineri Uluiviti (Sagamihara, 2 caps)
Daichi Akiyama (Toyota, 1 cap)
Kazuki Himeno (Toyota, 32 caps)
Tevita Tatafu (UBB, 18 caps)
Faulua Makisi (Tokyo-Bay, 12 caps)
Amato Fakatava (BR Tokyo, 10 caps)
Kanji Shimokawa (Tokyo SG, 10 caps)
Amanaki Saumaki (Kobe, 5 caps)
Isaiah Mapusua (Toyota, 4 caps)
Backs
Naoto Saito (Toulouse, 21 caps)
Shinobu Fujiwara (Tokyo-Bay, 6 caps)
Taiki Koyama (Saitama, 6 caps)
Ren Iinuma (Urayasu, 0 caps)
Harumichi Tatekawa (Tokyo-Bay, 60 caps)
Ichigo Nakakusu (BR Tokyo, 0 caps)
Dylan Riley (Saitama, 24 caps)
Siosaia Fifita (Toyota, 13 caps)
Nicholas McCurran (BL Tokyo, 4 caps)
Yusuke Kajimura (Yokohama, 4 caps)
Yuki Ikeda (BR Tokyo, 0 caps)
Tomoki Osada (Saitama, 14 caps)
Jone Naikabula (BL Tokyo, 13 caps)
Malo Tuitama (Shizuoka, 4 caps)
Junta Hamano (Kobe, 1 cap)
Yoshitaka Yazaki (Waseda Univ., 6 caps)
Takuro Matsunaga (BL Tokyo, 0 caps)
