Hisamitsu Springs of Kobe will be playing in their third straight FIVB Volleyball Club World Championship this year, after fifth-place finishes in 2014 and 2015.
The club was founded in 1948 and since making their debut in Japan’s Volleyball League in the 1980s have won the national title a total of five times - the first in 2002 and the latest last season.
Hisamitsu Springs beat Thailand’s BEC World in straight sets in the final in Bangkok to win their first Asian Club Championship title in 2002, after finishing runners-up to Shanghai Cable TV the year before in Ho Chi Minh City.
They also won the continental title in 2014, beating China’s Tianjin Bohai Bank in straight sets in the final in Nakhom Pathom, Thailand.
Last year they picked up their second silver medal in the history of the competition, after losing to Bangkok Glass in five sets in the final in Ha Nam, Vietnam.
Players to look out for include Risa Shinnabe, Yuki Ishii, and Miyu Nagaoka, who have also starred with Japan’s national team.