Japan won the World Rugby Sevens Series Qualifier at the 2018 Hong Kong Sevens with a last-gasp 19-14 win over Germany in the final. As a result, Japan become one of the 15 core teams on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in 2018-19.
In their Pool E games, Japan beat Georgia, then lost to Chile before beating Uganda on Saturday morning. In the quarterfinals, Japan beat Uruguay and then defeated Ireland in their semi-final encounter. In the decider, Japan had to come from behind at the death to beat Germany.