2025 Worlds Report Card: Japan

Japan arrived in Czechia with a mission. They'd just barely escaped relegation in the 2024 World Championship and were quickly knocked out in the quarterfinals. Team Japan had spent the last year developing their offensive firepower and cleaning up their defense and goaltending as well, and they were hoping it would pay off in the 2025 World Championship.

So how did Japan do this year? They showed remarkable improvement: in the preliminary round, they won three of their four games, earning nine points, and they allowed only four goals. They finished second in Group B and drew a brutal quarterfinal opponent in Canada. Though, like last year, they were ultimately knocked out in the quarterfinals—in a 9-1 blowout by Canada—they have a lot to celebrate.

Let's take a closer look at each aspect of the team's performance this year.

Offense: B-

Japan's offense looked much stronger this year than last year. They put up a convincing 5-0 win against Norway in their first game this year, followed by a 2-0 win against Hungary. And while Japan lost their next game 2-0, in a hard-fought matchup against Sweden, the way they played was key here—after two dry periods where they could only muster three shots per period, they were able to turn things around and outshoot Sweden 11-10 in the third period. It wasn't successful in the end, sure, but that offensive adaptability was missing in past years. They capped off their preliminary round with a 1-0 win over a German team that peppered them with shots in the third period.

The key difference this year for Team Japan is that they're able to score when they need to and can present a well-rounded, cohesive offensive threat. At the 2024 World Championship, Japan faced Sweden and Germany and easily lost to both. The Swedish team handily beat the Japanese team 6-2, and Germany beat Japan 4-1. At the 2025 Worlds, however, Japan looked much more convincing against both, narrowing the margin with Sweden to just two goals and shutting out Germany. That's a sign of an offense that's grown and become more confident, and it paid off this year.

It might seem a bit silly to praise Team Japan so highly when, once they reached the quarterfinals, they were quickly dispatched by Canada in a 9-1 blowout. But it's important to remember here that Japan, despite their improvement over the past year, were never expected to meaningfully challenge the dominant pairing of the United States and Canada. Instead, head coach Yuji Iizuja has emphasized that the team is focused on increasing their offensive output over the long term as new players join the squad. And these efforts have paid off—that goal Japan scored against Canada was their first-ever goal against Canada. The team is slowly but surely developing a fierce offense.

So, to summarize, Japan's offense has grown tremendously over the past year, and their improved performance at Worlds this year is the result of all that hard work. Instead of struggling through the preliminary round and seemingly just barely avoiding relegation like in 2024, Japan looked confident in their abilities, much more able to control games, and able to avoid brutal losses to weaker teams. Japan’s still not in that highest tier led by the USA-Canada duopoly, but they've established themselves as a strong mid-tier Worlds offensive contender, and their efforts have earned the offense a B-.

Defense: B

The offense has been a point of emphasis for Team Japan, but it's the defense that especially stood out this year. At the 2024 World Championship, Team Japan allowed 13 goals in the preliminary round, winning only once and earning a total of four points. In addition to those hard losses against Germany and Sweden, they lost to China, a team ranked double-digit spots lower by the IIHF, by a 3-2 margin. The defense just wasn't able to shut down even comparatively weaker offenses, and that was a key contributor to them barely avoiding relegation and scraping into the quarterfinals.

This year, though, things were different. The defense was much more solid, allowing only four goals in their four preliminary round games. Sure, part of that improved performance might be the result of facing new opponents in Norway and Hungary, and of course, the goalies also deserve credit for the stops. But what's notable here is how the defense has responded as the momentum has shifted during games. Their performances against Sweden and Germany are particularly telling. When facing Sweden, for example, they were outshot 26-17, but only allowed two goals. And even more impressively, Germany outshot Japan 17-2 in the third period as they worked to claw back the 1-0 deficit. But Japan was able to respond by pulling back their offense, doubling down on their defensive efforts, and preventing a comeback. That sort of defensive awareness will be key as Japan continues their steady rise, and the defense earned a solid B for their impressive performances this year.

Goaltending: B+

Japan's incremental approach to improving the team continued with the goaltending. For the 2025 Worlds, Japan relied on the same goalie trio as last year: Miyuu Masuhara, Riko Kawaguchi, and Haruka Kuromaru. But it was really Masuhara's tournament—she took all five starts and put up an exceptional performance.

This full-time assignment was a huge shift from the 2024 World Championship, where she handled just two of Japan's five games and only saved just over 80% of the shots she faced. This year, she stepped up to the challenge. In five games, she stopped 163 of 176 total shots, for a save percentage of 0.926. She allowed an average of 2.62 goals per game, and earned two shutouts this tournament. That performance was enough to earn her fifth overall in the IIHF's goalie rankings for the 2025 World Championship. That put her above the long-time consistent performers of Sandra Abstreiter (Germany) and Karla Peslarova (Czechia), for example. Masuhara's performance is a huge improvement from last year and it's a key reason why Japan looked so much stronger this year.

Masuhara's improvement is especially visible if we separate her performances in the preliminary rounds and her performance in the quarterfinals. In the preliminary round, she faced 114 shots and stopped 110 of them, for a save percentage of 0.965. And even in Japan's loss to Canada, Masuhara saved a remarkable 53 of 62 shots from one of the two best offenses in the world. That's a wonderful improvement over the past year. She's solidified herself as not only the number one goalie for Team Japan, but as an underrated, talented goalie who can reliably stop shots and belongs in the top tier of goalies. She's been the backbone of the team and easily deserves a B+ for her performance, if not higher.

MVP: Mei Miura

This was a difficult choice, because Japan's shown some remarkable improvement at every aspect of the game. But Mei Miura stood out this year. She showed off her offensive versatility this year, scoring two goals and earning an assist across her five games. Miura is a selective but efficient shooter—she took nine shots across her five games, well behind Rui Ukita's 24 shots and Akane Shiga's 21, but she scored on two of them. And with more than 21 minutes per game on average and a +3 rating, she played a key role in leading Japan's offense.

Miura also exemplifies Team Japan's shift in philosophy and overall improvement. She was part of Japan's squad for the 2024 Worlds, but did not earn a point and ultimately ended up with a -8 rating. She's grown immensely over the past year, and it's an encouraging sign for Japan's long-term ability.