Nijiho Nagata

Nijiho Nagata ( 永田虹歩 born 6 December 2000) is a Japanese rugby union player, who plays hooker for the Japan women's national rugby union team.^[1]

Nijiho Nagata

Nagata during the 2025 Rugby World Cup in Northampton
Date of birth	(2000-12-06) 6 December 2000 (age 24)
Height	1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Weight	80 kg (176 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Forward Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) Mie Pearls (0) Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) 2023 Auckland Storm 6 (5) Super Rugby Years Team Apps (Points) 2024 Blues Women 6 (0) International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2021–  Japan 29 (0)

Rugby career

In November 2021, she scored the first try that helped the Sakura's lead Scotland at halftime; however a late Scottish comeback saw her side lose 36–12.^[2][3] She competed at the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.^[4]

She featured for Japan in the 2023 Asia Rugby Championship.^[5] She played for International Budo University and previously played for Auckland Storm in the Farah Palmer Cup.^[6]

In September 2023, she was named as a reserve in the test against Fiji in Japan.^[7] At the inaugural 2023 WXV 2 tournament, she scored Japan's only try in their defeat to Scotland.^[8]

In 2024, Nagata joined the Blues Women in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition as an injury cover for Esther Faiaoga-Tilo.^[6][9] She was named in the Sakura XVs side for the 2024 Asia Rugby Championship.^[10][11] She scored a try in the final 10 minutes of the game to help her side beat Hong Kong China.^[12]

She was selected in the Sakura fifteens squad for their tour to the United States in April 2025.^[13] On 28 July 2025, she was named in the Japanese side to the Women's Rugby World Cup in England.^[14][15]