Adidas Japan today officially launched the "Japan National Team Special Series" created by NIGO® for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
This special collection was created in collaboration with KENZO Artistic Director and HUMAN MADE founder NIGO®. Created by NIGO®, it reflects Adidas' desire to "make football a deeper culture through the Japan National team", resonates with the concept of diversity and inclusiveness advocated by the Japan Football Association, and presents a unique design that transcends age, gender and other barriers and is deeply loved by the Japanese national team. Taking inspiration from the culture of Japan, which is represented by the long-loved sakura, and Sakurakura, a Japanese snack that combines artisan techniques, the collection uses the harmonious Japanese color scheme of pink and green, which is common in many Japanese dots.
The men's and women's national teams will wear the series at a training session on the day before an international friendly next month, sending a message that the goal is to build a society where everyone can enjoy sports equally.
In addition to the simple and classic design and unique Japanese harmony color scheme, the ball collar is decorated with NIGO® 's signature cherry blossom heart motif behind the collar and displays the "OGIN" logo inside. In addition, NIGO® 's dedication to detail is illustrated by the number 22, representing the FIFA 2022 World Cup, on the back of the jersey.
"Sakura cakes are very familiar to Japanese people, and sakura is my favorite flower, so I think it's a very good idea," Minamino said. I would be delighted if even new fans would be interested in a colour combination that the football world has never seen before. I look forward to using this series to shape the new image of the Japanese national team."
"The Japanese national team has a strong blue image, so the combination of pink and green is very new to us," Kubo said. With its stylish design, you can also look at it as a fashion piece, so I hope more people will support the Japanese national team through this collection."
"I always felt that the national team must be loved by the Japanese people, just like sakura and Sakura cake," Haraguchi said. With this new series and our performances, we hope to further promote football so that more people can support the Japanese national team."
The collection will be worn by Masuko Yamato at a training session the day before the Japan Women's national team's friendly match against England in Spain on November 11. Next, on Nov. 17, ahead of the World Cup, the Blue Samurai will wear them on a training day before the United Arab Emirates play Canada in a friendly.
In addition to functional clothing such as jerseys and shorts, the collection offers everyday wearable items such as T-shirts, zippered coats and pants, as well as accessories such as beanie hats, cap caps and gym bags, making it a collection that can be used in a variety of scenarios on and off the court.
NIGO® said of the collection: "Sakurakura, which has been popular for about 300 years, is a very representative Japanese snack that combines the skills of generations of artisans. Inspired by this time-honored Japanese tradition, we deliberately kept the collection simple and pure."
