Japan's men's volleyball team is reloading for 2026, and the roster announced last week by the Japan Volleyball Association reads like a deliberate course-correction after a difficult 2025.
The headline is the return of the team's setting brain. Masahiro Sekita, the diminutive maestro whose absence visibly disrupted Japan's offensive rhythm at the 2025 World Championships, is back in the squad for the VNL and Asian Championship season.
"First and foremost is the return of none other than the maestro, the leader, the straw that stirs the pot in Masahiro Sakita," volleyball analyst Everett Delorme said in his breakdown of the JVA roster. "He took the entire summer off last year. And I don't know if any person in all of international volleyball in all time, maybe, has had his stock risen as much as Sekita last summer by not playing. By not having him out there really showed how integral he is to this team."
Sekita's value, in Delorme's view, is unusual at the international level. "His setting precision, the rhythm that he plays with, the way that he runs that offence. This team looked completely different without Sakita out there. I honestly think that Sakita is one of the best setters in the game. I know he gets some pushback from that, but when you watch him, to me, he might be the best pure setter in the game. With his hands, his release, his location, the way he just runs it. If this was a guy who was quite a bit taller, he would be considered one of the best setters of the game. No doubt about it."
The 175cm setter is paired in the squad with the usual core: opposite Yuji Nishida, captain Yuki Ishikawa (status uncertain), middles Akihiro Yamauchi and Kentaro Takahashi, and the ever-reliable libero block.
The surprise of the roster is its youngest name. Ren Ichino — 17 years old, out of Chinsai High School — has been selected to train with the senior squad.
"He's out of Chinsai High School. And if I'm not mistaken, they're the team that's kind of been sweeping up everything in Japanese volleyball recently," Delorme said. "And it seems like he is the MVP of this team and I've seen some video on him. I won't lie, he is smooth. He's smooth. He has a fast arm. It looks like he's got a lot of control."
The other notable inclusion is 25-year-old Cuban-born outside Alain de Armas, who has been in Japan since 16 and is expected to be naturalised this season. "He scored 516 points as the P2 for Suntory last year," Delorme noted. "This is a guy who knows how to ball."
The omissions are also instructive. Backup setter Masaki Oya, fourth-leading Japanese SVL scorer Taiso Mizumachi, and Barkom Lviv's Amato Nano are all absent. The most pointed snub is 19-year-old Karen Masajetti — at 205cm, a body type Japan needs — but his lack of Milano playing time told the federation everything it needed.
The captain question hangs over everything. "One of the big stories around this Japanese team will be the health of Captain Yuki Ishiawa," Delorme said. "He has not played since injuring his right knee on February 1st. It seems like it was a strain. Doesn't seem like there's anything torn or any surgery was needed, but there are big questions if he will be ready."
A fit Sekita-Ishikawa-Nishida triangle has historically been Japan's competitive ceiling. Whether the senior trio reunite by the VNL window will define the team's medal upside.
