The new season of Japan’s Daido Life SV.League will kick off this weekend, with Tokyo Great Bears facing Hokkaido Yellow Stars at Ariake Coliseum for two consecutive days.
However, the main highlight of the upcoming season is the arrival of two new volleyball teams, bringing the total number of clubs in the men’s division to 12.
Upcoming teams Fragolad Kagoshima and Hokkaido Yellow Stars will be joined by veterans Hiroshima Thunders, JTEKT Stings Aichi, Osaka Bluteon, Shinshu Matsumoto Tridents, Suntory Sunbirds Osaka, Tokyo Great Bears, Toray Arrows Shizuoka, Voreas Hokkaido, and Wolfdogs Nagoya.
The Nagano Tridents, who finished last during the 2025-2026 season, will also return this year as the Shinshu Matsumoto Tridents.
New rules
The upcoming Daido Life tournament will also implement a new format to accommodate the arrival of Fragolad Kagoshima and Hokkaido Yellow Stars to the top-tier league.
All 12 teams will now have to play 44 regular-season games and will face other teams four times. Half of the games will be played at home while the other half will be held in other cities.
According to Volleyball World, the rules for the play-offs round will remain the same.
A regular season winner will be awarded after all games are played.
The regular season champions will also head to the semi-finals, alongside the runners-up of the regular period.
Meanwhile, the teams who finished third to sixth will face each other in the quarter-finals round.
League organisers also announced that SV.League teams are free to sign more foreign players, but only three guest players will be allowed to play on the court at the same time.
All 12 teams could also field their Asian quota player during the matches.
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Osaka Bluteon aim for second title
Defending SV.League champions Osaka Bluteon signed Canadian middle blocker Fynnian McCarthy for the new season as they try to fight for their second consecutive title.
Japanese opposite spiker Yuji Nishida is also expected to lead his squad’s title defence, alongside local team-mates Tomohiro Yamamoto and Shoma Tomita.
French setter Antoine Brizard and Cuban hitter Miguel Lopez will also return to defend Osaka Bluteon’s volleyball glory.
Meanwhile, Suntory Sunbirds are aiming to bounce back from their losses last season, signing four new foreign reinforcements for their upcoming games.
Tunisian opposite player Wassim Ben Tara and European champion Sir Perugia will support the Sunbirds’s campaign for the 2026-2027 SV.League season.
For newcomers Fragolad Kagoshima, Yudai Minemura will serve as the team captain while Takanori Fujita will lead the coaching staff.
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