Japan-USA Bowl
| Japan | 0 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 20 |
| Team USA Hawaii | 0 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 16 |
| 0-7 | Shelton | 27 yard pass from Kapanui (Villaflor kick) |
| 7-7 | Itai | 14 yard pass from Tomizawa (Yamaguchi kick) |
| 7-10 | Villaflor | 27 yard field goal |
| 13-10 | Shimizu | 16 yard pass from Tomizawa (kick no good) |
| 13-16 | West | 4 yard run (kick no good) |
| 20-16 | Mizuguchi | 25 yard pass from Tomizawa (Yamaguchi kick) |
Team Statistics
| 37-22 | Attempts-Completions | 27-17 |
| 19:53 | Time of Possession | 28:07 |
Individual Statistics
| Rushing |
| Japan: Ishino 5-48, Namiki 3-30, Morimoto 3-20, Takahashi 1-19, Furutani 2-6, Tomizawa 2-(-5), Team 1-(-3) |
Team USA Hawaii: West 13-55, Malaythong 7-31, Salanoa 2-6, Kapanui
3-4, White 1-3, Shelton 1-2, Tillis 1-(-10), Team 2-(-22) |
| Passing |
| Japan: Tomizawa 37-22-254-0-3 |
Team USA Hawaii: Salanoa 17-12-127-0-0, Kapanui 7-4-43-0-1, Tillis
3-1-8-0-0 |
| Receiving |
Japan: Shimizu 6-55, Mizuguchi 3-42, Touhata 3-41, Yaoita 3-17, Itai
2-49, Takahashi 2-13, Imoto 1-23, Ishino 1-11, Morimoto 1-3 |
| Team USA Hawaii: Komine 7-80, Shelton 4-53, West 3-16, Fagins 1-20, Kitashima 1-5, Daley 1-4 |
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Japan beats Team USA Hawaii
On July 14 two-time world cup winner Japan defeated an all-star team from Hawaii representing the USA in the Japan-USA Bowl in Tokyo 20-16 in front of 9.151 spectators at the Tokyo Dome. It was the first ever match between the japanese national team and a team from the US. Japan won the game on a 25-yard touchdown pass from QB Yuichi Tomizawa to WR Takao Mizuguchi with a minute and 34 seconds remaining in the game. The game winning drive began at Team Japan's 9-yard line and included a successful 23-yard pass play on fourth down and seven yards to go two plays before the touchdown. During the drive Tomizawa completed seven of his nine pass attempts. Team USA Hawaii had taken a 16-13 lead with little over four minutes left in the game on a 4-yard run by RB John West.
Team Japan was composed of players from the X League plus this year's NFL Europe players Kentaro Namiki (Quarterback; Cologne Centurions) and Masakazu Goda (Center; Berlin Thunder). The key players of Team Japan had won the World Cup 2003 in Germany. Team USA Hawaii was a mix of former college players primarily from the University of Hawaii (e.g. WR Britton Komine who caught 164 passes for 2.276 yards and 19 touchdowns for Hawaii from 2002 through 2004 and RB John West who ran for 873 yards and 9 touchdowns in 2002 and 2003) and former players of the former Arena League 2 team Hawaiian Islanders. One player, DT Ta'ase Faumui, was on the roster of the NFL team Pittsburgh Steelers in 1994 and 1995 and reached the Super Bowl in 1995.
Japan QB Yuichi Tomizawa had three touchdown passes
against Team USA Hawaii and was voted MVP of the game.
(Photo: X League / Makoto Sato, Text: Dieter Hoch)
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