"Footgolf," a novel sport the rules for which were only worked out less than a decade ago, is beginning to take off in Japan, although its players didn't quite make the impact they hoped to when Japan made its first appearance in the sport's world cup earlier this month.

Footgolf is played with a soccer ball instead of a golf ball, and the ball is kicked rather than struck with a club. The aim is to take the fewest number of kicks to complete 18 holes, with each "cup" measuring about 50 cm in diameter.

The rules were established in the Netherlands in 2009, but the sport is now played widely in the United States and Europe, according to the Japan FootGolf Association, established in February 2014.