The Japan men's national basketball team certainly wants to change its low credit rating on the international stage. It may not happen right away, but some unique talent makes it possible in the future.

Japan revealed its 27-man provisional roster for its six training camps for the FIBA Asia Championship on Monday. Following the announcement, the team entered the first day of camp at the National Training Center in Tokyo's Kita Ward.

Yuki Togashi and Yuta Watanabe, who have both played overseas, and star veteran Yuta Tabuse headline the squad, which also includes Meisei High School phenom Rui Hachimura.

The team will be cut to 12 before the Asia Championship, which will be held between Sept. 23-Oct. 3 in Changsha, China.

The Japan Basketball Association is currently suspended by FIBA, but the ban is expected to be lifted, partially later this week and then fully in August.

The Asia Championship will also serve as an Olympic qualifier. The winning team will earn a spot at next summer's Rio Games, while the second- and third-placed teams will advance to the final qualifying round.

Japan's men are desperate to earn an Olympic ticket, which they haven't done for nearly 40 years. But head coach Kenji Hasegawa is realistic and is trying to see a bigger picture. Team Japan has never made a podium finish in the last eight Asia Championships.

"We haven't been to an Olympics for 40 years, and we've got to set our goal based on that," Hasegawa said. "We have the Tokyo Olympics in five years, and there's the World Cup in 2019. We want to win a spot in the Asian and Oceania qualifying by ourselves (for the World Cup).

"There's 12 spots for the Olympics and 32 for the World Cup. Before we play in the Tokyo Games, we definitely want to play in the World Cup to test ourselves the year before. We're going to enter the Olympic qualifying (for Rio) with long-term plans in mind."

The majority of the members for the provisional Japan team come from NBL clubs. Atsuya Ota (Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix) and Shigehiro Taguchi (Akita Northern Happinets) were selected from the bj-league. Yudai Baba, a 195-cm point guard from Tsukuba Univesity, is the only player from a Japanese college.

"With the pride of representing the bj-league, I would like to contribute to the team," said Taguchi, who played with Togashi at Akita before Togashi departed for the U.S. last year. "My strength is in 3-point shooting, so I would like to showcase that."

Togashi said: "I've played in America. I don't know exactly what I can bring to this team, but it was absolutely a big experience for me and I believe I can capitalize on it."

Togashi, who hopes to be an NBA player, said that he is likely to leave the training camp when the NBA Summer League begins in mid-July, although he had nothing that he could officially announce just yet.

"I've got to be at the Summer League by any means (to get a chance to play in the NBA), because the NBA coaches will be watching," said Togashi, who played for the Texas Legends of the NBL Development League last year.

Watanabe will be with the team for the first two rounds of the training camp as he has the summer semester to attend at George Washington University.

"I'll only be able to be here for the first and second rounds of the training camps," Watanabe said. "But I hope to show what I've learned in the States here."

Tabuse, who's the oldest player at 34, has returned to the national team for the first time in four years. The former NBA player said that the national team is where he always wants to be at, and he's happy to return after the four-year layoff.

"I'm honored to be selected," said Tabuse, who plays for the Link Tochigi Brex. "I believe that it means something that I've been chosen at this time."

Hasegawa hinted that he could call up players that are not on the provisional squad for the Asia Championship, including naturalized Japanese players.