University rugby, the traditional center of the game in Japan, will no longer have a place in the national championships, the Japan Rugby Football Union decided on Wednesday.
Starting next season, the championship will be contested by the first four finishers from the Top League season. This move comes as the JRFU looks for ways to rearrange the domestic season schedule to accommodate Japan's Super Rugby franchise, the Sunwolves.
As a result, each of the 16 Top League teams will play an irregular 13-game schedule with the season ending in December. In January, the four-team national championship will then decide both the league and national title.
The national championship began in 1963 as a one-game competition between the university and corporate champions. But as the gap in talent grew, the tournament became a multi-team event. Since then, only one university team has reached the final — last season, when Teikyo University was crushed 49-15 by Top League champion Panasonic.
This year's four-team field will include Japan's university champion, Teikyo, and the first three finishers from the Top League.