Japan Bowl

The first game was played in 1976 in Tokyo, to a crowd of 68,000 spectators.[1] After being played at National Stadium for four years, the game moved to Yokohama in 1980, where it was played at Yokohama Stadium through 1991. The final two game were held at Tokyo Dome in 1992 and 1993.

From 1983 through 1989, the game was sponsored by Ricoh and was known as the Ricoh Japan Bowl.

The bowl featured various famous participants, including Heisman Trophy winners Bo Jackson and Ty Detmer, who both received MVP awards. College Football Hall of Fame coach Lou Holtz led the East team in the 1976 game, and Super Bowl XLIV champion Mark Brunell won the final MVP award in 1993.

The 1977 game featured California quarterback Joe Roth, who was fighting a battle with melanoma. The Japan Bowl ended up being the final football game of Roth's career; he died just a month after the game in February at the age of 21.

Several unrelated football games have been informally referred to as the "Japan Bowl", such as the 1993 Coca-Cola Classic,[2] the 1994 Ivy Bowl,[3] and some of the NFL's American Bowl games.

No.	Date	Winner		Loser		Venue	Attendance[4]	Ref.
1	January 18, 1976	West	27	East	18	National Stadium	68,000	[5]
2	January 16, 1977	West	21	East	10		58,000	[6]
3	January 14, 1978	East	26	West	10		32,500	[7]
4	January 14, 1979	East	33	West	14		55,000	[8]
5	January 13, 1980	West	28	East	17	Yokohama Stadium	27,000	[9]
6	January 18, 1981	West	25	East	13		30,000	[10]
7	January 17, 1982	West	28	East	17		28,000	[11]
8	January 23, 1983	West	30	East	21		30,000	[12]
9	January 15, 1984	West	26	East	21		26,000	[13]
10	January 13, 1985	West	28	East	14		30,000	[14]
11	January 11, 1986	East	31	West	14		30,000	[15]
12	January 11, 1987	West	24	East	17		30,000	[16]
13	January 10, 1988	West	17	East	3		30,000	[17]
14	January 15, 1989	East	30	West	7		29,000	[18]
15	January 13, 1990	East	24	West	10		27,000	[19]
16	January 12, 1991	West	20	East	14		30,000	[20]
17	January 11, 1992	East	14	West	13	Tokyo Dome	50,000	[21]
18	January  9, 1993	East	27	West	13		46,000	[22]

The West team won 11 games, while the East team won 7 games.[23]
NCAA records and contemporary news reports sometimes cite different game dates, likely due to differing time zones.
NCAA records incorrectly list all games as having been played in Yokohama.

Joe Roth Memorial Award

Following the 1977 appearance of Joe Roth – an All-American quarterback from Cal who was suffering from melanoma, which would lead to his death weeks after playing in the game – the game's MVP recognition was given as the Joe Roth Memorial Award.[24] The trophy is topped by Roth's helmet. The first recipient was Jimmy Cefalo of Penn State in 1978.[25]

• List of college bowl games

• Joe Roth at the 1977 Japan Bowl