After a four-year hiatus, Japan are returning to the IHF Men’s World Championship. At Egypt 2021, they finished 18th, having failed to make the top-20 in the previous two editions of the world handball flagship competition. Yet it was not for the lack of ambition or talent.

Over the past eight years, the Asian side was led by a foreign coach, coming from Europe. It was Antonio Carlos Ortega who took over in 2016, before handing the reigns to Dagur Sigurdsson in 2017, as the Icelandic coach was the one carrying the load over the last seven years.

But when Sigurdsson received an offer too good to refuse to lead  the Croatia men’s senior national team, Japan went back to Ortega to lead them at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where they qualified after clinching the first place in the AHF Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament.

The caveat was that Ortega, FC Barcelona’s coach, only signed for a brief period of time, with Japan having already set their sights on their future coach. The name? Toni Gerona, a true globetrotter of the game.

“I have been talking with the Japan Handball Federation since February. But as I did not know the players, nor the system, the sensible thing was to let somebody else lead the team for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, because the amount of time was so short, I do not think we would be able to gel properly. I think it was the right decision,” says Gerona.

But after Japan finished 11th, losing all five matches, albeit proving they are a strong side, one to be reckoned with in the future, Gerona took over and will be leading the Asian side at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, a big challenge for him and for the Japan team.

“It is a special feeling, I am really looking forward to it. I have been there already, it is my third World Championship, so I know what to expect, but I think that the competition will be tough. Yet I am waiting eagerly, because it is something fantastic,” adds Gerona.

An interesting fact is that Gerona has been at the IHF Men’s World Championship with two different teams. He made his debut at Denmark/Germany 2019, when he was Tunisia’s coach. At the previous edition of the world handball flagship competition, Gerona was leading Serbia. Each time, he missed out on a top-10 finish by a whisker, coming 12th in 2019 and 11th in 2023.

That makes Gerona return to the IHF Men’s World Championship for the third time with a third different team, each time representing a different continent. First it was Africa, then Europe and now he will lead an Asian side in the competition.

An unique feature for the handball nerds and even more challenging for the Spanish coach, who has now seen it all, facing different challenges and different situations each time, having to adapt to the culture and the playing style of his students.

But what’s different in Japan?

“It is a different set-up, a different way of understanding and playing handball. Remember that the club teams do not play international handball, albeit the league is very good. Therefore, they do not have much experience. Moreover, the players who are aged between 18 and 22 years old are playing for their universities, as they complete their studies. At times, there are teams of 50-60 players, which makes it difficult to nurture their talents. But we are laying a foundation and trying to improve the system,” says Gerona.

“There is a huge amount of talent available, you can see it when the players are featuring in the junior or youth competitions. They are fast. Maybe they are not as tall or as strong as the opponents and that can be seen in the senior competitions. But we are really getting better and better, with the help of the IHF.”

Another challenge comes due to the status of the players, which are semi-professional in Japan. They work at their daily jobs in the morning and afternoon and train in the evenings. However, Japan have produced some interesting players in the past decade, which have also made the trip to Europe, getting more and more experience.

Nevertheless, the current iteration of the Japan squad has only players featuring in the domestic league, as centre back Kosuke Yasuhira and line player Shuichi Yoshida, arguably the most experienced Japanese players, who have been playing in Europe in the past year, at North Macedonian side Vardar and French outfit HBC Nantes, are not in the squad.

Still, Japan have a superbly talented centre back in 22-year-old     Naoki Fujisaka and some dazzling players who will certainly create problems for Sweden, Spain and Chile, Japan’s opponents in Group F of the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship.

“The style of play we all know and Japan showed it at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. We also had some good preparations in Poland, winning friendly matches against Austria and Tunisia. We are ready, but I think the true potential of this side will be seen in the future,” adds Gerona.

The Spanish coach, who has plenty of experience in foreign countries, is delighted by the Japanese culture. He underlines the different aspects from Europe, which he has gotten used to, yet there is still the language barrier, as few Japan players barely speak any foreign language.

“My assistant coach speaks good English and I have been trying to learn some basic Japanese for handball. Writing is another story, because there are three alphabets – hiragana, katakana and kanji – but I have been taking some lessons and I hope that communication will be even better in the future,” says the Spanish coach.

The outlook looks good for Japan and the big test will be the next years, as Japan will aim to qualify for the Olympic Games for the third time in a row, which would be an unprecedented result for the Asian side.

Yet everything starts here, at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, where Gerona will be looking forward to build the foundation of something special. The Asian side has already dazzled in the women’s competitions, where they beat co-hosts Denmark at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship. 

And now, the men will be trying to follow suit, with a coach armed with unparalleled experience in improving, just like he did with Tunisia and Serbia.