College football bowl game
The Pearl Bowl (パールボウル) is the championship game of a yearly tournament held in the spring involving the twelve teams from the East and Central Divisions of the X-League , that are based in the Kanto region .
History
The Pearl Bowl was started in 1976, but matched a university team against a corporate or club team. The university teams won eight years in a row up to 1984.
The format was changed from the 10th edition in 1985 as a game between corporate or club teams. The Renown Rovers won the first of three straight titles that year.
Originally played at Korakuen Stadium , the championship game has been held in Tokyo Dome since it replaced Korakuen in 1988. The only exception has been 1996, when it was played at Yokohama Stadium . That year, West Division teams were allowed to participate, and the Matsushita Denko Impulse won the title.
The Lixil Deers have won the most titles with eight.
Year
Bowl
Stadium
Winner
Score
Runner-up
Most Valuable Player (MVP)
Attendance
1976
Pearl Bowl I
Korakuen Stadium
Nihon U. Phoenix
21-6
Tokyo Vanguards
1977
Pearl Bowl II
Korakuen Stadium
Meiji U. Griffins
14-12
Tokyo Vanguards
1978
Pearl Bowl III
Korakuen Stadium
Nihon U. Phoenix
62-13
Renown Rovers
1979
Pearl Bowl IV
Korakuen Stadium
Nihon U. Phoenix
55-7
Futaba Gumi
1980
Pearl Bowl V
Korakuen Stadium
Nihon U. Phoenix
62-6
Renown Rovers
1981
Pearl Bowl VI
Korakuen Stadium
Nihon U. Phoenix
31-18
Nissan
1982
Pearl Bowl VII
Korakuen Stadium
Nihon U. Phoenix
7-3
Nissan
1983
Pearl Bowl VIII
Korakuen Stadium
Nihon U. Phoenix
51-0
Nissan
1984
Pearl Bowl IX
Korakuen Stadium
Nihon U. Phoenix
21-17
Renown Rovers
1985
Pearl Bowl X
Korakuen Stadium
Renown Rovers
63-7
Nissan
1986
Pearl Bowl XI
Korakuen Stadium
Renown Rovers
45-24
Nissan
1987
Pearl Bowl XII
Korakuen Stadium
Renown Rovers
24-8
Sanwa Bank
1988
Pearl Bowl XIII
Tokyo Dome
NEC Falcons
23-17
Renown Rovers
1989
Pearl Bowl XIV
Tokyo Dome
Onward Oaks
41-7
Renown Rovers
1990
Pearl Bowl XV
Tokyo Dome
Onward Oaks
21-19
NEC Falcons
1991
Pearl Bowl XVI
Tokyo Dome
NEC Falcons
7-2
Onward Oaks
1992
Pearl Bowl XVII
Tokyo Dome
Onward Skylarks
28-0
Fujitsu Frontiers
1993
Pearl Bowl XVIII
Tokyo Dome
Onward Skylarks
32-27
Fujitsu Frontiers
1994
Pearl Bowl XIX
Tokyo Dome
Onward Skylarks
29-28
Fujitsu Frontiers
1995
Pearl Bowl XX
Tokyo Dome
Kashima Deers
42-21
Renown Rovers
1996
Pearl Bowl XXI
Yokohama Stadium
Matsushita Denko Impulse
18-13
Onward Skylarks
1997
Pearl Bowl XXII
Tokyo Dome
Recruit Seagulls
31-12
Asahi Beer Silver Star
1998
Pearl Bowl XXIII
Tokyo Dome
Kashima Deers
10-7
Onward Skylarks
1999
Pearl Bowl XXIV
Tokyo Dome
Kashima Deers
31-7
Nissan Prince Tokyo Skyliners
DL Tsuyoshi Sekizawa, Kashima
2000
Pearl Bowl XXV
Tokyo Dome
Recruit Seagulls
7-3
Kashima Deers
DB Yasumasa Tamanoi, Recruit
2001
Pearl Bowl XXVI
Tokyo Dome
Onward Skylarks
34-21
Kashima Deers
Teruhiro Ura, Onward
2002
Pearl Bowl XXVII
Tokyo Dome
Kashima Deers
20-19 OT
Recruit Seagulls
Tatsuya Shida, Kashima
2003
Pearl Bowl XXVIII
Tokyo Dome
Fujitsu Frontiers
14-13
Obic Seagulls
Mizuguchi Takao, Fujitsu
2004
Pearl Bowl XXIX
Tokyo Dome
Kashima Deers
17-7
Onward Skylarks
CB Tsuna Sano, Kashima
2005
Pearl Bowl XXX
Tokyo Dome
Obic Seagulls
27-2
Asahi Beer Silver Star
QB Manabu Tasumura, Obic
2006
Pearl Bowl XXXI
Tokyo Dome
Fujitsu Frontiers
20-6
Onward Skylarks
Makoto Tsukino, Fujitsu
13,634
2007
Tournament not held, because of the 2007 IFAF World Championship
2008
Pearl Bowl XXXII
Tokyo Dome
Kashima Deers
27-14
Fujitsu Frontiers
RB Yasuhiro Maruta, Kashima
15,326
2009
Pearl Bowl XXXIII
Tokyo Dome
Kashima Deers
20-17
Obic Seagulls
RB Shoichiro Sato, Kashima
11,823
2010
Pearl Bowl XXXIV
Tokyo Dome
Obic Seagulls
15-13
Fujitsu Frontiers
Taiki Matsubayashi, Obic
14,066
2011
Tournament not held, because of the 2011 IFAF World Championship
2012
Pearl Bowl XXXV
Tokyo Dome
Obic Seagulls
31-10
Fujitsu Frontiers
WR Noriaki Kinoshita, Obic
13,125
2013
Pearl Bowl XXXVI
Tokyo Dome
Kashima Deers
17-10[ 1]
Fujitsu Frontiers
WR Yujiro Iwai, Kashima
19,250
2014
Pearl Bowl XXXVII
Tokyo Dome
Obic Seagulls
37-34 OT[ 2]
Fujitsu Frontiers
WR Noriaki Kinoshita , Obic
16,869
2015
Tournament not held, because of the 2015 IFAF World Championship
2016
Pearl Bowl XXXVIII
Tokyo Dome
IBM Big Blue
21-20[ 3]
LIXIL Deers
WR Takeshi Kurihara, IBM
15,875
2017
Pearl Bowl XXXIX
Tokyo Dome
Obic Seagulls
29-27[ 4]
IBM Big Blue
WR Taro Mizuno, Obic
16,281
See also
References
^ Coskrey, Jason (June 25, 2013). "Deers beat Frontiers to win Pearl Bowl title" . japantimes.co.jp . Retrieved January 3, 2016 .
^ Ikezawa, Hiroshi (June 24, 2014). "Seagulls outlast Frontiers in wild Pearl Bowl" . japantimes.co.jp . Retrieved January 3, 2016 .
^ Marantz, Ken (June 16, 2016). "Pearl Bowl final:Brooks foils Lixil gamble as IBM bags 1st title in team's 40-year history" . xleague.com . Retrieved June 26, 2016 .
^ Marantz, Ken (June 21, 2016). "Chips off the old blocks: Seagulls hold off BigBlue in wild Pearl Bowl final" . xleague.com . Retrieved June 27, 2017 .
External links
X1
X2 X3 Championship See also
East Japan - 東日本 West Japan - 西日本 Bowl games People Seasons Major Venues See also