Aya Takeuchi

Aya Nakajima (née Takeuchi; born 5 August 1986) is a former Japanese rugby union and sevens player. She was a member of the Japanese sevens team that won a silver medal at the 2014 Asian Games. She also represented Japan at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She competed for at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup.

Early career Nakajima attended Gifu City Iwanoda Kita Elementary School, and Taki Gakuen, junior and senior high schools. She played volleyball for ten years. Her mother was a member of the Kyoto University Volleyball Team, which inspired her to join Taki Gakuen Junior High School's volleyball team.

She devoted herself to volleyball at Taki Gakuen and Kyoto University, but they were not known for being strong schools, and the Kyoto University team was only playing in the fourth to sixth divisions of the Kansai League. At one point, the team's membership dwindled to just two, herself included.

During her fourth year at Kyoto University, she watched a game of the Kyoto University Gangsters, the university's American football team, the experience inspired her to want to play a contact sport.

She was eventually called up to the Japanese women's sevens team for the first time in 2013.

In 2014, she joined Arukas Queen Kumagaya, which was established with the aim of promoting women's rugby, from Setagaya Ladies, and became its captain. She competed for the Japanese women's sevens team at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, where she won a silver medal after her sides loss to China in the final. She played a key role in the two-round tournament, in Hong Kong and Tokyo, the Sakura sevens team won the overall championship and secured their place in the Rio Olympics. She had planned to return to work after the Olympics, but her passion for rugby grew stronger, so she decided to leave Shinchosha at the end of October 2016.

Nakajima competed for at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland.

Coaching career In June 2022, World Rugby announced that Nakajima would work alongside Sakura 15s Head coach, Lesley McKenzie, on the road to New Zealand as part of the 2021 Rugby World Cup coaching internship programme. She retired from international rugby, but continued playing at club level and worked as Japan’s team manager before being accepted onto the internship programme.

Personal life In March 2017, she married Arkas Academy head coach, Shinya Nakajima.