Nijiho Nagata

Nijiho Nagata ( 永田虹歩 born 6 December 2000) is a Japanese rugby union player, who plays hooker for the Japan women's national rugby union team.

Rugby career In November 2021, she scored the first try that helped the Sakura's lead Scotland at halftime; however a late Scottish comeback saw her side lose 36–12. She competed at the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

She featured for Japan in the 2023 Asia Rugby Championship. She played for International Budo University and previously played for Auckland Storm in the Farah Palmer Cup. At the inaugural 2023 WXV 2 tournament, she scored Japan's only try in their defeat to Scotland.

In 2024, Nagata joined the Blues Women in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition as an injury cover for Esther Faiaoga-Tilo. She was named in the Sakura XVs side for the 2024 Asia Rugby Championship. She scored a try in the final 10 minutes of the game to help her side beat Hong Kong China.

She was selected in the Sakura fifteens squad for their tour to the United States in April 2025. On 28 July 2025, she was named in the Japanese side to the Women's Rugby World Cup in England.