HONOLULU – The reining NCAA champion University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team will travel to Japan for a four-match foreign tour against some of the country’s premier collegiate and professional talent, including a highly anticipated match-up against Japan college champion Waseda University.
The Rainbow Warriors are coming off their third national title in the last six seasons and returns a lineup that includes seven starters, among them NCAA Player of the Year finalist Tread Rosenthal.
The 2026 tour begins on October 7 at 6 p.m. against Chuo University. The match will take place at the Chuo University Junior and Senior High School in Koganei, Tokyo. Chuo University is a historic volleyball program that has won multiple past championships.
Hawai’i will then face Waseda University on October 8 at 7 p.m. at the Waseda Arena in Shinjuku City, Tokyo. Waseda University is the reigning champion of the All-Japan Intercollegiate Volleyball Championship.
The team will conclude the trip in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, with two matches against Voreas Hokkaido. Voreas Hokkaido is a professional team competing in Japan’s S.V. League. These matches are scheduled for October 10 at 2 p.m. and October 11 at 1 p.m. at the Rick & Sue Asahikawa Gymnasium.
This marks the program’s first trip to Japan since the nine-day Ganbatte Aloha Tour in November 2023. The 2023 trip was the program’s first international travel since a 2018 goodwill tour. During the 2023 tour, the team scrimmaged the Sakai Blazers, a club featuring former Rainbow Warrior Cole Hogland, and played the University of Tsukuba in the “Hawai’i Future Cup”.
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