Japan's men's SV.League begins its 2026/27 season with an expansion from ten to 12 teams. Volleyball World schedules Tokyo Great Bears against newcomers Hokkaido Yellow Stars at Ariake Coliseum on 17 and 18 October, both at 14:05 Japan time, or 12:05 in Vietnam.
Two additions join a 44-game programme
Fragolad Kagoshima and Hokkaido Yellow Stars are the new participants. Nagano Tridents now compete as Shinshu Matsumoto Tridents.
The regular season uses four meetings between opponents through home-and-away double-headers. Each team plays 44 matches, divided into 22 home and 22 away fixtures.
Win-loss ratio and points remain the first two ranking criteria. Those figures describe the programme, not results already earned by the expanded field.
The leading pair receive semi-final places
The first- and second-placed regular-season teams advance directly to best-of-three semi-finals at home. Teams third to sixth enter two best-of-three quarter-finals hosted by the third- and fourth-ranked sides.
The dates and venue of the best-of-three championship final remain unconfirmed in the announcement.
Osaka Bluteon defend the title after beating Suntory Sunbirds Osaka 2-1 in last season's final series. JTEKT Stings Aichi previously earned domestic and Asian club bronze medals.
Volleyball World identifies Antoine Brizard, Yuji Nishida and Tomohiro Yamamoto among Osaka's returning players. Their presence and the expanded league provide the opening context, while the Tokyo–Hokkaido results and new championship race are still to be played.