Jamie Joseph and his Japan team could be invited to join the Six Nations European rugby tournament, according to a news report.

Japan could be on the brink of an offer to join the Six Nations European rugby tournament, according to an English news report.

Mail Online reported that Japan could "receive a shock invitation" after successfully hosting the Rugby World Cup.

The report - by respected Daily Mail sports columnist Martin Samuel - claimed the idea had "been floated in private after it emerged that the Rugby Championship — the Southern Hemisphere equivalent — were dithering about including the fast emerging Japanese and were proposing a delay of four or five years before sanctioning their involvement."

While no formal talks had been held, the Daily Mail said World Rugby were aware " key figures within the Six Nations organisation have expressed an interest in creating a tournament that stretches 6000 miles to the Far East".

Dan Mullan Japanese fans got behind the Rugby World Cup to make it one of the most successful tournaments yet.

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?INPHO/James Crombie Fans flock to the bronze medal game at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, which produced record ticket sales and fanzone attendance.

Japan are seen as an attractive proposition, on and off the field.

Japan's Brave Blossoms team - coached by former All Blacks Jamie Joseph and Tony Brown - made the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals for the first time after pool phase wins over Six Nations representatives Ireland and Scotland.

Rugby fever gripped Japan during the World Cup with 58 million television viewers tuning into Japan's win over Scotland, which earned them a quarterfinal berth.

Christophe Ena Japan coach Jamie Joseph and captain Michael Leitch have led the Brave Blossoms to tier one status.

World Rugby reported a record 1.84 million tickets were sold for the 48 matches at the 2019 World Cup with a 99.3 per cent attendance overall. Another 1.13m people visited the fan zones around Japan and there were more than 1.7 billion digital video views.

The World Cup has been estimated to have boosted Japan's economy by $NZ 6.5 billion.

Japan and Fiji were meant to be included in a 12-team tier one global competition mooted by World Rugby, but the concept was scuppered after opposition from Six Nation unions to the proposed promotion-relegation format.

Japan could easily fit into either the Six Nations or Rugby Championship tournaments with flight times between Europe and Tokyo similar to Auckland to Japan.

The Six Nations began as a tournament featuring England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. France was admitted to the fold in 1910 and Italy joined in 2000.

The Rugby Championship began in 1996 as a Tri-Nations tournament involving New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. Argentina joined in 2012.