Panasonic Super Kangaroos Pouched A History With Plenty Of Bounce
For decades, Japan had a professional basketball team called the Super Kangaroos, and true to the team’s name, it made great leaps at times.
The Matsushita Electric Super Kangaroos, which would later be renamed the Panasonic Super Kangaroos, were founded in 1951 and competed in Japan’s top company and professional leagues, the old company-based national competitions, JBL Super League from 2000 to 2007 and then the successor Japan Basketball League where it would eventually relocate and change its name to the Wakayama Panasonic Trians.
The Super Kangaroos would win 13 league championships throughout its existence in various top flight competitions.
Sadly, the team never made it to the bj league, which would have been a tremendous achievement in my eyes.
I have never cared much about basketball but think the name of the now defunct Japanese pro competition has got to go down as one of the most notorious in the history of commercial sports.
The Super Kangaroos apparently did not reach quite the same heights off the court. The team folded at one stage when parent company Panasonic Corp. started going through bad times in the 2010s, but quickly re-emerged. However, it had already re-branded by then and no longer had a kangaroo connection.
The team’s kangaroo motif was prominent on team kit, but merch was limited and seems to have gone no further than a keyring and various types of stickers, even from the booming times up until the 1980s. This is somewhat surprising given the Japanese penchant for mascots and the undeniable cuteness of the team’s kangaroo character, particularly in the latter days of the team in the early Noughties. Perhaps it was this delay and the end of the lucrative days of yore that prevented merchandising developments
I can’t find any reason why Matsushita Electric decided on the kangaroo name, but given that a kangaroo evokes the jumping and leaping that are crucial aspects of basketball, it seems an obvious choice.
Despite Australia punching above its weight on the basketball court, close proximity to Japan, and the team name, there is no record of an Australian’s involvement with the Super Kangaroos in any way, either as a player, coach or administrator.
Ex-Super Kangaroos giant Akifumi Yamazaki
Super Kangaroos playing in their last year with a marsupial monicker
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