Overview
- Kobelco Kobe Steelers beat BlackRams Tokyo 67–21 in the Great Hanshin Earthquake memorial fixture, with Brodie Retallick crossing four times and Bryn Gatland contributing 27 points.
- Retallick moved to seven tries for the season to share the league lead with Saitama hooker Atsushi Sakate, and he now has 30 tries in 54 appearances for Kobe.
- Kubota Spears defeated Toyota Verblitz 39–10 and Saitama Wild Knights overpowered Yokohama 50–21, leaving both leaders 5–0 and separated on points differential, with Kobe third at 4–1.
- Shizuoka BlueRevs downed Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars 47–36 as Semi Radradra and Valynce Te Whare each scored two tries.
- Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo beat Urayasu D-Rocks 38–27 to stay close behind the top three after five rounds.