Japan Rugby 2019, tasked with organising the first-ever edition of the quadrennial event to be held in Asia, are inviting applications from schools, colleges, universities and other organisations in partnership with World Rugby.

Interested cities can submit their interest in becoming home to one of the 20 nations expected to take part in the tournament by August 1.

Japan Rugby 2019 and World Rugby will then conduct site visits as part of their extensive evaluation, with those that have been successful revealed in mid-2017.

Team camps for the tournament must contain five core elements - team hotel, outdoor training venues, indoor venue, gym and swimming pool - and a host of locations are set to be considered, including both in and around the stadiums where matches are due to be played.

“Rugby World Cup 2019 will be a career pinnacle for players and team management, showcasing the very best of rugby, its character-building values and Japan within a nationwide festival that will engage, innovate and excite,” outgoing World Rugby chairman Bernard Lapasset said.

“Team camps are at the very heart of that festival providing the facilities and environment for the world's best players to perform to the highest level while enabling the tournament to reach out to the length and breadth of the nation.”

Japan Rugby 2019 chief executive Akira Shimazu added that “preparations for the competition are going well” and that it will be “a wonderful celebration of rugby” when the World Cup comes to the nation for the first time.

“Our task as organising committee is to provide world-class facilities to allow the teams prepare for matches in the best possible way so they can showcase Rugby World Cup to the world,” Shimazu said.

“The tournament will attract vast numbers of domestic fans, as well as up to 500,000 visitors into Japan.

“And for a city to become a team camp presents a huge opportunity to show off that part of the country to a wide audience.

"Before they apply to be a team camp, we want the cities or prefectures to understand those opportunities and undertake to make the most of them.

“It is a unique chance for them and we want them to grasp it with both hands.”

A number of iconic cities and surrounding locations played host to training camps at the 2015 edition of the event, held in England and won by New Zealand.

These included the University of Bath, where Australia were based during the tournament, while South Africa trained largely at the Lensbury Hotel, situated near to the River Thames.