The purpose of this study was to clarify the recognition of the leading factors that influence the outcome of Japanese International Student Athletes (ISA) belonging to a US university during the adaptation period. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 ISAs (5 males and 7 females) who had experienced membership in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1. The content was converted into text, and then analyzed using qualitative data analysis. As a result, 64 codes, 37 small categories, 16 medium categories, and 6 large categories were identified. First, the personal factors [ability], the perceptual factors [realistic expectations] and [social support] were extracted as the leading factors that were recognized as affecting the academic performance of Japanese ISA. Next, as leading factors that were recognized as affecting the competition performance of Japanese ISA, personal factors [ability], perceptual factors [realistic expectations] and [social support], cultural distance [environment], and interpersonal factors [leaders] were extracted. Furthermore, the perceptual factors [realistic expectations] and [social support] were extracted as leading factors that were recognized as affecting the career satisfaction of Japanese ISA. Finally, in addition to the perceptual factors [realistic expectations] and [social support], the interpersonal factors [friends] were newly extracted as leading factors that were recognized as affecting the overall satisfaction of Japanese ISA.
