There are many sports Japanese people play today, but I would like to write about soccer which is second most popular sport in Japan. I like watcing soccer game and I sometimes go to a stadium to see a game. The Japanese professional soccer league was set up in 1992, and has become popular. I have watched the TV program which asked children what kind of sports they like best before, and many children answered they liked soccer the best. In Japan, we have 36 professional club teams, and 18 teams of them are divided in J-1 league which is top league in Japan, and other 18 teams are divided in J-2 league. The season they play soccer is a little different from other countries. In Europe, their season starts in August or September, and finishes in May. However, in Japan, thier season starts in March and finishes in the beginning of December. The price is depends on the seat or stadium you go, but you can watch a J-league game if you pay at least 1,500 yen or 2,000 yen. In Osaka, we have 2 peofessional club teams. One of them is Gamba Osaka whose stronghold is Suita city(North part of Osaka), and the other one is Cerezo Osaka which is now J-2 league and their stronghold is Osaka city. I'm fan of Gamba Osaka since I was a high school student, and sometimes go to the stadium to watch a game with my friend. Gamba Osaka is now third place in J-1 league so there is a big possibility they become J-1 champion of this year!
In Japan, we have 4 big tournaments. One of them is called "FIFA Club World Cup", and champions from 6 continents gather in Japan, and decide the strongest club team in the world. This tournament was called "Toyota Cup" before, and there are many professional soccer player who wants to enter this tounament in Japan, and also in other countries. Gamba Osaka became Asia champion last year, and entered this tounament. They had a game with Manchester United which is very famouse club team of England. Although they lost, and score was 3-5, their positive attitude was appreciated in Japan, also in England.
Yasuhito Endo (Japanese professional soccer player)
Yasuhito Endo who plays in Gamba Osaka, and also center of Japanese national team is one of my favourite soccer player. His position is Midfilder, and his accuracy of passing a ball is appriciated by many people.
Next year, World Cup will be held in South Africa, and Japanese national team has gotten the right to enter World Cup. I'm looking forward to watching games!
J-league official cite http://www.j-league.or.jp/eng/
Gamba Osaka official cite http://www.gamba-osaka.net/en/index.html
Third picture is borrowed from this cite http://sports.livedoor.com/photo...5BF%25CE
A very nice post as far as text and photos go - it serves as a good introduction for people not familiar with soccer in Japan. Please tell me the reference for the statement that soccer is the second most popular sport in Japan. I am a Hanshin Tigers (baseball) fan but I keep meaning to go to a Gamba match.
ReplyDeleteYour classmate wrote an interesting post about the popularity of Spanish soccer teams in Japan:
ReplyDeletehttp://cyberkeihan.blogspot.com/2009/10/sports-fandom-in-japan-barca-case.html
I find your post very interesting, since I don't usually get the chance to know how is soccer from the point of view of Japanese soccer fans.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that the league in Japan starts in spring, just as the academic year does. Since in Europe school starts always on September, the difference makes sense.
Another thing I find kind of funny is the names of the Japanese league teams. They have usually names in other languages than Japanese, mostly those of the countries where soccer tradition is deep-rooted. It is probably a sign of admiration for these countries and their teams, but it sounds very funny to me to listen names such as "Cerezo" (cherry tree in Spanish) or "Gamba" (that even though I was told that the name comes from the Italian word for "leg", in Spanish it means "shrimp")in such a place as Japan.
To Visual gonthros
ReplyDeleteHere is URL I found that soccer is second popular sport in Japan. However, it is written in Japanese.
http://www.fgn.jp/mpac/sample/_data/impacter/200708_10.html
I like sports so I also sometimes watch baseball. I think Tiger's fans are powerful!
I went to Kyosera dorm to watch a baseball game last year. One of students of my father became professional baseball player, and he belongs to Chiba Lotte team!:)
Thank you so much for telling me about Victor's blog. I enjoyed it very much!
To Victor
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment! The difference of naming is very interesting! I think most names of Japanese professional soccer team include foreign language. It is funny Gamba means shrimp in Spanish! I didn't know that...lol yes, Gamba is named after the Italian word which means leg. In addition to that, "Gambaru" which is Japanese word means try one's best. Thanks for replying to my comment on your blog too. I really enjoyed your blog and comment, and I'm glad to know the point of view from you!:)
I really like Japan. I want to visit there someday. Trish Stratus
ReplyDelete