Author: okinawaozzy

Just a massive fan of FC Ryukyu.

The J-League Interview Series Part 5: FC Tokyo Kai Guys! #FCTokyo #FC琉球

Quite a lot of time has transpired between entries of this series and I do apologize. I have been embarking on a ‘house hardening’ campaign to prepare my family for the new “normal” of life with COVID-19. At times it feels a little bit like nailing jello to the wall but you cannot quit and must maintain focus at all times with little kids.

We’ve all seen the devastation wrought by COVID-19 across the globe and now Japan is beginning to feel the effects as well. But as I’ve said before, sometimes we need a break from all the doom and gloom and need to laugh with friends so as to maintain our sanity. That is why I do these interviews along with the idea of promtoing the many great Twitter Accounts and Blogs in English associated with the J-League.

Today’s entry is far away one of the most enjoyable reads I’ve had in a long time. We have the privilege, nay, the pleasure of speaking with the co-founders of the @FCTokyoKaiGuys twitter account, Tom and Alex.

This was a great interview, and challenging as well, as I conduct these interviews via email and there are two respondents for this one instead of the normal one. I think you’re really going to enjoy it as much as I did so relax on this lazy Sunday to open Golden Week by staying at home and soaking in all the goodness from these guys, the @FCTokyoKaiGuys that is!

(Final procedural note before we begin. My questions and responses will be in BOLD like the other entries. And away we go!)

Today we are privileged to speak to the creator(s) of the @FCTokyoKaiGuys Twitter account, better known as Thomas Pennington (@tpen18) and Alex Bishop (@Abishop32).

Gents, thanks for agreeing to conduct this interview as I know we all lead busy lives during difficult times. I think it’s appropriate to begin all of these interviews by asking, how both of you are doing during these unprecedented times with the COVID-19 Pandemic?

(TOM) Well I have two little ones who are staying at home while I get to work from home, sometimes it’s carnage.  Since we’re at home all the time with the exception of grocery shopping, finding new things for them to do can be a challenge.  Too much uncertainty as we’re all aware.

Tom, I am in that boat with you and thankfully my wife is now able to work from home and partake in the PAIN ( I mean joy) of taking on the role of parent, cook, maid, referee, teacher and play time buddy while we work from home.

(ALEX) Like Tom, I too am working from home. Now and again I venture out and join the hipsters at Starbucks, Tully’s or other coffee shops around Tokyo to get work done. Although I believe that luxury may also be taken from us soon. Whilst these are trying times the freedom that has been bestowed upon us is still something of a novelty at this point.

I agree. Enjoy what you can, as safely as you can, for as long as you can. Hard to predict when things will take a positive turn but for now, it is imperative we all do our part to combat the spread of the virus.

Q. So, what have you been doing during this “interim” period between FC Tokyo matches? Thomas, it looks as if your deep into the FIFA video game and Alex, you just wrapped up a trip up north with Scott McIntyre (@mcintinhos), how was it?

(TOM) Yeah, I’ve taken to FIFA Career mode to swap some of the Asian leagues with European leagues to see how we get on over there. It’s safe to say some of the top Asian Clubs can hold their own if we played by FIFA rules though Tokyo seem to have a bogey team in Port Vale. I got smashed 4-2 away and 2-5 in the final game of the season though I finished League 2 as Champions so stick it Port Vale!

I normally cannot watch people play video games but have taken a bit of a liking to what DAZN was broadcasting as far as an eEPL league recently.

(ALEX) That’s right! Scott and I ventured north for what Scott has labelled a S.I.T.T (Self Isolation Tour of Tohoko). We hopped from town to town in the region soaking up the northern vibe and checking out the local watering holes. Highlights of the trip include a trip to the grave of Jesus Christ (yes you read that right!) and an unannounced visit to the club office of Tohoko League club, Blancdieu Hirosaki. The General Manager who greeted us was bewildered by our presence to say the least!

Awesome!

Q. Where one of you in Okinawa back in mid-January? Maybe watching the training camps?

(TOM) Neither of us went down for it as we always found the training camp is best viewed from afar but we certainly eyed up the merch! The all black training jacket replaced one of my aging Man United jackets.

I could find a use for that MAN U jacket.

(ALEX) Me neither. I kept track of the goings on on the pitch but did not make the trip myself. I wouldn’t mind making the trip one year as there doesn’t seem to be anyone in the international J League community in attendance at the pre-season camps. 

Hopefully the pre-season in Okinawa will get back to what it was in the near future as we have no idea how the remainder of the 2020 season will play out and how that will affect 2021 training camps. If you all do come, keep in mind that FC Tokyo sets up camp in the northern part of Okinawa near Okuma. Quite a haul to get up there. I went last year, belted out an FC RYUKYU!! as I strolled by the squad. Wife thought it was childish, I agreed, enjoyed it anyways.

Q. Please describe how you came to Japan, became a fan of the J league and in particular, FC Tokyo? I am always fascinated to hear how supporters, who live in areas with multiple football teams in close proximity to one another, settle on a particular team. I lucked out with FC Ryukyu being the only game in town as they say.

(TOM) Well this one is quite unique. I’ll let Alex expand from his side but for me I had done a high school transfer program to Tokyo and was keen to watch a match while I was over here so a friend from the Japanese school took me to an FC Tokyo game in 2004. Tokyo Verdy were also in the J1 but they were away the week I was free so I went to an FC Tokyo game instead.

We won 1-0 v Albirex Nigata and I took them on as my club and continued to track them back home while hoping EA would add them to the FIFA roster (15 years later finally!). I moved to Japan in 2009 and met Alex some time later when he and I worked together before I left to join another firm.  We agreed to keep in contact via lunch every now and then since our offices were still close by. 

On one occasion it just so happened we decided to discuss Japanese football and who we “followed” or had supported.  The answer was the same in FC Tokyo to which Alex mentioned he was a season ticket holder and I should consider coming to more games, which I quickly did – yet immediately regretted – as we proceeded to not score a single goal at home for the second half of the 2018 season (must be a J League record).

I wonder if @J1tokei could let us know if that last line is true?

(ALEX) Mine is a familiar story for many expats who have attached themselves to a J League club. Having grown up following a team in England, a football shaped void appeared in my social life after moving to Japan. I have spent the majority of my time here in the capital living in the west side of the city in FC Tokyo hot spots such as Shimokitazawa and Kichijoji.

After taking Japanese lessons from a private teacher that supported the club there was enough of a reason for me to get along to a game and support the local team. My first game was the last game of the 2014 season at home to Yokohama F Marinos. The game ended 1-1 but the electric vibe in the stand behind the goal pulled me in and left me thirsty for more.

The 2015 season couldn’t come quick enough and I had my season ticket arranged well in advance of the opening game. In around 2017 at one of our occasional catch up lunches, Tom and I discovered we are both fans of the Gasmen. We quickly made plans to go to a game together. With time we formed a group of extended friends and we now have a sizable fan family of both international and local FC Tokyo supporters.

That is good stuff. I too would like to build up a large following of international and local fans for FC Ryukyu matches but understand that it takes a bit of time, along with some timely results.

Q. I love the @FCTokyoKaiGuys twitter account as you guys can post some great stuff on there. Like the photo of Thomas passed out in the stands. Alex, how many beers did he have that day? 2? Maybe 3? And at what point in that match did he go down?

I mean, who hasn’t?

(ALEX) Ah what an afternoon that was. To say Tom turned up looking worse for wear that morning is an understatement. I met him in central Tokyo at 11am and he was still drunk from the night before. (Impressive)

(TOM) I will never be able to lose that video!  I had got the green light two days prior from the misses to go to this game and have a night out on Friday with my colleagues.  I showed up on maybe 2 hours of sleep and immediately went the hair of the dog route with a few Guinness

(ALEX) We set off for Urawa and Tom thought it would be wise to drink off the hangover. Unfortunately, 1 turned into 2, 3, 4, 5 and before long we are out cold in the stands with the crowd in full voice.

(TOM) Second half was more lively but Alex refused to video that!  I have evidence of his own unfortunate times but am keeping them for a better day!

(ALEX)As Tom says, he did pull himself out of it and was relatively back to normal for the second half. However, he was away with the fairies for the entire first half. He didn’t miss much though (Typical Tokyo).

Gentlemen, I am not above reproach as I’ve done this on occasion at a Pittsburgh Steeler’s game.

Q. On a serious note, how did you two get together to spawn the idea of creating a Twitter account dedicated to FC Tokyo in English?

(TOM) We had discussed it since that lunch when we first found out we both supported the same club. We noticed a lack of spoken English content by the club in either direction as well as things to do on match days so we started the @FCTokyo_En account to help bridge that gap.

Unfortunately, we got flagged for impersonation (oddly enough 1 week prior to the ACL Playoff game v Ceres Negros) and the Twitter following we had built up was all but lost as a result.  We definitely find ourselves on the funnier side of things and we were really looking forward to this season as being more colorful.

The @ASRomaEN and @ASRomaWomen administrators really supported us as we had supported their efforts and they in turn appreciated our banter.  @FCTokyoKaiGuys was always our endgame and we felt the 2020 season was going to let us do just that.  We weren’t aiming for Arsenal Fan TV humour bruv, but were looking to show the fun we have on match days and reactions afterwards.

Ahh, Arsenal TV. Love that stuff.

(ALEX) Exactly as Tom says. For a team representing a capital city there is a noticeable lack of English content and assistance for international football fans visiting or living here. We decided to launch an account that would cater to the needs of non-Japanese speaking fans and engage with like-minded J League fans in a fun and informative way.

Alas the presentation of the account was too close for comfort to the official channels of the club and we were flagged for impersonation. We have now re-branded ourselves and will be using design work of our own creation. With an account that is fundamentally unofficial and independent of the real thing we are able make unbiased opinions and analysis.

I think that is a very important statement Alex. Too often we get scripted answers, or information, released from the J-League clubs and we never have a true sense of what is occurring inside and around our favorite teams.

Also,impersonating an official FC Tokyo English Twitter account seems odd considering one didn’t exist at that time. To which I think they only introduced the @FCTokyo_en account this year after they were able to pry it away from you guys.

Seems the club wanted that name all to itself and you guys paid the price. From what I see most J-League clubs’ English Accounts end with that _EN so I guess no one was creative enough to come up with another variation.

(TOM) I think we paid the price for what we’re seeing now as a more international push by J1 teams.  Some had described us as “flying too close to the sun” but we have always maintained our difference in that we want people coming to FC Tokyo games to have a good time and being able to understand their surroundings so they don’t get lost like so many people when they come to Japan. 

We were fortunate enough to speak with @PerthGloryFC after our “re-branding,” who had shown appreciation for our approach in helping their fans, so as a result we have since formed a friendship with their fans and look forward to paying them back for tagging our Hachiko with a Perth Glory scarf (@Nicoooo94 we haven’t forgotten!). 

(ALEX) Yes, it was unfortunate when all our work when to waste without so much as a warning or instruction from either Twitter or the club.

I researched the possible reasons for how this could happened and wondered if it was because we used the official club crest?

Was it because we were using the @FCTokyo_EN handle?

Or was it one of the few salty tweets that slipped through the filter?

In the end it seems that the club simply did not want us to have a handle that could deceive many into thinking we are the official English language account. Twitter rules state that you cannot simply claim the handle of a suspended account and now the official one is @FCTokyo_eng with @FCTokyo_EN in limbo until the end of time.

I have spoken with the administrator of other unofficial J League team accounts and it seems other clubs handle these disputes differently. For example, the admin of the Shonan Bellmare English account was contacted directly by the club who requested they change a few things in order to distance themselves from the official platforms of the club and it’s trademark. I believe this to be the correct approach as he is still pumping out interesting content with the world in the loop of the goings on at Bellmare.

Well said. At the end of the day, people are hungry for all types of content from their club. Of course we can all post stuff from time to time that is emotionally charged but a more proactive approach by clubs -instead of a one size fits all – could only benefit these teams by increasing their exposure.

I think your cautionary tale is great advice for those of us out there seeking to advance the image of our teams and our brands.

Q. Can you provide a brief history of FC Tokyo and some of the watershed moments in their history for the non-FC Tokyo fans? 

(TOM) Prior to 1999 the club was known as Tokyo Gas but wanting to become professional, they couldn’t be corporately named (similar to Germany) so they took on the name FC Tokyo. They are still primarily owned by TEPCO aka Tokyo Gas.

Unfortunately, FC Tokyo were relegated to J2 once but as a result of that demotion, we are also the only club to have won the Emperor’s Cup as a J2 team and gain promotion by stomping the J2 competition that year.  We’ve won the League Cup twice but unlike our baby blue friends in Kawasaki, we don’t care to show it (stick with 2 stars boys!)

YES! Was hoping for a little fire in the direction of Kawasaki after their initial assault.

(ALEX) Tom has it covered here but I will add a little more depth to the history. Tokyo Gas Soccer Club actually started back in 1933. As you might have guessed the playing staff mainly consisted of employees of Tokyo Gas and affiliated companies. The aforementioned group of conglomerates eventually came together in 1998 and formed the Tokyo Football Club Company. We were promoted to the J1 for the first time in 1998 and 1999 was FC Tokyo’s inaugural year.

I’d like to see/read more on the history of Football here in Japan as I am fascinated by the ages of some of these clubs and want to know more about what league existed prior to the J-League and what teams have risen and fallen. Think I’ll need to get into contact with @JSoccerMagazine with these questions.

Q. Much like I asked Neil over at the FrontaleRabbit Blog, in order, who are the most heated/hated rivals of FC Tokyo? Name one that is slightly unexpected.

(I’d also like to add, that was an impressive spectacle to witness the FC Tokyo vs Kawasaki Frontale match last season when the Kawasaki supporters were in full voice and then the massive FC Tokyo supporter end came into their own. It gave me chills.)

Impressive

(TOM) I don’t want to be reminded of that game because at the time it was the biggest game of the season and we didn’t show up for it.  I took a lot of stick that night because my oldest had only missed one game prior to that (when we lost to Kobe) but since she was unwell I decided not to bring her and paid the price. (Her record last season is only 1 loss, 2 draws, and included a 12 game win streak in all games she’s been to). 

Bit of a good luck charm there!

That said, the home game v Kawasaki was unlike anything that season; the intensity, the buildup, their form was on the up, everything pointed to a great game…and we whiskey di@#$% it (Tom means to say that FC Tokyo had a very limp performance that evening). Even the final game versus Yokohama F Marinos was nothing by comparison as a lot of people who went to that game were neutrals while the Kawasaki Frontale fans were in full voice that day.  Greatest atmosphere to a J League game I’ve experienced. 

(ALEX) In recent times Tokyo have struggled to find a genuine hated rival. If you ask any long-term FC Tokyo fan, then the go to answer is likely to be Tokyo Verdy. With them trailing down in J2 for the past 10 years or so it is difficult to predict when we will next see a Tokyo Derby, although it is plausible in this year’s Emperors Cup should Verdy win their regional representative match and get past Avispa in the next round.

Love that subtle dig about Tokyo Verdy!

The derby with Kawsaki Frontale, dubbed the “Tamagawa Classico”, has more history than most think. Back in 1998 we leapfrogged them to promotion to J1 on the last day of the season and the bitterness between the two sides had begun. Usually these games receive sell-out crowds and as you mention, the two sets of fans never fail to disappoint. Personally, I would add Urawa to the list as they are seen as something of a “bandwagon club” of the Kanto area. Every game with them is very high octane both on and off the pitch and they never fail to bring the intensity. Similar to the Manchester United of the 1990s, they are the team you love to hate.

Q. I was surprised that I did not see any of the two teams’ fans ‘interacting’ outside the stadium prior to the match that day. By interacting, I mean loudly talking trash to each other or even a bust up.

I am getting used to the fact that many of the Japanese fans here are very respectable to one another. If that were the Pittsburgh Steelers vs Cleveland Browns game, there would have been plenty of ‘fan interaction,’ as well as fisticuffs, occurring outside/inside the stadium.

Personally, that’s probably a good thing, but have you guys ever witnessed any violence in or around the football grounds here in Japan? Or even Asia for that matter?

(TOM)Well if you walk from Fuchu station to Ajista that will happen! (Ahem!) Alex introduced Neil to me prior to the match and we had a few beers before the game.  I think one of our mates @NiallDevine ended up on a Frontale vlog and gave them the word “shitehouse” before the game (Perfectly described us on the day to be fair).

I think you’ll find that common with most Japanese rivalries. Coming from an MLS Cascadia Cup heritage (Seattle, Portland, Vancouver) even though we dislike the other club, we’ll still have a pint with the fans before or after the game. We did the same with the Yokohama F Marinos fans prior to the final game of the season and I think it’s beneficial in that we’re here to enjoy football and give you stick if your team loses but you’re still a mate at the end of the day. 

The head of the Everton Japan group is also a Kawasaki Frontale supporter who is a stand up guy whom I’ve met both before and after matches on a few occasions. I have nothing against him, just the color of his club (Neil mentioned this before as an anti Man United thing well I’m the opposite!  Manchester is red!!)

Are there any Arsenal Fans out here??? That is good stuff Tom, I too enjoy the fan interactions prior to and after the matches. More so if FC Ryukyu win.

(ALEX) Simply put, football just does not have the relevance in Japan as it does in Europe or the Americas. Teams are not aligned to certain political or religious beliefs and a hooligan scene has never harvested here. A day at the game is enjoyed as a friendly outing with tribal passion orchestrated in the stands. There have been some instances of trouble at games, but we can safely say there are no organized groups that look for it. The respectful and humble culture of Japan is reflected at the football.

Sums it up perfectly.

Q. What has been the best match you both attended as a FC Tokyo Fan?

(TOM) As painful as it is, the best match I’ve attended was that Tamagawa Classico last year.  Everything about it was perfect except the result.  Thankfully I got smashed that night and quickly forgot the result.

That is a dangerous, yet completely acceptable, coping mechanism Tom.

(ALEX) Well I doubt Tom remembers much of the match he mentioned. For me it is probably the aforementioned Urawa away game. Not for Tom’s comedic value, but the events on the pitch. Urawa are our biggest bogey team and I think it has been around 7 years since we last beat them.

On this day Tokyo put in a solid performance and took the lead in the second half with a Diego Oliveira goal built up by Takefusa Kubo. We dominated one of our biggest rivals and it was a clear sign that Tokyo had turned a corner. We narrowly drew the game 1-1 but the performance served as an example of things to come for the season.

It is hard for me to say who the ‘Bogey’ Side is for FC Ryukyu. We’ve been bounced twice from the Emperor’s Cup by then non-JLEague side FC Imabari on PKs but recently it feels more like JEF UTD Chiba as they’ve blanked us for three straight games the past 2 years.

Q. It must be quite the experience to watch FC Tokyo throughout Asia when they compete in the Asian Champions League. Where have you boys been to see FC Tokyo outside of Japan?

(TOM) Well this is where I’m pissed at COVID-19.  I wanted to do the whole group stage abroad with FC Tokyo but COVID-19 has completely wrecked those plans.  Alex was lucky enough to go to the Ulsan game while I held on to the pub scene in Tokyo but I’d be lying if I wasn’t jealous of that experience.  Hypothetically, should we make the final and have to travel to Saudi Arabia, yes I will absolutely be there.

Alex, you made it to the Ulsan match in Korea just prior to their COVID-19 outbreak there? Did you experience any issues upon your return?

(ALEX) Yes, I have followed Tokyo to both Korea and China. The last time we qualified for the ACL, back in 2016, I traveled to the Jiangsu Sunning game in Nanjing. The city is a few 100 kilometers west of Shanghai and can be reached easily by bullet train. Whilst we don’t see the same party atmosphere at ACL games as we do with continental matches in Europe or the Americas, there is an enhanced feeling of togetherness between the fans that attend. Everyone raises their voice that little bit louder when they are on enemy ground.

Ulsan for a ACL match.

Ulsan was also a great away trip and I actually managed to catch up with one of the K League United guys, Dan Croydon (@DolsotDan). Dan showed me around the town and even treated me to some great bulgogi beef! He gave me the lowdown on the fan scene in Korea and what the big rivalries are etc. At the game the vibe among the Tokyo fans was electric and we made ourselves heard in the stands. Reports from back home suggested that we were in fuller voice than the home fans!

Q. Alex, what did you think of that stadium? I’ve been there twice for an ACL game and the food was great -and cheap- in the college area near the stadium. To me the fact that it is located far away from the train station and since no cabs pass in front of the stadium it made getting to the game and back home a bit challenging. Thoughts?

(ALEX) Yes, it is a little inconvenient, but you can access it relatively easily from the nearby student town. There are several tunnels under the main road that will lead you there. The park and lake at the side of the stadium are worth checking out too. Luckily Dan played tour guide that day and made sure I didn’t get lost! Maybe you didn’t have such a luxury on your visit.

Correct, I was solo for both trips and to be honest, had a few beverages in the VIP car on the way down from Seoul so didn’t care too much. I did like the Ulsan stadium but didn’t see the tunnels. I walked the streets from the town to the stadium each time. Damn that hill man!

Q. Getting back on track, FC Tokyo came close to lifting the shield last year but fell just short. I am sure that it stings losing the title to a local rival in Yokohama F Marinos on the last day of the season but that was a serious hurdle you would have had to overcome with the goal difference ratio.  What are/were the prospects heading into 2020 for FC Tokyo?

(TOM) We came into the game needing to win by more than 4 goals.  We have scored 4+ goals in 2 games that entire season and ironically one was v Marinos when we won 4-2.  We’ve made some good signings this season with our “O tridante” leading us.  ACL qualification?  Yes I expect it since we’ve added depth.  Will it happen?  Likely not since that’s the life of an FC Tokyo fan.

(ALEX) Yes 2019 was a tough pill to swallow. However, I would say that the pain was gradual rather than sudden as we could see it slipping away several weeks out.  As for 2020, we have indeed added some depth with Leandro and Adailton coming in. Our new 4-3-3 system suggested that we would be moving away from our mundane counter attacking strategy which would perhaps endear to the neutrals who enjoy free flowing football. We are still solid at the back and it is looking like we could do some real damage in the league again this year. It is too bad that our flow has been interrupted. Some things are more important than football though.

Very true.

Q. Talking about the return of football seems trivial at times with all that is going on in the world these days but I did want to ask you both, what was it like last year when FC Tokyo went on a massive road trip due to the Rugby World Cup?  If the J League season returns around the time the Summer Olympics were due to start, FC Tokyo will have yet another 8 (?) game road trip this year. Maybe that will be changed but that is a bit ridiculous as I’ve never seen that anywhere in any other sport.

(TOM) It’s unheard of.  Yokohama F Marinos didn’t compromise by playing at a J2/3 stadium.  With the Olympics now postponed to 2021, who knows what to expect.  We got the fair play award last season because we went on our trek.  Our record during that 8 game trip wasn’t half bad either; we lost the games we thought we would (Kashima), we got absolutely robbed in Tosu (Offside, handball, Offside in that order) but in the end, 2nd place which was our best ever result. Absolutely propped me up for the season ahead.  I love this club because it thankfully has the right shade of blue with red.

You are so lucky to have so many rivalries so close to home. Guess now i’ll need to interview @stuartcw for the champs perspective.

(ALEX) On paper, the long road trip was grim to look out. Before the season had even began there were some of us that were convinced that it would signal the downward turn in our season. However, it turned out be less of an obstacle than we thought. We were 2nd place when we started the road trip and we were 2nd when we came out of it. The fans really got behind the team and the main Ultras group came up with a few unique chants that referenced being away from Tokyo for so long. The club had the right idea by handing out special flags for the occasions and getting the fans worked up for what turned out to be a largely favorable string of results.

Making lemonade out of lemons as they say. That would’ve been a heck of a fun run for away games to attend. Cheers to those fans that attended every single one last season.

Q. Is there any talk of FC Tokyo getting their own, football only, stadium in the future or are they tied to the Ajinomoto?

(TOM) This has been a long sticking point for the club and the supporters.  The club has come out and said “We’ll we’re looking at options” meanwhile Keisuke Honda’s commented on the day wants to build a stadium in Shibuya.  Honestly, I don’t see it happening unless there’s some serious push.  We may end up in the new National Stadium which wouldn’t be too too bad for me (travel time would be extremely short) but having seen the Emperor’s Cup Final there, it’s such a distance to the pitch that it makes Nissan Stadium look pitch side.

I recall watching a video where some of the architects of the larger football grounds in Europe discussed researching how many people you can realistically pack into a stadium that will have a view (good view) of the game. An extra 50 yards between the ground and the stands doesn’t help, that is for sure.

(ALEX) This has been a big talking point among the FC Tokyo faithful for years now. There have been occasional rumors of the club moving to the Olympic Stadium after the Olympics or perhaps a new soccer specific stadium in Yoyogi Park. There are some who feel that the club could have more of an image if it moved closer to central Tokyo.

Then we have the traditionalists who feel that a move away from west Tokyo would leave behind the long-term loyal fans who head west on the Keio line after the game. Central Tokyo might be too much of a journey for fans from that demographic, particularly those in the older age brackets.    

I need an overlay of teams and their supporters on a map of Tokyo to better understand the battle lines between clubs. Anyone got that handy?   

Q. Prior to the start of the season, there was a lot of angst among those teams fans whose kit manufacturer, Nike, made carbon copy away kits for clubs in the same tier of the J-League. How do you guys like the FC Tokyo kits for 2020?

(TOM) Could not be happier.  I think Alex and I each have the home kit. In fact, I type this while wearing the league kit.  Last season’s kit was a half heated attempt but I feel Umbro did a good job this season with both our league and ACL kits.

(ALEX) I have never been a fan of Umbro kits and there haven’t been many FC Tokyo kits I have been keen on. However, this year I am more than satisfied with the designs they have come out with. The fabric is much thinner and it is something you can actually play football in. I have the ACL home kit and will go for the away one once the season starts again.

At least you can wear the kits! I feel like i’m stuck in the never ending story with my search of a 4L/5L FC Ryukyu kit.

Q. How often do you guys bump into any of the FC Tokyo players around town? Or any professional footballers in Tokyo?

(TOM) Rarely if ever.  Alex has more stories to tell on this.

(ALEX) I have bumped into some of the players from overseas around Kichijoji a few times. The club owned apartment for foreign players is located near the station so there is a good chance you might bump into someone around Inokashira park on weekday.

The most notable encounter I had was in Ebisu after an Emperors Cup Semi Final in 2016. I dropped into the 7/11 near the station before having a few pints in the footnik and bumped into our captain Keigo Higashi and now Marinos midfielder Kota Mizunuma. The pair were at the checkout and the clerk didn’t seem to recognize who they were.

Keigo seemed noticeably upset by this and he was very firm in announcing his credentials as a “famous J League player”. I interrupted and spoke with them both about the days game and the years season. I think I inadvertently bugged them up a bit as a random foreigner had just recognized them.

That’s good. I had a similar encounter with Koji Suzuki last season. Albeit, on the day he was transferred out of FC Ryukyu to Cerezo Osaka. I stopped in a Family Mart and saw him getting an iced coffee. I think he sort of recognized me from home matches and was kind enough to have a chat and pose for a selfie. Every other person in the store had no idea who he was, and that is a shame for these footballers here in Okinawa.

Q. I’ve done my best to get the word out about all the many twitter accounts, or blogs in English dedicated to Japanese clubs, as there is so much great content and we just aren’t getting enough from the team’s, or J-league’s, websites. What are some ideas you guys have been mulling over with @FCTokyoKaiGuys? A website in the future perhaps?

(TOM) Honestly, we’ve looked at how we can interact with fans.  Not like Arsenal Fan TV, but like Arsenal Fan TV, in that we enjoy the company of our fans and want to share that experience with people wanting to catch a game in Tokyo.  Of course we also open our accounts to anyone looking to speak with us before the game and we’re happy to meet Tokyo fans from all over the country and world.

(ALEX) We have had a few ideas such as match day vlogs or a website where we would post all our videos and pictures along with useful information about the club. We have also discussed a short podcast that would deep dive into the highs and lows of the season and other topics surrounding the club. We will have to wait for the return of the games before moving forward with these ideas.

This isn’t the first time the idea of a V-Log has come up. @LakerByNature also mentioned this in the last entry so I think I’ll need to explore this idea the same way you guys are for future matches.

Q. How often are you able to get together with any of the other English tweeters/bloggers/podcasters around Japan to watch matches?

(TOM) I am jealous of this a bit but Alex is a regular on the podcasts but he is more knowledgeable for the subjects so it is warranted.  He’s a regular on @JTalkPod and I would highly recommend listening to that podcast regardless if he’s involved…probably better if he isn’t.

(ALEX) I do the rounds with many international fans within the community. I try to arrange a pint with anyone who comes to the Ajista and I always check in on the other guys when travelling to away matches. There are some interesting characters far and wide across the league and its always a pleasure to touch base and exchange ideas.

Yeah, it is a good time.

Q. I can see in your photos on twitter that you guys always have a good time when you go out to see FC Tokyo. Describe the match day routine for you guys?

(TOM) Easy as my oldest (4 years old) comes with me for every home game unless she’s sick or a typhoon is coming.  I have to give props to XFLAG for really doing a good job with pre game activities by creating “Ao-Aka Park”.  She has been collecting rewards from their games for over 2 years now.  Once my Daughter has done her routine, we meet up in the “Ao-Aka Park” drinking area to have a few beers, catch up, and look forward to the game.

I’d like to know more about this park as I think something similar could be created here in Okinawa for all the young FC Ryukyu fans. Also, I love to hear that you make it a family day at the grounds. I try to as well but need the assistance of the wife so she can deal with the kids losing interest within 30 seconds after kickoff which then allows me to focus on the match.

(ALEX) Short answer; it depends if Tom is with the little one or not. He has regular routine with his daughter to make full use of the fun activities and amenities located around Aoaka Park pre-game. If he is off the leash, then the chance of a few beers pre, during and post-game are highly likely.

Onto the rapid-fire round

Q. Drink of choice here in Japan?

(TOM) Beer, not craft specific so let’s say the Ao-Aka Brew on Match Day.

(ALEX) Nama (BEER). Doesn’t matter the brand. Just as long as it’s cold and served from pump.

Q. Best food item(s) at your current location? Shameless plugs are encouraged, with URL links as well!

(TOM) I’m all about the yaki niku so tip of the cap to Niku Azabu https://nikuazabu.com/stores/nishiazabu

(ALEX) I don’t think they have a URL but there is this gyoza and beer joint on my street here in Shimokitazawa. Great for the start of a night out.

Q. How hard was it for you two to assimilate to life in Japan since your arrival? What has made the transition easier?

(TOM) I got lucky and married a wonderful Japanese woman who I may have convinced this was a better life for her.  We married in the US and moved here immediately afterwards.  She’s my Konami code by a long shot.  Living in Tokyo is nothing like living in the stick of Japan however, English is everywhere and you can go days without needing to speak a word of Japanese.

(ALEX) For me, the best way was to get out and socialize as much as possible. Football is a great platform for this as you can integrate with like-minded people instantly.

Q. What other sports and teams do you guys support/follow?

(TOM) I’m Canadian so obviously a hockey guy.  But generally speaking, I enjoy sports unless it’s Liverpool winning the league or that Aguerrooooooo moment but that’s why we love sports for its unpredictability.

You must love the YNWA song pre-FC Tokyo matches then. LOL.

(ALEX) Tom is much more diverse than me here, but I have been to many a Baseball game during my time here in Japan. Interestingly enough, we support rivaling teams in the NPB league. I am a Tokyo Giants fan while Tom follows the Hanshin Tigers. Other than that I was all over Rugby when the World Cup was on.

Nice. I love the Chunichi Dragons as that was Tom Selleck’s team in the iconic 90’s film, Mr. Baseball. (Taught me all I needed to know about living in Japan before I got here)

Q. Neil did well to offend many supporters and clubs during his interview on this blog. I wholeheartedly support that notion by the way as a little bit of healthy trash talk makes for some good banter. I think you have addressed that throughout but do either of you care to cast any more shade on any other teams around the J-League?

(TOM) I always look to Neil’s twitter feed for a good laugh.  His comments pre-game can be hilarious even if the team is on a winning streak.  I feel like Kawasaki Frontale will add a star on their kit like Gamba add candies to theirs, while Kobe added one for their Emperor’s Cup, it just looks terribly bloated and demeans the whole purpose.  Urawa is another one you can add to that list with their ACL stars combined with a smaller single star?  You don’t see 5 stars on our kit!

Some people prefer the single shot with precision impact. Tom on the other hand, prefers the Gatling gun approach in order to water the field with bullets. Love it!

(ALEX) It is hard to imagine any positive statement coming from Neil. Kawasaki Frontale could win the quadruple and he would still call for the managers head. I am more interested in our matches with Urawa. I am looking forward to the day when we hand it to all those Reds fans that possess a Tokyo postcode who only follow them as they are the “biggest club”. Its shame their trophy cabinet is almost as bare as ours though.

Not adding anything that could detract from that powerful statement.

The platform is yours boys!

(TOM) Can’t thank you enough.  FC Ryukyu are my next favorite J League Club.  I was scheduled to go to a match last season but sauna/beer priorities prevented me from attending. I have family in Naha and we look forward to FC Ryukyu making it to the J1. This gives me a secondary reason to get down there!  Thanks for reaching out to us as this has been great fun!

(ALEX) The pleasure is ours! Its great to get some more content out there in these trying times. We will be looking out for FC Ryukyu and their endevours this year. Let us know if you make another trip to Ajista and we will make sure you are sat with the correct fans.

LOL ALEX! Would love too.

Well, it was an absolute pleasure, thanks guys. Please stay safe boys during these trying times and once again, you can find Thomas (@tpen18) and Alex (@Abishop32) on Twitter @FCTokyoKaiGuys for everything FC Tokyo.

The J-League Interview Series Part 4: Nagasaki Blue & Orange Blog #vvaren #FC琉球

The series rolls on and today we are speaking with the author behind the unofficial V-Varen Nagasaki English Blog nagasakiblueorange.wordpress.com Daniel, better known as @LakerByNature on twitter.

Daniel, thank you for agreeing to conduct this interview as one of the great amateur bloggers for our respective J League teams. Much like all my past interviews, how are you doing during these unprecedented times with the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Hi Geoff, thanks a lot for the chance to participate in this project, it’s a big pleasure.

The pleasure is all mine as I am getting to know many of you on a much deeper level.

Personally, I can’t complain even though I have to work reduced hours. Situations like this put everything else into perspective and I am just thankful that nobody I know personally has been affected by virus and that I have remained healthy. I hope it is the same for you and yours!

It is and thank you for your thoughts.

According to your Twitter account, you live in Frankfurt, Germany. I think it helps all the readers from all over the world, to understand how COVID-19 has impacted life in your country.

I felt the impact of COVID-19 at work in late January because I work in tourism and 99% of our customers are from Asia. We also had cases of the virus here at a very early stage, but it really started to spread around late February/early March. One reason for that is that so many Germans go on winter vacation to Northern Italy, Switzerland and Austria and those areas have been heavily affected by the virus. Since the tourists started returning home, we have had more cases, sometimes 6-7000 per day. So, throughout March the government implemented more and more rules.  Supermarkets are open, but other shops, restaurants, cinemas – basically the ones that are not essential – have been closed for a few weeks. And it is the same with schools. Social distancing has been a major topic here in Germany as well.

I have been working from home the past two weeks and it will probably remain the case for some weeks to come. It is all about reducing the risk of catching and spreading the virus. However, we are still allowed to have walks, go jogging by ourselves and with people we live with and that definitely helps.

Has the virus already any impact on life in Okinawa so far?

Okinawa has 50 cases to date with an additional 3 on the US Military Installation the last time I checked. Of course, the number of infected increases with each passing day. My wife and I decided to withhold all our children from their schools, and activities, which has made working from home for me incredibly difficult. My wife still needs to work at her office despite the home office in Tokyo allowing for teleworking so I am a one man show trying to juggle 3 kids and work (and a blog).

The one thing that drives me mad is that domestic travel is still occurring in Japan and since Okinawa had a relatively low number of COVID-19 cases, many ‘mainland Japanese’ have headed here to take advantage of the cheap hotel prices. I wish they would restrict travel in Japan in hopes of flattening the infection curve. Seems unlikely though.

All we have done; and that anyone can do at this point, is prepare themselves both mentally and physically for some hard times ahead.

Q. What have you been doing to occupy your time during this “interim” period between V-Varen Nagasaki matches?

In the beginning, there was still some football and NBA to watch but once everything was suspended, and I started to work from home, I had so much more time on my hands. I have started to spend more time playing PS4 and reading. Also, one of my dark secrets has been that in nearly 32 years, I have never watched a second of a Star Wars movie, but that finally changed a couple of weeks ago.

Wow, that is an interesting point as there have been 9 Star War films spread across 5 decades. And I envy your ability to play some video games as my wife broke me of that habit when my daughter was born and I haven’t had the chance to get back into it. (Though I did download Steam recently, shhh)

Well, I wish you all the best as we deal with this virus.

Q. Describe how you became a fan of the J league and in particular, V-Varen Nagasaki?

I have always been interested in international football and some of my first memories of watching football included FIFA World Cups, European Championships, Champions League and the UEFA Cup. I did not really have one favorite team in the beginning, but in the late 90’s and early 2000’s (I was 10-12 years old at that time), I became more and more interested in Celtic FC and they have been my favorite club ever since.

I can tell as you have a photo with Scott Brown as your twitter profile.

From 2005 to 2009, Celtic had Shunsuke Nakamura on the team and he was just absolutely brilliant. He probably didn’t stay long enough to be considered a club legend, but he was a different type of player with different type of approach (genius) than anyone we have seen at Celtic.

So, when Shunsuke returned home, I started to check results of the J.League, especially Yokohama F. Marinos and Jubilo Iwata, for whom he played for in his first few years back in Japan. Also, my favorite German team, Hertha BSC from Berlin had two Japanese players under contract in Hajime Hosogai and Genki Haraguchi. Genki used to play for Urawa Reds, so that was another team that I casually followed from time to time.

However, the point where I really became interested in the J.League came in early 2017. I traveled to Japan with my then my girlfriend now my fiancée, Mayuko, for the first time. Up to that point, I had almost no knowledge about Japan so being able to spend 3 weeks there was a life changing experience. I fell in love with the country and especially with Nagasaki.

We spent most of that trip in Isahaya City and naturally, we passed the Transcosmos Stadium several times. As it was January, there were no games, but I like to visit stadiums even when there are no games. We spent some time around the TRASTA so I could take some photos and I saw the V-Varen themed LAWSON convenience store across the street, which was also something I had never seen before. I bought a couple of small items at the V-Varen shop in Nagasaki City (which is closed now and was replaced by a small shop at the airport). Then I also found out that Mayuko had practiced and participated in athletic competitions at the stadium as a teenager. So, after that trip, I just felt connected to Nagasaki and Isahaya and from that point on, if I was going to have one favorite J.League team, it was always going to be V-Varen Nagasaki!

That’s a great response. I regret not going to the Emirates when I was in London this past January as I have only ever been to grounds at Highbury as a kid. Would’ve loved to seen a match there but Arsenal only played once during my stay and that was on the road versus AFC Bournemouth in the FA Cup.

Q. So why Blogging?

I cannot say that I have ever been frustrated with the lack of content in English because I did not expect there to be too much of it available in the first place as V-Varen is not a big club. However, I would expect them to create at least some content in English once they move to their new stadium in 2023 and/or hopefully can manage to get promoted at some point and establish themselves in J1.

The reason I started the blog was to do something in addition to sharing info and Live updates during the games on Twitter via @V_Varen_EN and represent the club by showing my support in another way. Vlogging, or an Instagram account, did not make much sense because I am not going to the games and so I settled on starting the blog. Your blog about FC Rykyu and Jonny’s blog about Gamba were inspirational to me in that regard because I actually never read any blogs before getting to know about the two of yours.

Speaking of Vlogging/Instagram, have you thought about doing that for FC Ryukyu English fans? You go to every home game of FC Ryukyu, so I think you would be able to drop a lot of nice content!

I do not have an Instagram account but should look into that. I don’t think it will be a great follow though as I am usually caught up in all the pre-match atmosphere, along with food and beverages, to cobble anything meaningful together. Then, when the match kicks off, I rarely look at my phone as I am fixated on the game. But I think this could be done once the league returns and I will definitely reach out to you for some help.

Q. You and I first came into contact early last year after I started my Blog and I have to say that it has been great to read your posts on Twitter, and now your Blog, as prior to last year, I had very little exposure to the J league outside of FC Ryukyu and the Asian Champions League. What is the overall coverage for the J league in Germany? Are games broadcast live or do you utilize DAZN?

Thanks a lot, and that feeling is definitely mutual. You are one of the most active guys in the English speaking J.League community on Twitter, even now, when there is not much to talk about in terms of football.

It was possible to watch games on German DAZN as long as Lukas Podolski played for Vissel Kobe. I stopped using it because they really only showed the Vissel matches every week and often used commentators who did not seem prepared for games, nor seemed interested in the league. It was frustrating because the J.League is so interesting and colorful which makes it a shame that DAZN DE never really tried to promote the league, but only one player (who behaved disgracefully on more than one occasion while in Japan). After he left, we were waiting for an update from DAZN DE and only a few days before the start of the 2020 season, they confirmed that they had no plans to show any games.

Then, there was also Rakuten Sports and when their app was working, it was possible to watch multiple games on there every weekend. However, I have no idea what their plans are for 2020. There was no update from Rakuten before this season and they did not stream any games during the opening round of the J-league.

So, right now, Bet365 is where I get to watch the games. It is not possible to re-watch any games and they end the stream right after the final whistle, but the streams are stable, and they show every J1 and J2 game.

I know in Japan you can watch all games via DAZN, but do they also show games on TV?

I know DAZN has the rights to the J. League but on the rare occasion, a J-league match is broadcast on NHK or another Japanese television station but I can only speak to what is broadcast here in Okinawa. To that end, I was able to watch FC Ryukyu away to Avispa Fukuoka last fall at a sports bar where the game was being broadcast on television, while simultaneously being broadcast on DAZN. One of the feeds was ahead of the other with the slower one playing the sound. So yeah, it was odd to watch Uehara bang in that late winner, which also ended our win-less road drought we had going on, and then hear the announcement a good minute later.

It has been some time since I’ve subscribed to Sky Perfect TV, which is where you can watch the Levain Cup and ACL matches. They may be available on the BS/CS stations on the cable box but I do not subscribe to them here in Japan.

Finally, some of the Emperor’s cup matches are broadcast on TV, but mainly only the big games. It is a shame that we cannot get a live stream from a static camera inside the grounds of all the Emperor’s Cup competitions as so many fans are shutout from watching their team if they are unable to travel.

Q. You had a great entry the other week discussing your ‘match day routine.’ I need to add that it spoke directly to me as I too would do many of the things you described when watching my favorite teams, in whatever time zone they play, in whatever time zone I am in. But you never discussed whether or not you wear the kit during the matches? My wife, Aiko, thought I was crazy to wear either an Arsenal or Pittsburgh Steelers Jersey when no one else would see me, but that’s because our spouses sometimes don’t understand how deep our passion runs for our clubs. Or how crazy about sports we are.

Whoa, the Steelers? This interview is over… WHO DEY!!!!! HAHAHA

Oh that’s cute. I’ll tell who dey; WE DEY! That 2016 AFC Wild Card playoff game, whoa.

No, that is an interesting question and in case of V-Varen, I haven’t worn the kits that I own very often. The main reason is that they come in some type of super skinny slim fit and I am slightly bigger than the average Japanese person so they were too tight for me to wear.

I’ve been living this nightmare for 7 years now. Glad to see I’m not alone. (5L one day FC Ryukyu!)

But actually, that motivated me to start losing weight last year and since then, I have lost 12 kilos and once the season restarts, I will also wear the kit for every game I watch.

Nicely done! I need to use that as inspiration to get moving as well.

Q. Speaking of Kits, last year’s V-Varen Nagasaki kit with the blue, orange and white checkered patterns is one of my all-time favorites. But what is your favorite V-Varen Kit of all time?

Considering your club regularly releases absolute belters, this means a lot! Yes, last year’s kit was a beauty. It was inspired by church windows and for the team photo, the players and coaches posed in front of Ōura Church, which is said to be the oldest church in Japan or at least one of the oldest.

My favorite of all time is the 2017 peace jersey. It was released the year I went to Nagasaki for the first time and the same year that V-Varen nearly went bankrupt. The club was saved at the last minute and eventually got promoted to J1. Apart from those memories, this kit is just absolutely beautiful and one football page on the internet even crowned it the most beautiful football shirt in world football for 2017. Here is a link to the presentation page from Hummel, who provided that kit. https://hummel.net/explore/clubs-players/nagasaki-peace-jersey

Unfortunately, I did not manage to get my hands on one as it was the early days of me supporting V-Varen and I had no idea how limited the numbers of shirts are at J.League clubs. Hummel only sold about three of them in 2XO in Europe at the time. Of the ones that I do own, my favorite is the 2018 peace jersey. Hummel released it here only in late 2019 and I had already given up hope of getting it. It is the only peace jersey V-Varen have worn in J1 and it is another beauty. I was so happy when I finally got it.

I should also get the new home kit soon and will definitely make a blog post for that.

I know a guy over at Japan Football Shirts (@JLeagueShirts), maybe he could locate the one you want. Alan, can you help this man?

Q. You also mentioned in your game day blog that you’ve attended some J league matches in the past; which was your most memorable match? And please tell us about the food that you raved about in your latest blog.

The most memorable match was definitely my first V-Varen home game in October 2019. It was the Emperors Cup quarterfinal against Ventforet Kofu and we beat them 2-1 by first half goals from Yoshioka and Niizato. It was absolutely pouring down that day. I didn’t know what pouring down really meant until I experienced rain in Japan. But that didn’t make that day any less great.

Yes, it’s the equivalent of taking a shower with all your clothes on as your umbrella is absolutely worthless at that point.

I finally got to meet some people, who I had been in contact with via social media for a long time and I even got to take a picture with Vivi-kun. The result was one of the biggest in the club’s history and it was very important as the league season was not going the way many of us had hoped or expected and the success in the cup helped ease the frustration a little.

Ironically, at the V-Varen home game, I did not even manage to get any food because so much was going on and we met so many people that the time until KO was flying by. When I mentioned the food at Japanese stadiums, I mainly was thinking about the match day experience at Fagiano Okayama. I think they had about 35 different dishes available and, in the end I settled on a rice dish with meat, egg and vegetables and it was outstanding. But Mayuko’s noodle dish was even better and it came in a box with a picture of Fagiano’s top scorer Lee Yong-Jae on it.

The food at the games was just another huge difference from what I was used to at other grounds, and I never expected it to be like that. When I go to a game here in Germany, I always eat a fried sausage, sometimes two and it is fine as it is the match day tradition that I grew up with. But I definitely enjoyed being able to choose from the many dishes and the quality of the food was very good.

The food at stadiums can be quite an experience all by itself. I lean more to what Neil mentioned in the prior interview about all the different spirits and beers at different grounds. I am thankful that Ben Williams (@BenitoWill) turned me on to Shochu in Kagoshima.

Q. What is the outlook for V-Varen Nagasaki this year? What have you seen from some of the J2 predictions? What players have they brought in/let go that could strengthen/weaken the squad?

The predictions have been quite mixed, even among the neutrals. Some people expect us to finish around 10th-12th place like last season while others think we will contend for a playoff spot. Among the supporters, it is expected that V-Varen contend for direct promotion or at least a playoff spot and for the club, the goal also is to get back to J1 as soon as possible.

Last year was very difficult because we lost most of our key players after being relegated and it was not the easiest situation for manager Makoto Teguramori to come in and take over. Before the 2020 season, we lost two very important players in striker Hiroto Goya (Kashiwa Reysol) and fullback Yuki Kagawa (Oita Trinita), but kept other key players in LB/LMF Masashi Kamekawa, OFM Yohei Otake.

In the summer transfer window, V-Varen signed some very good players on loan in Caio Cesar, Hiroki Akino and Victor Ibarbo. Caio has extended his loan until the end of 2020 while Ibarbo and Akino made their moves permanent. We also signed Brazilian forward/winger Luan Madson and I think he is the type of player who would normally have moved to a J1 team. He scored 30 goals and added 33 assists in 230 games while playing in Brazil in addition to being a winner of the Copa Libertadores. As far as I know, he signed a 4-year contract with V-Varen, which is quite unusual for J.League clubs. So, the club must have high hopes in him.

It was very important was that we improved our defense and I was glad when Freire was signed from Shonan and Hiroshi Futami came in from Shimizu S-Pulse. The both of them started together with Kakuda in a three-man defense in week one (we played in a 3-4-3 instead of last years’s 4-4-2 with two defensive midfielders.) Interestingly, Kakuda, Freire and Futami all played together before at S-Pulse and you could see that the communication among them was much better than what we saw from the defenders last year. That could also be an important point for Caio this year because now he has Freire behind him and at some point, Luan (out in week 1) will be a starter, too. Two more players, who I really like are midfielder Masaru Kato, who joined on loan from Albirex Niigata and Cayman Togashi, a striker, who has not scored too many goals in his career, but he does have J1 experience. I think he is a very smart and skilled striker, which he showed with his assist in the first game of the season.

Cannot overstate the importance of having a strong back line, especially one that is familiar with each other’s tendencies stemming from playing together before joining V-Varen.

So, overall, I am very positive about the 2020 season because we managed to strengthen the defense, finally change the system and managed to keep some very good players while adding additional talent. It definitely hurts loosing Goya as he scored 22 goals last year, but the goal should always be to have several players who can produce goals and not just one who has to pull the team all the time.

I can relate to that!

With Ibarbo, Luan, Togashi, Otake and others, we have some players, who can do that. We will have to wait and see if V-Varen have what it takes to attack the top 2, but I am confident we can make it into the top 6 and be a playoff team, if playoffs take place this year.

Well said there at the end. I wish you guys all the best this year, just not any better than FC Ryukyu of course.

Q. Do you have a favorite player in the V-Varen Squad?

Yes, my favorite player is Makoto Kakuda. He is a 36-year old CB and he joined V-Varen last season. It is quite unusual for me to like players who have only spent such a short time at a club, but Kakuda was an inspirational figure for the team from the start of last season. Every second he is on the pitch, he works his butt off and he is very vocal. With him on the pitch, we are a different team.

Who is your favorite player of FC Ryukyu? Do you remember Takumi Nagura? He is at V-Varen now but played for FCR in J3.

The easy answer is Dany Carvajal but I have really enjoyed watching Keita Tanaka and Yu Tomidokoro over the years. It is hard supporting some of the best players on this squad as most depart during the transfer windows. It would have been great to see Koji Suzuki, Satoki Uejo and Kazaki Nakagawa up front but that isn’t the case and is why it is really hard to support just one player.

I cannot say that I have many memories of Takumi Nagura. Then again, during those days, I didn’t pay much attention to the players in the squad unless they really stood out.

Q. What other teams and sports do you support?

My first love in sports was Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA. I became a fan of them around 1997-98. In 2016 Mayuko and I attended Kobe Bryant’s final career game when he scored 60 points against the Utah Jazz. That will always be one of the best moments of my life. Actually, I was supposed to be in Los Angeles right now to attend four Lakers games at the beginning of April, but then COVID-19 started to spread.

As stated earlier, I also have a favorite NFL team, the Cincinnati Bengals (WHO DEY!). But my favorite sport is still football. I watch every game of Celtic and Hertha BSC and go to games as often as possible. One thing I have been thankful for is that I also follow Boca Juniors rather casually and La Bombonera is at the top of my bucket list when it comes to stadiums that I would like to visit.

I need to ask you more about this affinity with the Cincinnati ‘Bungles’ at another time.

Q. Despite the fact that opening day seems ages ago, you were the trendsetter for bringing together another English blogger from the J League to coauthor a match day preview. Kudos to the both of you. What are some other ideas you have been mulling over for your blog?  

Thanks for that, it’s been nice to link up with supporters of other teams to cooperate on the match previews especially because J2 has so many teams. Though I always do some research on V-Varen’s upcoming opponent (even before I started the blog), I still prefer to have feedback from someone who regularly watches the games for that particular team.

Right now, it is difficult to really plan ahead because nobody knows if and when the season is going to continue. I put a lot of time and effort into the preparation before the season and was going to be very busy with match previews and reports which is why I was quite dumbfounded when the season was suspended after only one game.

So, for now, I am just trying to put together some topics that I can write about that are not related to the games. My match day routine was the first topic I wrote about and the next one will be about the away day in Okayama.

Looking forward to that entry.

Since V-Varen Nagasaki turned 15 years old this March, I have also been thinking about getting the followers on Twitter involved and putting together something like a V-Varen best XI. That would also help me to learn more about the history of the club.

Interesting idea.

And you have had a very nice idea as well with this interview series. How did you decide to start it and do you have any other specials planned while there are no games?

I thought about starting the interview series after writing an article for the J-Soccer magazine that will be published in the upcoming issue #29. I thought, there are so many great bloggers, twitter accounts and pod casts dedicated to the J-League in English but rarely do you get to hear about how these people began their love of the sport and their teams. Plus, there is no activity in any sports and we could all use some distraction from the COVID-19 virus from time to time.

On that note, it would be great if all the English Bloggers and Twitter accounts from the J-league could come together one day under one organization.

Q. Many of us maybe unfamiliar with V-Varen Nagasaki so please take a moment to discuss the history of the club, who are the biggest rivals and any local derby’s/rivalries.

2005 is the year that is mentioned in the emblem of V-Varen Nagasaki as it is the year the club’s name and identity were established. However, the history goes back as far as the mid 1980’s when a club called Ariake SC was founded. For many years they did very well in the football leagues of Nagasaki and competed among the best of Kyushu in the 90’s. In 2004, they merged with Kunimi SC, which was a team consisting of former players of Kunimi High School who had not managed to become professionals. In Nagasaki, Kunimi High School is known for producing very good football players and Yuhei Tokunaga is one of them. The 36-year old CB left the school in 2002 for Waseda University and later played for FC Tokyo. In 2018, he joined V-Varen and is one of several Nagasaki natives on the current squad.

I would love to know more about what prominent areas, schools or universities in Japan are the feeders for the J-League. Perhaps @Michael_Master could provide us with some answers.

The name “V-Varen” refers to several parts of Nagasaki’s history. The “V” stands for “vitoria” (Portuguese for victory) and also “vrede” (dutch for peace), while “varen” is the Dutch word for sailing. The reason why those words were chosen is Nagasaki’s harbor has a long history of being a commercial port, especially for business with the Dutch and Portuguese. Also, everybody knows about the nuclear attack on Nagasaki in August 1945. The region and the club have made it a priority to promote peace and make sure this event remains as a reminder that this should never happen again.

I do recall the 2019 matches between FC Ryukyu and V-Varen having the playing for peace theme.

Once the club had been formed, V-Varen established themselves in the Kyushu League. Although they achieved good results each season, it took until 2009 for the team to earn promotion to the JFL and in 2012 they made their way to J2 League. 

In 2014 the club made the most significant move in its young history when Takuya Takagi was appointed manager. He is a V-Varen legend today as he led the team to promotion to J1 in 2017. It was a happy ending to a turbulent year as V-Varen Nagasaki were in huge financial trouble that spring and were saved just before having to announce bankruptcy.

Nagasaki based shopping company Japanet, founded by Sasebo native Akira Takata, who also became president of V-Varen, purchased the club. Since then, V-Varen Nagasaki has remained a 100% subsidiary of Japanet and at the end of last year it was announced that in only two years, the club had more than doubled its sales and was in a strong position financially. Around the same time, Mr. Takata announced that he was going to step down as president with his daughter, Haruna Takata, taking over as club president. If I am not mistaken, she is the only female club president in the J.League right now and V-Varen supporters are very proud of her.

Didn’t know that.

In J1, the team fought bravely in every game and did well by earning 30 points and winning some memorable games: 3-0 vs Gamba, a 1-0 at FC Tokyo and two wins over Nagoya Grampus (3-0 at home and 4-3 in Nagoya.) Despite those wins we were relegated after finishing bottom of the table. I was proud of the team and even though everybody wants their team to play in the top tier, J2 is an incredibly interesting and intense league which I am thoroughly enjoying.

In 2023, the club is going to move into a new stadium in the heart of Nagasaki City. I am really curious about the final design of the stadium and it should not be too long before it is announced as they are supposed to start construction in 2021.

As for rivalries, there are quite a lot of football teams in Kyushu: Avispa, Trinita, Sagan, Kagoshima and Giravanz and the games against them are announced as Kyushu derbies. But these games aren’t any more intense than other J.League games with the atmosphere among the different supporters being very friendly.

Q. Tell us a little about the game day experience at V-Varen?

That is another total turnaround from what I am used to. Hundreds of supporters meet in front of the stadium to welcome not only the V-Varen players, but also the away team. For that, all the flag-wavers line up along the final couple hundred meters of the road to the stadium and the ultras also hand out many smaller flags to other V-Varen supporters so everybody can join in.

It is an incredibly colorful experience. Inside the ground, the ultras are located in the southern curve of the stadium. In the middle of the stand they have those long lines of cloth (sorry, I don’t know what the correct term for them is), which are connected between the bottom and the top of the stand and give it some sort of South American flair. The waivers with their giant flags are standing left and right of those cloth banners. I counted 20 giant flags when I went to V-Varen’s home game against Zweigen Kanazawa in October and it looks magnificent considering that the TRASTA is a relatively small stadium and V-Varen average around 7500 fans per home match.

Of course, before the matches, there is a lot going on in front of the stadium and it is very family friendly. Vivi-kun is the center of attention for most of it – regardless of who plays for V-Varen, nobody is as popular as our mascot 😉. He also may help with selling food or present some of the products by one of the team’s sponsors. Against Zweigen, it was nearly Halloween, so many people were wearing costumes and Vivi-kun changed his outfit about three times that day. What I also liked is that they usually offer some local food from the area the opponent is based at.

Yeah, I noticed that too near the end of the season last year. Many of the opponents had their own stall where you could purchase team goods and some food items. I hope this continues when we resume as I need to get my hands on a Ventforet Kofu and Mito Hollyhock towel as I missed out when I attended those games in 2019.

The atmosphere during the game is very positive and you will never hear anyone booing the team. I think that is just part of the nature for Japanese football supporters in general. Same with the 90 minutes of jumping. I was out of breath 10 minutes into the first half. When V-Varen scored, everybody was high fiving everyone around them. The West End Ultras (West End because of their location in Kyushu) have three capos at home games, who are lined up along the curve. According to a statistic that was released recently more than 50% of supporters at V-Varen games are female and naturally, one of the capos and several of the drummers are female, too.

I am not sure how the supporters came upon some of the melodies they use for their chants, but I later realized that quite a lot of them are also used by Boca’s fans. So, I really feel like there is a strong South American influence for V-Varen.

On that note, you all should check out the Lost In Football Japan(@LiFJapan) entry for his visit to Nagasaki. https://lostinfootballjapan.com/nagasaki-football-in-a-city-full-of-stories/

Q. There were plenty of times last year when we all voiced our displeasure at the way the J league conducted the J1/J2 playoffs, as well as the way in which all the clubs in the J league release information pertaining to financials or injuries. In your opinion, why do you believe that it is the in the case in the J league compared to the European leagues? Any suggestions for the league on how to fix some of these problems?

We are just used to a certain level of transparency here in Europe, depending on what country you are from, but also the involvement of the supporters is different. In Germany, you can be a member of your favorite club. I pay an annual fee for the membership at Hertha and with that, I am allowed to attend general meetings that take place twice per year and I can have an impact by voting on certain issues as well as the club president.

Also, the club is obliged to present its finances to the members, same as how clubs that are registered in the stock market have to present their results. Apart from that, supporters have a different mentality here in Germany. If fans do not agree with the way their club is run, or there is not enough transparency and the club possibly ignores their opinion; then the supporters do not hesitate to take actions like holding up banners and chanting against the board at games, arranging protests or even boycotting their club. In Germany, an unwritten rule exists that tickets for standing sections should cost less than 20 Euros. If a club charges more than that, you can be sure that the section will be nearly empty.

I voiced some of those same sentiments to Mr. Mikami, president and CEO of FC Ryukyu, last season. Last year was the first year that I saw the team meet with the head of the FC Ryukyu Support Group with that interaction being published in a local magazine. It is crucial that clubs understand the voice of their customer as these are the people that fuel their revenue streams.

I think that mentalities of the people and society, along with the way clubs are set up play a big part as forces acting against any perceived change. It is often the case that things have been the same for a very long time and cannot be changed from one day to the other. I am also not sure how much the Japanese fans voice their displeasure and if the clubs even feel like they need to change certain things. I am also not close enough to the situation to make any definitive judgement.

The playoffs are different point altogether. To me, they are a farce and I have never seen anything comparable nor have I read or heard anyone stating any positive thoughts about the way they are set up. I really would like to know how it got to the point that the J.League decided to implement the current format. But in terms of the playoffs, I do feel like sooner or later there will be a change and hopefully, it will be a positive one. Fingers crossed.

You should listen to the J-Talk Extra Time Podcast when @sushi_football interviewed @NeatPaul and they discussed some of the similarities between the J-League and K-League when it comes to playoff promotion and relegation to the respective top tiers in either country.

Q. Have you met anyone from the V-Varen squad or staff in person?

Yes. I met two players from the current squad last year and it was quite a funny moment. One of our friends had won a lottery or competition and the prize was a ticket to take a photo with two players ahead of the game against Kanazawa in October and she asked us to come along with her for the picture!

The two players were Ryo Niizato and Takumi Nagura and because it was the weekend before Halloween, they were wearing costumes. Our friend brought a couple of masks that she wanted the players to wear. Takumi got one that only covered the upper part of his face around the eyes, but the mask she gave to Niiza was one that covered his entire face. Aapart from his hair, you cannot recognize him in the photo.

I also met Yusuke Maeda that same day, who is the most legendary player for V-Varen. He joined V-Varen back in 2012 and went all the way with them from the JFL to J1 and later retired with the club after the 2018 season. Today he is an ambassador for the club and appears on a local TV show about V-Varen. On the day I met him, it was his debut as a commentator for DAZN and he greeted the supporters before the game. My friend Kenichi-san is a friend of Mae-chan, so he already knew beforehand that he was going to be there that day and asked us to meet him there. And he brought a trading card, which Mae-chan signed for me and he wrote my name in Katakana. That was a great gesture by Kenichi-san and I still wonder how Yusuke Maeda doesn’t show up in toothpaste commercials with that bright smile of his.

Q. Have you had any contact with the club, in any form, during your time as a supporter?

So far, I haven’t had any contact with the club and to be honest, I wouldn’t even know how or what to tell them. I tweet them every now and then because prior to the start of the season, V-Varen launched their own mobile app. But it is not available for download outside of Japan, so I asked them to change that, but without any success.

Do you have any regular contact with FC Ryukyu officials and does the club know about your blog?

I have been lucky enough to meet two of the top officials of the club, Mr. Mikami and Mr. Hirosaki, over the course of the last season. Both are aware of my blog and I truly appreciate that the main FC Ryukyu twitter account follows my Twitter account which may allow for other English-speaking fans of FC Ryukyu to connect with one another.

I hope one day that FC Ryukyu will create an official FC Ryukyu English account and you never know, maybe V-Varen could penetrate the German market if they had an official V-Varen_DE account run by you! Always need to be thinking bigger and globally.

Onto the rapid-fire round

Q. Name one video game we all should be playing right now?

I only own three PS4 games: NBA 2k20, PES20 and Marvel’s Spider-Man.

Q. Best food item at your current location?

Rice is the first thing that comes to mind.

Really? I would have thought something like sausage or pork but alright.

Q. How hard was it for your fiancé to find Japanese food in your country? Also, how easy or difficult was it for her to assimilate to the new country?

Luckily we have many Asian supermarkets and Japanese restaurants here in Frankfurt and the things that we cannot get here, or that are much cheaper in Japan, are either are sent to us by Mayuko’s mom or we bring them to Germany when we are in Japan for vacation. The last time we brought home a small suitcase full of food! We actually eat Japanese dishes around 4-6 times per week and by now, I prefer rice over potatoes and bread. The food situation in Frankfurt is one of the things that makes it a bit easier for some Japanese to start a life here.

I asked Mayuko what was the biggest difference in her daily life after she moved here and she said that in the beginning the opening times of shops made a big difference as they are not open seven days per week with most shops closing between 20:00 and 22:00 in the evening. That just changes the way you organize your days and the weekends in particular. Many of our Japanese colleagues (we have about 30 at the office) had the same issue in the beginning. But it is nothing you cannot overcome.

Awesome stuff and please tell her thank you!

Well, Dan, it was an absolute pleasure. Please stay safe and continue the excellent work on your blog. Again, you can find Dan on twitter @LakerByNature and at @V_Varen_EN and the link to his blog is nagasakiblueorange.wordpress.com. Until next time then. Stay safe everyone.

The J-League Interview Series Part 3: Frontale Rabbit Blog #frontale #川崎フロンターレ#FC琉球

The third installment of this series drops during a time when some of the major cities around Japan, as well as Okinawa, are seeing a sharp increase in their COVID-19 infections. While it is trivial to wish for the return of football when so many people are suffering from this virus, there is also a need to maintain some semblance of our humanity.

And in the case of Neil (@frontalerabbit), he provides a bit of comic relief in his interview for us all to take a moment and have a good laugh. And please keep in mind the many hours I spent translating Neil’s British slang into something we could all understand, without reducing the impact of his message . So please stay home this Saturday Night; Stay safe, and enjoy some laughs with a truly great interview!

As I mentioned earlier, Neil writes a blog for Kawasaki Frontale over at frontalerabbit.blogspot.jp. I first came into contact with Neil shortly after I attended my first ever Kawasaki Frontale match, which was also my first time ever seeing a J1 team play in the ACL when they squared off against Ulsan Hyundai. I started tweeting out some photos and live chants from the supporter section which led to Neil and I following one another on Twitter.

I also had the pleasure of linking up with Neil, and his friends, at the FC Tokyo derby day match later that year that Neil will get into later I am sure.

I begin all of my interviews by asking each particpant to take a moment and tell us how they are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic as it not only provides some useful information for all of us, it shows us all that despite isolation, we are not alone.

Q. Neil, the number of COVID-19 infections in Tokyo are starting to increase each day so how has the virus impacted your life and how are you holding up there in Tokyo?

I’m OK right now thanks. In spite of Japan being one of the first countries to have a case, I think we all know that we’re quite early on in the process here, so clearly there are tougher times ahead.

Very true. The statistics and overall number of cases throughout the world indicate as much. This is why it is vital that people understand the importance of social distancing, limiting your exposure to the virus, washing hands, avoiding touching your face and having proper plans of action in place to flatten the infection curve.

The lack of football is a bummer, but is wholly insignificant when compared to what other people are going through. And just think about the party we can have when this is all over!

Yeah man. I am chomping at the bit to watch FC Ryukyu.

Q. What have you been doing to occupy your time between the long break in Kawasaki Frontale matches?

Probably unintentionally irritating my wife. (ditto on my end!)

My work is unsurprisingly getting a bit quiet (I’m an English teacher), so I’m finding myself with plenty of free time. Normally I’d spend at least some of this free time drinking, or as I like to call it ‘doing research for my other blog’ (a blog about craft beer bars in Japan called Tokyo Beer Drinker http://tokyobeerdrinker.blogspot.com/), but a bout of gout has put pay to that as well recently.

Gout is no joke. Heal up son! Don’t want to be tempting fate by going to the doctor unnecessarily so ease off that beer and switch to Scotch (not medical advice as I have no idea if that makes any difference with gout).

I’m looking at the possible upcoming lock-down as a big opportunity to get things done that I’ve been putting off for ages, but most likely it will be filled with me doing nothing much apart from playing stupid games on my phone and then feeling guilty about wasting time.

Well, maybe take the first few days to rest and relax but it is important that all of us set ‘Goals’ that you can achieve during an extended isolation period. That will at least allow you to reclaim some control over your daily life.

Let’s transition into something a little more happier.

Q. Please describe how you came to Japan and became a fan of the J league and in particular, Kawasaki Frontale? Why did you choose Kawasaki Frontale over other Tokyo based clubs?

I guess it was mainly because of my wife. We met and had been together in London for a few years and then she got an offer to transfer her job to Japan and we thought we’d give it a try. She’d been in London for quite a while so the chance to return to Japan must have been appealing to her.

I am a pretty easy going person when it comes to making big decisions so I thought why not? Before we’d moved to Japan we’d been on holiday here a few times, visiting her family and generally having fun. On one occasion we found ourselves in a bar in Shibuya where I attempted a conversation with some Japanese guys in my then absolutely useless Japanese (now my Japanese is much better, I’d say it was around the level of ‘a bit useless’).

In the UK, I’d always detested Manchester United for various reasons so when I found myself talking about football in Japan, I asked my new friends who I should support. Perhaps because of the color of the kit among other things, I had always associated Man. Utd. with Urawa, so asked them who Urawa’s big rivals were, saying I would support them. They answered Frontale. I guess they were Frontale fans and saw it as an opportunity to recruit a new fan. In hindsight, clearly their answer was factually incorrect, but it was a good enough reason for me.

Ha, I too thought the same thing about Urawa resembling Man UTD and I don’t think some of the actions by their support group the past few years have provided any help in improving their overall image. Every story needs a villain I guess.

Now we live in Tokyo and Frontale are our local team . Distance wise I am only 5km from the Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium, so pipe down FC Tokyo fans! If you choose to play in a stadium half way to Nagoya you can’t complain about Frontale attracting some people who live in Tokyo. Hehe.

Shots fired!

Q. Why Blogging? Does Kawasaki Frontale have an English Twitter account?

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but when the games are coming thick and fast it sometimes seems like a bit of a curse. When I was living in the UK from time to time I used to enjoy reading a blog about Frontale written in English, which I unfortunately can’t remember the name. When we moved here and started attending games semi regularly I thought I’d check what that blog was saying about them but found that it had been abandoned. I emailed them before I started writing Frontale Rabbit to check that I wasn’t treading on anyone’s toes by doing it but never received a response so I guess that perhaps they’d left Japan or weren’t interested or able to do it anymore.

You bring up a good point Neil. When I was compiling the list of English blogs or Twitter Accounts for clubs throughout the J-league, there were many that were abandoned and that is just a shame. Hopefully we could get to a point where all 56 J-League clubs are represented.

I’m pretty sure I know all the regular gaijin attendees of Frontale games now, so unless one of them is keeping it very secret, I don’t think the writer goes to games anymore. I would imagine that they must still have some interest in Frontale so I wonder if they have ever read my blog. I wish I could restrict my posts to the length of posts they used to write. They were beautifully concise! I definitely tend to get carried away, particularly when I’m whinging, so writing takes a lot longer than it could. There’s no official English language Frontale content. If anyone from the club is reading, I’d be happy to do it. Guess I wouldn’t be able to moan so much then though…

True, not sure of what other protocols you’d have to follow as an official representative of the club.

Q. What has been the best part of this so called ‘labor of love’ when acting as the de-facto English speaking ambassador for the club. Albeit an unofficial one?

It sounds corny, but it’s really all the people I’ve come into contact. Whether that is making friends at games (mainly the other foreigners. I wish more Japanese fans would talk to me. We see each other every week!), meeting opposition fans at away games or even just having people read what I’ve written, retweet my tweets and take part in my end of season questionnaires.

It’s also been an honor to be on the J Talk Podcast as the Frontale correspondent and meet (in conversation, if not in person) some interesting and great people. We went to an FC Gifu game and met Stuart Smith for some beers afterwards and have met a couple of the other regular J Talk contributors at away games. Oh, and I shouldn’t forget to mention that it was pretty great when we got to meet a certain FC Ryukyu fan who’d flown up to see the Tamagawa Classico where we smashed FC Tokyo at their place!

Some serious salvos are being fired in the direction of FC Tokyo during this interview. But that’s OK, a bit of banter is fun and I’m sure the boys over at @FCTokyoKaiGuys will respond in kind in one of these interviews.

To your point about linking up for that game. It was awesome. I try to adhere to a strict rule of one team per football pyramid in a particular country but having experienced at Kawasaki game a few months earlier, it was enjoyable to watch the visitors “do the job’ over their hosts.

Q. As a side note, that FC Tokyo v Kawasaki Frontale match we attended last Spring ranks up there as one of the best matches I’ve attended outside of Okinawa. The atmosphere surrounding the match, you and the boys, as well as the score line made that really special. I also happened to notice that you and your friends wear some very flashy, very ornate, gold chains as part of your match day routine. Please explain how that came about and what other superstitions/routines do you conduct prior to and during Frontale matches?

Haha! Flashy and ornate is perhaps overstating it a little. The source of this whole thing is Matt, one of the guys you met. Over the course of a few years my wife and I kept noticing that there was another foreigner who was going to the same away games we were and he was always wearing a couple of Mr T style gold chains. I guess we are both shy people so didn’t speak for a while, but that duck was broken away to Sagan Tosu.

The weather was pretty bad, I’d got soaked but wasn’t going to let that get in the way of what must be the best away trip for boozing in J1. Sagan Tosu’s stadium has a wide range of shochus, nihonshus (although not last year…), beers and even Saga ‘champagne’. Because their shirt sponsor last year was DHC they had four or five different types of DHC beer available so my wife and I tried all of them. And it wouldn’t be Sagan Tosu away if I didn’t have at least one mouth scorching shochu. After all of this liquid refreshment I spotted Matt and decided there would never be a better time to say hello.

After I did, Matt popped away and came back with a gold chain for me and the rest is history. The gold chain, (and to be honest there should be inverted commas around that as they are definitely not gold in anything but color), is now something that I use as in emergencies when we really need a goal or some luck. So far it has been quite good for that. I think I put it on for the penalty shoot out in the Levain Cup final last year. Aside from the chain, I went through various different superstitions last season to try and get us playing a bit better. The items involved were a few soft toys and a Frontale mug with various combinations of them being used and the items being called into action on the day of the game or the preceding day. Shockingly, now I think that perhaps I have to admit that THESE DON’T HAVE ANY EFFECT! I can’t believe it…

As someone who played baseball thorough college I have a serious set of superstitions I follow for FC Ryukyu matches. And just like any idiot who fills his head with the notion of hubris, I decided to change the shirt I wear for every FC Ryukyu game and then we promptly lost to Kofu 5-2 at Home which snapped our 36 game home unbeaten run. There is a word that comes to mind when I recall that day and it rhymes with duck.

But those chains are hilarious.

Q. As you may know FC Ryukyu don’t really have a local rival that can make for a true derby. I yearn for the time when OSV will assert themselves to create a nice rivalry on Okinawa but for now, I live vicariously through larger clubs. I usually ask everyone to ran the most heated/hated to lesser known ones for their clubs but judging from your responses so far, I assume that to be FC Tokyo. In any case, what has also been the best derby match in Frontale’s History?

To answer in reverse order, the best derby match I think I have been to was probably the game mentioned above where we met you. Beating FC Tokyo at their place is always nice, but to do it when they were doing well in the league and we were doing badly was extra sweet. And we did absolutely wallop them, which made it even better. It was probably the highlight of our league campaign last year but at the same time was ultimately pointless.

Bittersweet. And makes for a fun train ride home through Tokyo I’m assuming.


As for rivals, the two big ones are Yokohama F Marinos and FC Tokyo who are our closest neighbors and represent the cities that sandwich Kawasaki. Given that they won the league last year, I think Marinos would probably currently top the list of most heated/hated. No one likes their neighbor doing well, particularly when everyone is saying what nice football they are playing.

I think though that it could be a good kick up the backside for us though as a few years ago we were playing nice attacking stuff and recently have atrophied into dullness. Who knows what’s going to become of this season now though?

Other than these two, Shonan Bellmare could be another rival, although I think the bad feeling comes from them to us rather than the other way round. Or maybe it’s just that Shonan Bellmare’s English twitter account is the source of all these bad feelings.

Interesting. I’ll pay a little closer attention to that ongoing Twitter battle between Frontale fans and Bellmare when the season resumes.

Q. Do you follow any clubs in the lower tiers for the J-League or around the world?

On Frontale’s off weekends we’ve been to a few games where we’ve approached it as kind of neutral fans but have picked up some affection for some teams. Because of the aforementioned Stuart Smith, I’m always interested in Gifu and when we loaned them a player last year we had a great opportunity to see them play. The player didn’t even make the bench though…

When Frontale were playing Sagan Tosu away we arrived a day early and on a whim went to Giravanz Kitakyushu to watch a game in their stadium hoping to see the ball sail over the stand into the sea. Sadly that didn’t happen, but I have a soft spot for them too now. Perhaps due to them serving 5 different types of Mojiko Retro beer in the stadium. It’s a brewery I really like and the opportunity to drink some nice beer whilst watching the game was great.

I also like Ehime’s mascots, the angry orange and the cheeky newt or whatever it is. I think everyone likes FC Ryukyu too and I look forward to one day being able to go to a Frontale game there. As you can probably see, my reasons for liking or disliking teams are quite random, but I think a lot of the teams in smaller cities have their charms. It’s great to see a local club supported by local people who are normally very welcoming. And if the city is nice, that’s a bonus!


In England my team is Leyton Orient, which is my hometown team and are currently in the fourth tier. It’s a bit strange that my Japanese team has recently been so successful. As an Orient fan I’m not used to success. But my years as an Orient fan prepared me well for the relentless disappointment that was Frontale’s league campaign in 2019, so that was handy!

Ha, nice.

Q. What are some of you most memorable football experiences?

Of course the games where we won titles are definitely up there. Losing away at Cerezo Osaka, yet still taking the title the year before last was a bit weird though. The Levain Cup final last year was just a crazy game, but there was way too much tension for me to be able to fully enjoy it.

I can associate very well with your nervous tension pre-match and neurotic behavior.

Kashima throwing the title away and us taking it on the last day of the season in 2017 was pretty special, particularly as it was our first title. I’d probably say though that my best experiences have been going to away games in more unusual places and having locals be welcoming but also a little surprised at my attendance. I’m thinking of Mito away, Yamagata away, Niigata away, Eastern SC away in the ACL. (actually, most of these games were pretty bad though, to be honest!). Also, the pregame love in between the two sets of fans at Sendai we have every year is always great.

I cannot tell if that was another dig you tossed out there with that last line so I’ll just leave it be. And I wholeheartedly agree that away matches are just an awesome experience.

Q. Let me say, that I really love reading your blog because you offer more critical analysis than the normal match day preview/report that is issued from clubs within the J League. I often follow this pattern as it’s so easy to lob praise when things go right, but rarely does anyone address the underlying issues when things go wrong. What is your routine for analyzing matches and putting together your match previews/reports? I would offer that those of you who don’t follow Neil’s blog really, really, really need to.

Thank you! I have a feeling that I often don’t know what I’m talking about on a technical or tactical level, but there is definitely something different that you pick up when you actually go to a game rather than watch on DAZN or just see the highlights. I often wonder if I am crazy, as at times something seems glaringly obviously horrible to me, but the consensus on twitter is the opposite. I think actually though that I may moan a bit too much for most people.

I haven’t checked back, but I think there probably is a difference in tone between my posts pre- and post- first title. Last year was horrible as we had so much potential and just messed up over and over again. I try to be fair though and give Oniki some credit when he does something I disagree with that works. I’m fully aware that moaning about draws looks pretty arrogant, or entitled, when other teams would welcome those results. But what you notice most of all when attending live games is all the decent opportunities squandered prior to shooting, or the endless sideways and backwards passes resulting in nothing when we’re chasing a game.

Obviously, these things don’t make the highlights package. I also think my blogging style includes trying to mention things that aren’t obvious from watching the highlights. I try to refrain from describing goals as it’s clearly better and easier to understand if you just watch the replay. Maybe some of these reasons are why my posts seem more negative and petty but quite different!

You’re right. Easier for many to watch the highlights but pointing out the little things that go unnoticed provide a deeper glimpse into the goings on at a particular club.

Q. Why do we devote so much time and effort, FOR FREE, to our blogs for our clubs?

This is a question I often find myself pondering. I think I’ve got a bit lazier recently, but I haven’t failed to put a post up before the following game yet. I guess we do it for the glory, right? Ha!

I suppose we do it for free because there’s no chance of anyone paying us for it! I often have similar feelings about my other blog. Why do I bother? I can’t really explain it but it does somehow feel like my duty. Until there is someone else covering Frontale in English, I guess I’ll carry on.

Well said.

Q.Kawasaki Frontale is a large club, please tell us of their history as well as some of the most memorable moments for you as a fan?

I reckon I’d put us in the second tier of large clubs, particularly before we won the league for the first time. I don’t think we will ever have the financial clout to compete with the really big boys if we don’t win the league every so often. But yes, still a fairly big club I guess.

As you probably know, we were perennial silver collectors till 2017, with a string of final defeats and failures to get over the line from good positions. I think we’ve got that monkey off our back but we really need to compete a bit more this year with the talent we have. I think the atmosphere around the club is pretty good and that might contribute to some of our bigger players not wanting to leave for better contracts at bigger clubs. Long may that continue!

As far as memorable moments, away games make the best memories. When I heard that there is a plan to maybe ban away fans in the league this year (if we ever resume the season), I was gutted as the difference in atmosphere between home and away is huge. Running into other Frontale fans in craft beer places in different cities after away games is always a lot of fun. And the strange looks I got from some of the players at open practice sessions when getting photos taken and shirts signed is quite a good memory too. It’s weird, but it seems that I enjoy more of the things that happen around the games rather than the games themselves.

I think you’ve captured the essence of what it means to be a traveling fan here in Japan. It will absolutely be a shame to not travel, but I could make do with that for a brief period of time until we kick this COVID-19.

Q. What is the outlook for Kawasaki Frontale this year? Especially after what seemed like a down season for the club last year? What have you seen from some of the J1 predictions as far as where Frontale are expected to finish? What players have they brought in/let go that could strengthen/weaken the squad?

Judging by our opening game at home against Sagan Tosu, I’d say we are in for another season of dullness. But we always play badly at home against Tosu and we always start slowly, so that needs to be a consideration. It seems that Oniki has got the message from last year and has rung the changes a bit this season. In a way, maybe this enforced break might work out well for us as we were clearly disappointed with the opening result and disappointing but things seem to be picking up a bit at the club.

I heard that we destroyed FC Tokyo in a training game with the FC Tokyo manager using words to that effect. Shame that one wasn’t on DAZN. In the first Levain game we ran riot against Shimizu but I thought that maybe they weren’t very good and the score was a reflection of that rather than our quality. I try to start the season positive, so I’ll keep that going for a while. I think we can definitely challenge this year, especially with Oniki’s new open mindedness. The fact that this season might be shortened and has no relegation could suggest that all the teams are going to see it as a free hit and we might see some crazy attacking football.

I’d say that would play into our hands as we have generally struggled against teams looking to keep it tight and play for a 0-0. This was supposed to be the year that our youth players were unleashed and the opening two games would suggest that is going to happen. I’m pretty excited about seeing some of them get their chance. It’s a real shame that we might not have so many Levain Cup games now (if the season is restructured). I think we have a bright future and perhaps the blend of youth and experience will work really well this year.

Interesting point about the reduction in non-league matches and the affect it will have on player development with reduced opportunities.

Q. Do you have a favorite player in the squad?

It used to be Nara. He always gave 100% and I really liked that about him. But now he’s at Kashima. That transfer was a major bummer, but I totally understand him leaving given what happened for him last year.

This year I haven’t bought a shirt. I don’t really like the design and I couldn’t decide who I might want on the back. So this is all a backhanded way of saying I don’t currently have a favorite player.

I’ve been quite lucky as I can’t really remember us having that many players who I didn’t like. They all seem like they’re nice people. Each year I buy a towel with a different player’s number from that of my shirt. I haven’t decided who it will be this year yet, but I am leaning towards either Kamiya or Issaka. I have no justification for either of these selections!

Q. Have you met anyone from the Frontale squad or staff in person?

Only at the practice sessions where I’ve had some photos taken and got Nara to sign a couple of shirts and Kengo to sign an old Kengo tshirt I own. We have sat near some players on planes and at airports but I’ve never really felt like I should bother them.

Matt bumped into our Brazilians walking round a mainly closed Oita city center last year after the away game and I wish I’d done the same. Guess my preferred activities outside of football don’t really correspond with those of professional athletes. I’d love to run into a player at a beer bar or a weird noise music concert though. Then I would probably introduce myself.

Q. What are some ideas you have been mulling over for your blog?

I was considering writing some posts on more general J league issues last year. I went as far as making a list of those issues and writing an introduction to the first post and then decided I wouldn’t bother. Perhaps I’ll come back to this idea if/when we get locked down and run out of other things to do.

In case you are interested these topics were: dynamic pricing, queueing, referees, the difficulty of buying away tickets, Brazilians, and inconvenient kick off times. I think I’d probably have to do a bit too much research for my liking on some of these topics so that is a reason that might not get off the drawing board.

Onto the rapid-fire round

Q. Tea or Coffee here in Japan?

Tea at home (PG Tips), coffee if I’m out.

Q. Best food item at your current location?

I’m a vegetarian, which is tricky in Japan, so aside from the fact that I always have a lot of crisps (that is chips for my American readers), perhaps my favorite snack, in my house. I’d say it’s probably a huge bag of veggie smoked frankfurters in the freezer.

Q. Tell us the name of the podcasts/twitter accounts you follow that would help out the English fan of the J league, or football in general?

Probably the same ones that everyone else who listens to the great J Talk Podcast follows. Starting with them, @JTalkPod and @FRsoccerSam. Obviously I have to keep an eye on my ‘enemies’ so @TricolorePride & @FCTokyoKaiGuys. In addition to being rivals, they also happen to be very nice people.

@aishiterutokyo usually has the official info quickest and straight from the horse’s mouth. And I sense that @JSoccerMagazine is a kindred spirit in that he seems as blinkered towards his teams as I am towards Frontale. @BlogGamba is my unofficial proofreader as I seem to make a lot of mistakes recently and he points them out to me. Thanks!

@sushi_football and @J2KantoBites keep me in touch with J2 and J3 and I really like their J Talk extra time podcasts. And I was going to say @mcintinhos but in trying to find his twitter address I realized I wasn’t actually following him. I am now.

I don’t have any secret sources I’m afraid. Although, my wife follows a lot of Japanese accounts that seem to have more scoops and she’s nice enough to tell me about them. Oh, and of course @OkinawaOzzy!

One final mention should go to @bellmare_en who seems constantly on the edge of a nervous breakdown or explosion of anger, particularly when he’s talking about Frontale. One of my Frontale friends enjoys bantering with him and the results are often fantastic. I’m sorry if I’ve forgotten anyone.

That was perfect!

Q. How hard was it for you to assimilate to Japan since your arrival, and what has made the transition easier?

I don’t think I’ve had that much trouble assimilating to Japan or Japanese culture. I’m quite a timid and laid back person so I haven’t encountered some of the tougher situations that many other foreigners may have experienced in Japan.

I guess the most difficult part for me will always be the food, as although vegetarian options have increased recently it’s still definitely a lot more difficult for me to eat here than it was in the UK. I can’t really give it up though, as I’ve been vegetarian for over 25 years now.

At games, perhaps some might say I’m a bit more critical and vociferous than other fans, but I’d say that impression is exaggerated by the fact that most Frontale fans are unrelentingly positive and gentle. It’s fair to say that if it wasn’t for my wife I’d be totally screwed here in so many ways so I’d have to thank her for making the transition so easy.

Excellent point. a big thanks to all the wives, girlfriends and significant others of all the bloggers, tweeters and pod-casters as without their patience and understanding, we’d never be able to do a hobby we love that occupies so much of our time.

That is all I have for you Neil. The platform is yours.

Not sure what to say, so I’ll just ramble a bit. I guess I should apologize for not posting much on my blog recently, but obviously there’s not been much happening. However, even in normal times we don’t seem to get much information from J League teams. Frontale is a hell of a lot more secret than my English team is. Presumably they like to keep things close to their chest in order to avoid giving opposition teams any advantage ahead of games, but the lack of information regarding injuries is always something that I find strange.

I think a similar thing was mentioned on the podcast, but sometimes we find out injury news via a players social media account rather than through the club who often seem to pretend nothing is wrong. At the same time, one thing I think the J League does a lot better is make the stadiums a really welcoming place for fans. It’s very nice to go to games without any worries about trouble with the opposition’s fans. The atmosphere at games is always pretty good I think. And at away games it’s even better!

Traveling to different cities, going to different pubs and restaurants is such a privilege and I feel very lucky to be able to do it.

Well, it was an absolute pleasure talking with Neil as he cast shade across so many J-League clubs and I really enjoyed the laughs. Neil, please stay safe and continue the excellent work on your blog. Again, you can find Neil on Twitter @Frontalerabbit for all things Kawasaki Frontale as well as at frontalerabbit.blogspot.jp.

Until next time!

The J-League Interview Series Part 2: Michael “The Transfer” Master #FC琉球

Today’s entry is from Michael, better known as @Michael_Master on Twitter. His Twitter handle is befitting as Michael is the unquestioned “Master” when it comes to transfer news within the J league and Japan.

Let me give you the ‘Bottom-Line Up Front’ treatment and say that he is one of the best, if not the best, people to follow when it comes to providing timely transfer news within the J League. You absolutely need to have Michael in your Twitter feed if you’re a fan of the J-league.

The photo below serves as just one example as to how Michael makes it so easy for the non-Japanese speaker to follow the transfer news in all the leagues of Japan.

For those of you that may not know, Michael lives in Italy, which happens to be one of the hardest hit countries from COVID-19. Some of the responses he provides may seem upsetting, but are vital for disseminating information on how the virus is affecting people’s lives. After you read these responses, I hope you all have a better understanding on the gravity of the situation as well as how to go about your daily lives. I can only hope that public officials here in Japan begin to realize the severity of the situation and take the appropriate action soon. With that in mind, please enjoy this interview with Michael.

Q. Michael, first, we all wish you well as you are in one of the hardest hit countries (Italy) from COVID-19. How are you holding up and how has the response been from the government?

First off, it is a pleasure to be among the J-League experts to be interviewed. Very delicate question to start with, but unfortunately COVID-19 has impacting worldwide right now.

The situation in Italy is depressing, in particular because I live in Bergamo which is the most affected area in the country. People surrounding me are losing friends, relatives, even parents, without even being able to say goodbye due to the severity of the virus. Personally, people very close to me (parents, grandma) haven’t been affected, but I do certainly know someone that has passed away (my mother’s and friends’s relatives). This includes a gentleman I would talk with on a daily basis.

The government responses have often been questioned, mainly because some decisions have been made too late. At this moment, Italy is in lock-down and we will have to deal with it for as long as it is needed. To which, no one knows when it will end. There’s a lot of desire to start living a normal life again.

Very poignant. I truly wish you and your family all the best during these tough times. Stay Safe.

Q. How did you come up with your “Twitter Handle?”

It was when I was around 15 I think. I was with a group of friends and I didn’t know a few of them all that well. One of them couldn’t pronounce Michael so instead he called me “Master” – for no specific reason as far as I can recall. This eventually led to my old friends to using the name ‘master.’

Like a trend, they thought it was cool and appropriate. It doesn’t happen very often nowadays though, but it certainly did when I signed up on Twitter in 2009  – and I’m pretty sure only males, no females have ever called me “Master”. Just call me Michael, please.

Haha,well, I thought it was your last name the whole time! Doesn’t matter though as it is a great story and a great handle.

Q. How did you begin following the J League, and more importantly, providing transfer updates? (Have you ever lived in Japan?)

I wish to visit Japan one day, that’s a promise. As for the interest in the J-League, I think it all started when I was a kid more than 20 years ago as anime fan. I think many Europeans begin their connection with Japan with anime or manga. It was Captain Tsubasa in particular for me.

I’m 28 now but I remember playing with Japanese teams often on PlayStation and therefore always had some sort of interest surrounding the J-League. Of course, it took more time to develop the interest because of the lack of coverage for the J league in Europe. It was helped back in the day (probably 10 years or more) when EuroSport began broadcasting throughout Europe. They would broadcast a match per week and the highlights show was always a must-see for me.

I became a Sagan Tosu supporter along the way and when streaming providers; Skapa and now DAZN popped up, my attention started turning to the J2 and J3 leagues. (Tochigi and Sanuki in particular). I’m also interested in youth level and high school tournaments in Japan.

It was really a gradual process that led me to start providing transfer updates. As I slowly built up my knowledge of the J-league, I started to provide transfer information on Twitter as well as my Google doc summary before the start of 2016 season. Also, because English language updates were lacking a bit at that time when it came to transfers in the J-League.

Well they are great. Please see the example below for what a typical transfer profile looks like on Michael’s Google Transfer document.

Q. I started following your account after Stuart over at the J-Talk Extra Time Podcast (@sushifootball) suggested I do as much and it has been a game changer for me. The way you pass transfer information in English to those of us who don’t speak Japanese is so clean and so efficient. Let me ask you then, how did you settle on providing transfer news for the J League instead of following one club in particular?

As I stated earlier, one of the reasons was to make transfer information available to all, to make it simple, and to get to English-speaking fans of the J-League. Also, it’s a way for me to stay connected to the J world in the off-season.

I admit focusing on a particular club has been an idea but as a J-League fan, I also watch many other matches that don’t involve my favorite teams. I’ve always enjoyed providing general updates which in turn gets me even more excited towards the start of a new J-League.

It’s also a win-win situation for me. First, it helps my followers by always being up to date on transfer news. Second it helps me track and memorize transfers, re-check stats, as well as being able to get more specific information on new players. This has really increased my overall knowledge of the J league and football in Japan.

Well that is a tremendous niche you’ve carved out for yourself.

Q. As you have already mentioned, you support/follow a couple of different Japanese clubs spread across all 3 tiers of the J League: Sagan Tosu (J1), Tochigi SC (J2) and Kamatamare Sanuki (J3) with the latter appearing as your profile image on Twitter. Please explain how you support 3 clubs from 3 separate prefectures in Japan as I only try and support one team inside any countries pyramid of football.

That’s a good question. First club I supported in Japan was Sagan Tosu during the times of EuroSport coverage of the J-League. I had no preferences at first but things changed when I discovered the newly-promoted team in 2012 or 2013. I’ve always been a guy who likes to support the underdogs and so I picked Tosu for their colors, their stadium atmosphere and Yohei Toyoda.

Same was for J2, I started with no favorite club to follow but then the underdogs again conquered my heart. It would be Tochigi SC during 2015 when they were really struggling and got relegated at the end. But I continued my support for them through their promotion back to J2.

Sanuki for similar reasons. An underdog, the colors, the chants, Kantoku, Makoto Kitano, then Daigo Watanabe joining the side made me even more of a fan (also bought his shirt – which is one of the few I have from J-League alongside Jubilo Iwata’s Daigo Araki). So I wish the story for Sanuki will be the same of Tochigi, seeing Kamatamare in the J2 again!

I can really relate to supporting the ‘underdog’ as an FC Ryukyu fan. Too bad we couldn’t convince you to change allegiances and become a member of the Ryukyu Army lol!

Q. With 56 clubs throughout the J league, and many more throughout the JFL and amateur ranks, how do you keep up with all the transfer news? Do you follow every teams site/Twitter account to get the timely updates?

Exactly, I follow each and every club on Twitter. I have a specific list with official accounts only, which I check every day during the off season to compile the transfer news, write the updates in English and finally tweet the updates for every single player. A few Japanese sites are also helpful. In the end I update the excel file on google with all the transfers I’ve tweeted out during that day. That’s the process. As for the JFL, @smntcsilverfox does a similar work and therefore I just retweet his updates.

The process I explained above may take a few hours when a lot of transfers and contract renewals are announced on the same day, in particular, during the end of the calendar year. But, it is a good way to kill free time at home during the winter months with the absence of competitive football matches. To describe my work that will be familiar to Japanese readers, I work in a kombini, a convenience store. Very flexible work times that benefits my #1 hobby.

There are probably many of us within the J-League circles that often conduct our hobby during working hours as well. Though we’ll never admit that!

Q. I have to assume that the J League winter and summer transfer windows are your busiest times but you also need to be keen to the transfer market windows around the world in the event that there is movement in and out of the J League during those times. When are you at your busiest and when can you take a breather?

To be honest, the J-League summer transfer window isn’t a particularly busy time for me as there are very limited moves within the league in general. The busiest period are the days close to Christmas through mid-January when most of the transfers are made official. There’s also the High School tournament occurring during that time that I enjoy following which occupies a lot of my time. The only time during that period that I can take a breather from providing updates is when the J-league goes on that New Year holiday pause/break.

Q. How often do you find yourself questioning, laughing or gasping at some of the transfers that pass through your Twitter Profile?

Being at a point where I know every single player, it’s pretty exciting to check the transfers when I get up in the morning (due to different time zone where I reside). There are surely moments when I scroll down and say: “wow, that’s a big move for the team, it will really strengthen their defense/attack.” Or, “totally deserved to go to a J1 team” with the occasional, “meh, I wished this (average) player wouldn’t have signed for my team”.

I use my knowledge to add additional info to the tweet, like their preferable foot of the player and detailed player positions. It’s really interesting to see how the market evolves day by day during the transfer window. Well, until the no-sense goalkeeper valzer happens…

You’ve got me stumped with the term ‘valzer.’ I think you are using to suggest that the GK can accomplish his task or assignment with very little effort?

Q. Many of us complain about not knowing transfer fees, lengths of contracts or salaries for the players in the J league. Are there any resources out there that may provide this type of information?

Unfortunately, there is not. Details surrounding contracts are never revealed by clubs. Sometimes the are just leaked by the media in their reports on big name transfers (Iniesta). It is probably only the JEB Entertainment agency who provides some updates on their players via transfermarkt. As for the transfer fees, we are aware (or just take for granted) that most of the contracts – in particular the J2 and J3 – are one-year deals.

I think many of us who are fans of a club don’t want to see our best players walk away for free at the end of the season. But I am not sure how to change the power struggle that exists between agents, players and the club. I also understand that multi-year contracts could be financially risky for many of the smaller clubs in the J-league.

Agree with those last few points.

Q. Seeing how you live in Italy; do you follow a club in the Serie A?

I’m an Inter Milan supporter. I’ve been a fan since I was a kid because of my father. I would go to the stadium occasionally but the San Siro is far from where I live (50km). I grew up watching Ronaldo and one of my first memories is Youri Djorkaeff’s overhead kick against Roma. I’ve got a lot memories related to the neroazzurri with my family and friends, both good and bad.

I remember I cried the night Inter won Champions League as well as my frustration on May 5th 2002. Despite the fact that I watch Inter matches weekly, I must admit I am certainly more knowledgeable about J-League compared to my domestic league.

Q. Any other clubs or sports you follow throughout the world?

I also support FC Nantes in France and Wolverhampton Wanderers in England. When I was a kid I played soccer briefly (my left foot isn’t too bad but overall I was average) and tennis until 15. So I still follow tennis a little bit. I also watch F1 (Ferrari fan) and the WWE, having been at the Monza circuit and wrestling live events during my life.

Q. Do you work with the guys over at transfermarkt? Do they solicit your input on a regular basis?

The guys over at transfermarkt do a terrific job. No secret transfermarkt is a very useful website for the J-League and lower leagues as well nowadays. I’ve been contacted for my input but with the many things I have going on, I’m not able to do something for them on a regular basis. But I recently helped then with market values and I would like to continue do that in the future.

Q. For that matter, have any leagues, clubs or organizations contacted you regarding your work?

A simple reply here: no. I’ve never been contacted.

Q. I always struggle to find the optimal time to post my blogs or tweets but you don’t have that problem because as soon as transfers are officially released by clubs, you blast them out. In that regards, is there a direct competitor in the Twitterverse, or J League circles, that you try to get ahead of when it comes to transfer news, or does that not really matter all that much in your case?

If I am being honest, I sincerely don’t feel there is any competition for what I do with transfer information. I generally tweet all the transfers the same day they are announced in bulk but sometimes rumors, or other news, is posted by someone else before me. In that case, I just retweet them. Therefore, no competitors, just followers that share the same passion.

Rapid Fire Round

Q. When I was growing up my best friend’s parents were Italian immigrants and therefore I was exposed to great Italian food. Probably the reason why I grew up husky. Please tell us the best place to eat, and the dish you order, at your current location?

I must admit, I’m more of a homemade-cooking type of guy. Sort of lasagna, pizza and apple pie expert. I rarely go to restaurants but near my house there’s a popular Pizza by the meter which is always full. Pizzeria S. Lucia is its name. They have an exceptional vegetable pizza and Napoleon cake dessert.

Q. According to a post I saw on Twitter last week, there is an outside chance that FC Ryukyu may square off against Kamatamare Sanuki in the emperor’s cup this year. I don’t see that on the official JFL page but let’s say that were to happen, care to make a prediction or wager a bet on the result?

Neither team has a good record in this competition, so could be a wide open game. We still don’t know when the league will restart but the schedules should be pretty busy for all teams. Both teams will probably use some rotational players for the match, thus making FC Ryukyu the favorite.

True, FC Ryukyu have been bounced out of the Emperors Cup in their first match the last 3 years.

Q. Name a few websites or Twitter accounts that could help us out when it comes to following the J League or football in general.

@aishiterutokyo provide news daily. @jsoccermagazine is close to the action, and if you need a shirt, he certainly can help you out (as he has done for me). My friend @maimaidenden is also very reliable when it comes to football across Asia, and I use @smntcsilverfox for the JFL and lower leagues in Japan. @aarinh2 for his knowledge and irony. But there really are so many other English-speaking accounts that I hope I mention them all, if not, I apologize.

They are: @J2KantoBites, @sushi_football, @GifuRichy, @90thMinuteSub, @J1tokei, @jleagueregista for interesting reads, @JTalkPod for podcasts, @FRsoccerSam for live coverage of specific matches and also @navybluewasp a shirt collector/expert alongside @tich_spulse.

For Japanese accounts: J-League official account for sure, as well as @bmtps_k, Hochi, Sponichi, and Nikkan Sports, and to get lineups before matches @j1referee as well as @j2referee and @j3referee by the same guy.

I had not heard of some of those accounts so I will certainly be adding them to my J-League List on Twitter, thanks!

Q. Seeing how you are in the middle of a lock-down in Italy, what are some tips and advice for those of us that may soon find ourselves in a similar situation?

The only advice is to follow the government’s rules and please stay at home.

Pray that doctors will save as many lives as they can.

It is in these moments we realize how important the small things we take for granted are; how much meaningful an handshake or hug will be; and how good it will be to celebrate for a goal again!

What an absolutely powerful way to end the interview. Thank you so much Michael for your time and message to those of us around the globe. Michael can be found at @Michael_Master on Twittter with his Google Transfer Doc at the following URL:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/e/2PACX-1vSPz9rWu7z_myQmPvVQhDeh5ngKtyBvl18QP3njPJf4bgq92G-W3sg6tfyJD3lIctjS42yO24urrkLt/pubhtml

Please keep him, and the millions of others who have been affected by COVID-19, in your thoughts.

The J-League Interview Series Part 1: Gamba Osaka #gambaosaka #FC琉球

The series kicks-off in fine fashion by discussing all things Gamba Osaka with their unofficial English blogger, Jonny. Jonny is the author of the gambaosakaenglishblog.wordpress.com blog and can be found on Twitter @BlogGamba. The Gamba English blog was started back in the fall of 2019 and though it is relatively new to the scene, Jon’s support for Gamba dates back to 2013 and he is extremely knowledgeable about his club. Jonny also provides some very unique stats on his twitter account when he can with the picture below serving as a small sample.

Just a quick procedural note. My questions and responses throughout all of these interviews will be in bold and colored black. The responses from those I interview will all be in the normal text resident on this site. Enjoy!

Thank you for agreeing to conduct this interview as I know we all lead busy lives while serving as unpaid amateur bloggers for our respective J League teams. I think it’s appropriate to begin all of these interviews by asking, how are you doing during these unprecedented times with the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Hi Geoff, thanks for taking the time out to talk to me. I really appreciate you promoting my work and in turn I’m happy to promote what you are doing. I’m always really impressed by your content.

I appreciate that very much, thank you.

Regarding COVID-19, there’s not much for me to report to be honest.   I work at a private language school and, as we have paying students, we can only really close if the government tells us we must.   So, my days are pretty much the same, minus of course, any new Jleague games to watch.  I guess things may escalate in the next few days as today (Saturday March 28) my boss told me to take my school PC and iPad home with the expectation of us going into lock-down sometime next week.

I feel the idea of a lock-down is probably necessary at some point and I hope all are prepared (mentally most of all) for whatever awaits us.

Q. So, what have you been doing to occupy your time during this “interim” period between Gamba Osaka matches?

I actually used be a big Formula 1 fan back when I was a kid but now I’ve completely fallen out of touch with it.  I started watching old races from the late 1980s and early 1990s on Youtube to occupy my time and I’ve slowly got hooked again.  It’s actually really interesting to see how attitudes to health and safety have completely changed in the space of 25-30 years.   The J-Talk Podcast guys have also been great for putting out a lot of content. I must admit that I usually listen to it while I take a bath at night, it’s quite a nice routine for me.

Well, I wish you all the best as we deal with this Pandemic. Now on to a much happier subject.

Q. Please describe how you came to Japan and became a fan of the J league and in particular, Gamba Osaka? And how did you choose Gamba over Cerezo Osaka?

Japan is actually the second Asian country I’ve lived in.  I moved to Incheon, South Korea in mid-2010, so it was another team who play in blue and black, Incheon United, who first took my eye.   Back in those days they still played in the old World Cup stadium, and often drew crowds of around 5,000 in a 50,000 seat arena.   I saw a couple of decent games, wins over Jeonbuk (not quite the power they are now) and Suwon (with Jung Sung-Ryong in goal), as well as a fair few 0-0s.

I actually attended an Incheon UTD match against the Pohang Steelers with my friend back in June of 2017. Coming off the train and walking into a stadium that was below ground level was really awesome. I do love that stadium. Too bad we got lost on the way back to Seoul but that’s what you get when you’ve been sipping on large Hite beers all match.

During my year in Korea, I visited Japan, Tokyo and Hakone, for a few days and fell in love with the place. So after a misguided 6 months in Toronto I moved to Toyonaka in the north of Osaka in the summer of 2012.  I initially thought I’d stay for just a year, but it’s 2020 and I’m still here!

And actually, the first Jleague game I ever watched was Cerezo vs Urawa. A 2-2 draw during Golden Week 2013, which, to this day, is probably the best Jleague game I’ve seen from a neutral perspective (though a Yokohama F.Marinos 3-2 Kashima game runs it close).  However, in 2013 Gamba were in J2, and since I worked Saturdays, most J2 games fell on Sundays which made it was easy for me to attend Gamba’s matches on a regular basis.  My first game was a 5-1 drubbing of Thespakusatsu Gunma in the pouring rain some time around May of 2013.  I think Leandro (now with Tokyo Verdy) scored a hat-trick and Akihiro Ienaga (then on loan from Mallorca) was an unused substitute. He’s certainly aged like a fine wine.  I got the uniform and actually met Takashi Usami through my work, so Gamba were my team from then on.

Pretty amazing getting to meet a legend and I can certainly see how that impacted your decision to support Gamba.

Q. So why Blogging? Maybe you were like me and frustrated at the lack of overall English content provided by the J League. ( I am not sure, does Gamba Osaka have an English Twitter account?)

I’m actually quite a late arrival to the Twitter scene having only joined in January 2018.  I think I started following the Jsoccer Magazine and gradually found more and more English content through them.  I used to do a lot of editing on Wikipedia and kept detailed records of Gamba’s seasons from 2013-2019, but I always wanted to do my own thing.  Last year in early October there was a big typhoon headed for Japan, I think Kanto area got it pretty bad, but here in Kansai I just got a day off from work so I set up the blog and went from there.  To be honest, I’m still finding my way, but I’ve had some decent feedback, especially about my match previews.   My most successful posts are my J1 previews, there’s definitely much more appetite out there for a general JLeague content than Gamba-specific English stuff. I feel the J-Talk Podcast (@JTalkPod), Jsoccer Magazine (@JSoccerMagazine), J1 Tokei (@J1tokei) and Michael Master (@Michael_Master) do a much better job than I could, so I’m happy with my niche as the Gamba English guy.   The club doesn’t have any official content that I know of, though I’d be happy to help if they want to go down that route.

You’re right! The J1 previews were very impressive. Also, I would like to know if anyone out there has been successful enough to transition from amateur/unofficial blogger for a club, into their actual English Twitter Account or Blog author. Have to pose that question on Twitter one of these days.

Q. How much have you connected to Gamba Osaka supporters throughout the world since you started your blog?

It’s been pretty interesting actually. Honestly, when I started the blog I never imagined that I’d be getting messages from people living in Brazil, India, Argentina, Germany etc. In fact it still amazes me.  About 50% of my readership is based in Japan, the rest comes from all across the 6 inhabited continents on earth. As I type this its actually quite mind-blowing in fact.

As you probably know, there’s a lot of things that aren’t obvious when you first come to Japan, but over time they become more clear. For example, where to buy tickets and when they are released are two of the big ones, so I’ve had a few inquiries about them and it’s been great helping people out.

I too enjoy checking the WordPress statistics page to see who is reading my blogs and in what countries. The randomness for some is always enjoyable.

You mentioned in one of your blog entries that you attend 3 to 5 matches each season. I can certainly sympathize with that notion so my question is, do you earmark any matches on the calendar as ‘must attends’ or is it simply the luck of the draw?

As I mentioned earlier, I work at a private language school so we’re open on Saturday’s until 19:00.  I’m assistant manager there so I have a bit of leeway for leaving early for night games in the summer but most Saturday afternoon games are out of the question.  Last season I saw games against Urawa, Hiroshima, Iwata and Sendai….Gamba only won 1 out of the 4 and conceded late in 3 of them so maybe it’s best I don’t attend so often.  I do try to make up for it by going to as many of the Under-23 J3 games as I can.

Q. As you may know, FC Ryukyu don’t really have a local rival that can make for a true derby each year. Outside of a FC Seoul vs Suwon Bluewings and FC Tokyo vs Kawasaki Frontale game, I’ve not been to many derbies here in Asia. Have you been to many Gamba v Cerezo derby’s (home/away)? (Please describe the atmosphere leading up to and through those matches at each location if you’ve been.)

I’ve actually never made it to a Gamba vs Cerezo game! May 2nd this year was going to be my first time ever….thanks coronavirus.  I attended a Gamba Osaka vs Vissel Kobe game back in 2015, the Gamba end was sold out, so me and a mate ended up in with the Kobe fans….it was a pretty tame 0-0 which only really livened up in additional time at the end.  In truth, there’s not much of a rivalry between Gamba and Kobe so it wasn’t really any different from say a Gamba vs Shimizu S-Pulse game.  Last year there was definitely some heat at the Gamba vs Urawa match, maybe similar to a Tigers vs Giants derby in the NPB…though the fizz was definitely taken out by the poor quality on the pitch that day.  

I saw Gamba vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima last Obon and that’s becoming a bit of a grudge match owing to a certain game at the end of 2015 season. Mr. Shimizu and Mr. Aoyama remain very unpopular in the north of Osaka as a result of that game. Gamba dominated but only took the lead in the 89th minute before promptly conceding an injury time equalizer. That was a bit of a sucker punch, but in Japan, there’s rarely any open animosity towards opposing supporters.

I agree with your last point about no animosity existing among the different supporter groups. In fact, I do all I can to be kind, courteous and welcoming to the opposition’s fans when they arrive here in Okinawa. It confuses many of them as they’re probably expecting me to be a typical rude American.

Q. What other matches rank up there as your favorite of all time? (any sport in any country is acceptable)

I grew up as an Ayr United FC supporter in Scotland. They play in the Championship tier of Scottish Football while local rivals Kilmarnock are in the Premiership. However, Ayr UTD have a great record over them in the cup competitions and my favorite game was back in 2002. It was a League Cup quarter final and I believe we had a man sent off after 30 mins but managed to survive the remaining 60 minuted plus extra time to take it to penalties.  Kilmarnock had a chance to win it but the shot was saved. Ayr then scored. And then finally Kilmarnock blazed one over the bar to cause pandemonium in the home supporter end of the stadium. 

I’ve also seen Scotland play Italy twice in the World Cup / Euro qualification. A 1-1 draw and a 2-1 defeat, plus I saw us beat an Andriy Shevchenko inspired Ukraine 3-1 at Hampden in 2007. We scored twice in the first 10 minutes and the stadium simply exploded with noise.

I envy you as I’ve never attended a national team match at any level for any sport.

Q. I really enjoyed your opening day preview for 2020 where you discussed many of the issues that J1 clubs must overcome to open the season. What other issues to you dislike within the J-League and what are some solutions you could offer up?

I think the Levain Cup is an obvious place to start and there have been many critiques as of late. I’ve noticed in the second half of seasons a lot of J1 players are often loaned out by clubs. For example Hiroto Yamada at FC Ryukyu last year, which raises the standard of the lower leagues. However, these players are kept by the bigger clubs in the first half of the year to cover the Levain Cup games and this leads to many J1 clubs having very bloated squads. With a trimmed down Levain Cup, I believe more of these players could naturally trickle down to J2 and J3 which would ultimately raise the standard of the lower tiers of the J League.


Additionally as Stuart (@stuartcw) on the J-Talk Podcast discussed in his chat with Paul Neat (@NeatPaul) in Korea; clubs are often very vague with contract lengths of new signings and injury news.  Gamba Osaka doesn’t even announce contract renewals which is very frustrating for me!

You are preaching to the choir my friend.

Q. Gamba Osaka has a rich history, please describe some of what that entails as well as some of the most memorable moments for you as a fan?

I’ve been a fan of Gamba since 2013, so of course 2014 would have to be the pinnacle when we won the treble in our first season back in J1. I guess a lot of other teams laughed when Gamba went down in 2012 so that was used as motivation by the club in the latter half of 2014.


Probably the best Gamba game I’ve seen would actually be the away match at Yokohama F. Marinos back in 2017. Ritsu Doan scored the winner after a brilliant counter attack involving Ademilson and Shun Nagasawa. It was shocking the way that Gamba fell apart in the second half of the season, but they were excellent that day.

Q. What is the outlook for Gamba Osaka in 2020? What players have they brought in/let go that could strengthen/weaken the squad?

One of the main reasons I started the blog was I needed a place to vent my frustrations at some of the poor decisions the club was making as far as talent recruitment. Gamba have an excellent youth system, generally recruit well from local universities and have a good history of getting decent players in from South Korea. However, signings from other J1 clubs have largely been hit or miss in recent years. Jin Izumisawa, Shingo Akamine, Shohei Ogura and Haruya Ide are a few of the less successful purchases.

I like the look of this year’s squad. Gen Shoji really fills the void at the back, although it was disappointing we missed out on Ju Se-jong who we tried to bring in from FC Seoul. I’d like to see some of the young guys from the U23 side break through this year, such as Ren Shibamoto and Riku Matsuda, and there’s also Keisuke Kurokawa and Yuki Yamamoto who were designated special players in 2019 but turned pro this year after graduating from university.  A couple of gems to look out for in the coming years are Shoji Toyama, a young striker who scored 8 goals in 10 J3 games last season and played for Japan at the Under-17 World Cup. Finally, there is Jiro Nakamura, a tricky winger who’s still in his 2nd year of high school, but will probably turn pro in 2021.

I know I’ve wandered off topic, but most punters seem to have Gamba Osaka in the top 7 and there’s no excuse for them to not finish there if we ever resume the 2020 season.

Punter: Noun (British-Informal) A person who gambles, places a bet or makes a risky investment. That is for all my non-British readers.

Q. Do you have a favorite player in the squad?

Takashi Usami. I have his number 33 on the back of my shirt. When I first started watching Gamba in J2, he was awesome (granted that’s not his real level), when he scored 19 goals in 18 games. He’s also the only member of the squad I’ve met in person. I really respect Endo and Kurata too. Also, when I left my old company in Toyonaka, one of my students went to the training ground and got Endo, Konno, Higashiguchi, Usami, Patric and Hasegawa’s signatures for me back in 2015….that was awesome.

I’ve also been lucky enough to run into a couple of FC Ryukyu players here in Okinawa over the course of last season, and they’ve all been great experiences.

Q. What are some ideas you have been mulling over for your blog and how has the response been since you began blogging last year?

I really enjoy doing the match previews and I do them sort of like a match program. There’s a lot of focus on the opposition and I’ve got some good feedback about that so far. I am pretty busy with my day job as an English teacher so it’s difficult to blog more than once a week. I’d love to do it full time and especially if the Jleague becomes more popular globally. Maybe provide more content, for example, live commentary, but that’s a long way off now.  I’m always open to ideas and suggestions, so if anyone has any requests, please let me know.

I tossed around the idea of doing a simulcast broadcast for an FC Ryukyu vs FC Gifu match last year with Richy Palmer (@GifuRichy) but nothing came of it. Maybe in the future.

Q. Have you had any contact with the club, in any form for any reason regarding your blog? (this would include the following of your twitter account)

No, there’s been nothing. I think I’ve managed to differentiate myself enough so I don’t get any negative press leading to the unfortunate circumstances with the FC Tokyo guys original account. I even tweeted the official account about their repeated English mistakes when welcoming new players. For example, “Welcome Gamba Osaka Yuji Ono,” but they never replied. I’d be more than happy to do some official stuff, and I have had quite a few Japanese Gamba fans who follow me on Twitter. I even have an Urawa fan who was really great at promoting my work to his/her followers. I really appreciated that.

I am so appreciative that FC Ryukyu follows my Twitter account as it makes it easier for fans to find an English resource for the club outside of their website. It was difficult to locate English blogs or Twitter accounts for many of the J League clubs if they were not followed by the parent club’s main Twitter account. I hope Gamba Osaka follows you one day to make it easier on those seeking information in English about the club.

Rapid Fire Questions

Q. Name the one thing you wouldn’t be able to live without if we face an isolation period due to COVID-19 here in Japan?

I drink way too much Yogurina (a sweet yogurt flavored water for those of you not in Japan). If I couldn’t go down to the shop to get that I might get the shakes!

Q. How difficult was it for you to assimilate to Japan, and what has made the transition easier?

When I came to Japan I spoke very little Japanese, so working on that has improved my experience immensely. But I still have a long way to go. I know it’s cliche, but soccer / football is the universal language and that’s made it quite easy for me to make friends with Japanese people. As has just the general advice like being aware you’re in a different country with different rules etc and respecting those differences.

Q. Best food item at your current location? I forgot what Osaka and Kansai are known for but I recall that many have said that area has some of the best food in Japan.

Can I plug my mates’ Takoyaki shop in Senri-Chuo?

Yes, I’m all about shameless promotion on my blog.

It’s called Warajiya and does the best takoyaki in town.  It’s located next to the south exit of Midosuji Senri-Chuo station (the one you need to go through to connect to the monorail that takes you to Gamba’s stadium).

Q. Tell us the name of the podcasts/twitter accounts you follow that would help out the English fan of the J league, or football fan in general?

Of course everyone should follow @JLeagueShirts for details on the Japanese side with the best uniforms. As far podcasts, hit up the J-Talk Podcast and also the little brother J-Talk Extra Time. On Twitter Alan @JsoccerMagazine is extremely knowledgeable, and @Michael_Master is an invaluable source of transfer news. @J1tokei is great for stats nerds and @bmtps_k tweets in Japanese, but owing to the time difference (Michael lives in Italy I believe) he gets the transfer tweets out first. He also provides line-ups and formations for both the J1 and J2. Apologies to anyone I’ve missed out, but if you listen to that pod and follow those accounts you can find everyone who’s anyone in the Jleague English scene.

Well said.

Any closing remarks?

Thanks again Geoff for sending me the questions and though we’ve never met in person before, I hope we have a chance at Gamba Osaka vs FC Ryukyu match in J1 some time in the not too distant future.

I’d love that!

Well, it was an absolute pleasure speaking with Jonny this weekend and I hope you all enjoyed the first installment. You can find Jonny @BlogGamba on Twitter as well as at gambaosakaenglishblog.wordpress.com.

See you next time!

The J-League English Interview Series: Opening Remarks #FC琉球

Greetings!

It’s been quite awhile since we last spoke and my how the world has changed in such a short span of time. We’ve seen entire countries on lock down as well as the continuation in the delay of the J league until May (at least).

While we wait for the restart, it is important that I reiterate the advice that has circulated the globe over the past few weeks to combat the COVID-19 pandemic:

1. Practice Social Distancing

2. Wash your hands frequently & use hand sanitizer

3. If you feel sick, isolate and alert the proper authorities immediately

This is not a time to be cavalier nor to down play the gravity of the situation. Defeating this particular enemy requires a group effort and you must understand how your individual role plays a much larger part in the overall campaign to combat, and ultimately defeat COVID-19.

Many of us have yearned for football, or sports in general for that matter, during the hiatus throughout many professional leagues these past weeks, so, with that in mind, I reached out to my fellow English Bloggers in the J League and asked them to conduct a written interview while we wait for the leagues return.

This side project represents a tremendous opportunity to gain some exposure to the rich English content that exists within the J league circles as well as increase our knowledge for the overall J League landscape. Many of the top bloggers, tweeters, authors and possibly pod-casters (fingers crossed they agree) have agreed to participate in this side project which means we are in for a real treat.

Make no mistake, many of the people that will appear throughout the series have been writing, blogging or podcasting far longer than I have and I would consider them the foremost experts on their club and the J league.

Throughout this series I’ve done the best I can to formulate some questions that are outside the normal ‘milk toast’ Q&A we may have become accustomed do on regular basis from J League sites, but also keep in mind, I am not a professional journalist and still learning how to conduct an interview so some areas require the old ‘wash, rinse, repeat treatment.’

Also, it maybe considered best practice that you view these interviews on your PC/iPad/Lap Top browser instead of your phone if you wish to use the language converter tool incorporated into this blog if English isn’t your language of choice.

Regardless, I hope you enjoy this series as much as I do.

First up, Gamba Osaka!

A Comprehensive List (maybe) of J League Blogs, Podcasts, Authors, Websites and Twitter Accounts. #FC琉球

I wanted to take some time during the hiatus of the J League to present to you a joint project that I’ve been working on with Daniel VVN (@LakerByNature) and (@BlogGamba). Both of these gentlemen write their own blogs in English for the J League clubs they support; Daniel is a supporter for V-Varen Nagasaki and @BlogGamba supports Gamba Osaka. We are currently in the midst of assembling a comprehensive list of fellow J League Blogs in English in order to incorporate their links into our own separate blogs so below is just the raw data list.

There are 4 tables below, each containing the Twitter accounts and/or websites used to broadcast the J League in English to the rest of the world. We will first start with the J2 as that is the league where FC Ryukyu currently resides followed by the J1, J3 and then the important authors, websites, bloggers and pundits who cover the J League.

While this endeavor is far from complete, we’ve done the best we can to assemble this list with the hopes that you too will incorporate them into your J League experience. There are so many great writers and people covering the J League, who spend massive amounts of time, often with no compensation, to provide a glimpse into this footballing culture. I highly recommend you create a Twitter account, if you have not already done so, and begin compiling a list contained in these tables so you too can deepen your appreciation of the J league.

J2

J1

J3

There are some obvious gaps in each league as I was unable to locate any English Twitter accounts or blogs for some sides. Also, there are some that have not been updated in a few years so I did not bother to include them.

Twitter Accounts, Podcast, Websites and Authors you really need to follow

It is ultimately up to you how you use your Twitter account but if you do have one, or are thinking about creating one, I ‘d suggest creating lists to organize all these accounts. You can also subscribe to many pre-existing lists among the accounts listed above to reduce the amount of time it takes to set up one of your own if you wish.

Enjoy!

“Finally, A Song in English for FC Ryukyu Fans!” #FC琉球

Last month I produced an English Language pamphlet to hand out to FC Ryukyu fans at both home and away matches. The pamphlet contained useful information about the club, members of the supporter’s group and the songs that the fans sing at matches translated into English. But that got me thinking, why not have an English song unique to the club? There are so many famous songs for larger football clubs that include: “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” (West Ham), “Glory Glory Man United” (Manchester United) “Marching on Together” (Leeds United), “Cant del Barça” (FC Barcelona) and of course, You’ll Never Walk Alone” (Liverpool). So, what makes a football song unique? Is it the lyrics? Is it the timing of when it is first sung in and around the grounds? Or, is it simply a case of several thousand supporters singing in unison that brings chills to the spine and goosebumps to the skin?

Over the course of the past few years I toyed with a number of songs to see if I could get one to stick but never found the right combination. I thought I could take the Dropkick Murphy’s Song “Barroom Hero” and turn it into an FC Ryukyu Song by signing the opening verse and then adding in the famous FC Ryukyu supporter chant at the end:

‘Face Down in the gutter won’t admit defeat, though his clothes are soiled and black.’

‘He’s a big strong man with a child’s mind, don’t you take his booze away!’

‘HEY!

‘FC Ryukyu’-then clap quick 5 times, ‘FC Ryukyu’-then end with 5 quick claps.

I think if the majority of the Japanese FC Ryukyu supporters understood what I was saying they would largely agree that this song is very applicable to my situation. However, I remain the only fool shouting this one out every week, but I really enjoy it.

Next, I thought, what about a song to counteract the opposing teams’ fans after the opposition scores against FC Ryukyu? Well, the one I came up with has been permanently shelved as it contains nothing but profanity and there are way too many people attending games these days to be saying these things. Back when it was just Hiro, myself and the supporters crew at the home games it may have gone unnoticed, but now with many kids sitting in and around my group of English-speaking friends, we cannot act this way or teach kids this type of language. Plus, it is borderline skirting the rules of proper fan behavior according to the J League so need to risk being thrown out of the stadium and incurring a lengthy ban.

So back to the problem at hand. Shortly after completing the pamphlet and with the notion of an English song unique to the club fresh in my mind, I stumbled across a song that I thought could be the one. But there were some things I needed to consider before choosing just any old song for this club and its supporters.

First, there are simply not enough of English-speaking fans to join in and some Americans here don’t feel like “making a scene.” Some may also feel embarrassed about signing in pubic due to ridicule so I needed something simple and that could pertain to both Okinawa and the rest of the world. Second, I needed to find a song that I could tailor the lyrics to suit the club and the island and that was no easy task. Third, the song needed to be both easy enough to remember as well as limited to just a few minutes since no one wants to sing a lengthy song. Finally, the song itself is not meant to compete with the entrance song that the FC Ryukyu supporters sing as the club walks out of the tunnel. The song is better suited for waiting outside of the grounds with many fans or just before the goalies come out for their warm-up or when both teams’ head into the locker just prior to kickoff.

With that in mind, I present to you, the song I feel that best captures the island, the club and its supporters. I give you, John Denver’s “Country Roads” tailored to the FC Ryukyu fans.

3:13 (Total Length of Song)

VERSE 1

Almost Heaven, Okinawa, Kunagami Mountains, Shuri Castle.

Life is old there, older than the trees, Younger than the mountains, growing like a breeze.

CHORUS

Country roads, take me home, To the place I belong

Okinawa!, FC Ryukyu!

Take me home, country roads.

VERSE 2

All my memories gather ’round her, Fisherman’s lady, no stranger to blue water.

Dark and sandy, Painted on the sky, Misty taste of Awamori, Teardrops in my eyes.

CHORUS

Country roads, take me home, To the place I belong

Okinawa!, FC Ryukyu!

Take me home, country roads.

BRIDGE

I hear her voice in the morning hour she calls me; the radio reminds me of my home far away.

Driving down the road I get a feeling That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday.

CHORUS

Country roads, take me home, To the place I belong

Okinawa!, FC Ryukyu!

Take me home, country roads.

Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong

Okinawa!, FC Ryukyu!

Take me home, country roads.

OUTRO

Take me home, (Down) country roads. Take me home, (Down) country roads.

The YouTube video so you can all hear how John Denver sang it back in 1976. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vrEljMfXYo

I encourage you to listen and then follow along to the lyrics I posted so you can see where I made changes.

In closing, I am not sure if this song will stick, or if many will like it, but there is no doubt it will be unique to this club here in Asia. Let me know what you think and when you see me at games, let’s sing this together. Whenever the season resumes of course.

“Here We Go!” Match Day 1 Preview: JEF UTD Chiba vs FC Ryukyu 2/23/2020

Intro

My oh my, the time has flown by this offseason. Nevertheless, here we are at the first Match Day Preview for FC Ryukyu in the 2020 season. Last year I found that Match Day Previews became much richer and more deeply involved as the season evolved over time. Of course, this is to be expected when story lines start to unfold, players get injured, teams experience a dip or rise in form and statistics allow us to conduct some level of critical analysis. But at the start of each season, teams are relatively unknown commodities and often playing together for the first time. Surely last season stands as a perfect example when FC Ryukyu got out on the front foot quickly with such a blazing start and took everyone by surprise.

The same notion holds true for 2020 as teams will spend the better part of a month learning to gel when game speeds increase and matches begin to count. By starting fast early last year, FC Ryukyu scored a major advantage over teams that struggled out of the gate. I am not sure we will catch many by surprise this year, and in fact, I think FC Ryukyu have a very tough opening 11 matches to begin the year. This could cause some early tense moments this spring as well as stressful ones come this fall.

With that in mind, we open the Match Day Previews for this season with a road trip to Chiba where FC Ryukyu will take on JEF United Chiba on the opening day of 2020.  If you recall last year, JEF got the better of FC Ryukyu on two separate occasions. A 1-0 win in Chiba on the first Wednesday night game of the year back on April 3rd followed up by a 2-0 win in Okinawa at the end of July. The loss in July was number 4 in the midst of a 5-game losing streak for FC Ryukyu which really piled the pressure on the squad and the manager Higuchi. FC Ryukyu were in complete freefall at that time and were tumbling down the J2 table with each consecutive loss. But despite suffering setbacks to JEF along the way, FC Ryukyu would go on to finish higher than JEF in the J2 table in 2019.

But a lot has changed since these sides last met nearly 7 months ago. Players have changed teams, JEF has changed their manager and there are different expectations for both clubs heading into 2020.

Weather Forecast

JEF Chiba United

JEF made some wholesale changes to a side that finished 17th in the table on 43 points in 2019. Often the punch line of several jokes stemming from numerous howlers and blunders, JEF has addressed the GK position this offseason by signing a veteran player from J1. Shoto Arai (Kawasaki Frontale) will look to sure up the final line of defense for JEF that only mustered 11 clean sheets from 42 matches in 2020. It is not as if clean sheets tell the whole story as there were probably a couple of occasions where a goal was conceded that either leveled or titled matches for JEF last season after they had already conceded.

Kleber will lead the JEF line up front as he did for much of last season. Kleber will be partnered with either newly signed Keita Yamashita (Renofa Yamaguchi) or Takayuki Funayama. Kleber banged in 17 goals in his 38 starts last season with Yamashita and Funayama each chipping 11/12 respectfully. Keita is 9 years younger than Funayama and perhaps the new coach favors a more aggressive style of play, with more gut busting runs compared to last season, and that may favor the younger Keita. JEF also signed Alan Pinheiro from Tokyo Verdy, a 17-goal scorer from just 2 seasons ago, to add to their firepower up front.

I cannot speak volumes on the defenders that JEF signed this offseason but it seems a majority of the issues that plagued this side in 2019 may very well continue into 2020. All in all, this looks like a club that wants to execute a very aggressive attacking style of play and run the opponent into the ground. But can they can keep opponents off the score sheet?

FC Ryukyu

Last year’s opening day starters for FC Ryukyu included Koji Suzuki, Kazaki Nakagawa, Keita Tanaka, Yu Tomidokoro, Kazumasa Uesato, Koki Kazama, Taishi Nishioka, Ryohei Okazaki, Shuhei Tokumoto Kosuke, Masutani and Dany Carvajal. From that group, only 6 remain, and of those 5, only 2 are likely start the opening match of 2020. This is nothing new to the fans of Ryukyu as many of us have seen some violent roster churn every season for this club. The question now becomes, can FC Ryukyu survive or thrive with this new group of players?

Up top will be Takuma Abe or Shinya Uehara for FC Ryukyu. Either will be flanked by Keita Tanaka, Koya Kazama, Shuto Kawai or Shunsuke Motegi with recent college graduate, Ren Ikeda, possibly leading the charge from the #10 slot. The youngster believes he is in the poll position to start the year there and that would come as a big surprise considering he beat out the likes of Koya and others to take over the CAM role. But whatever, name brand recognition is nice, results are so much better. So, if he can indeed prove his mettle out there, then I am all for it.

FC Ryukyu has made whole sale changes to back line that conceded a J2 league leading 81 goals last season. Tokumoto, Masutani, Nishioka have departed and Ryohei Okazaki is out injured. In comes newly signed North Korean National Team Player, Lee Yong Jick, and on-loan defender from Tokushima Vortis, Daisei Suzuki. At full back there is Felipe Taveras (RB), signed from a Brazilian Club this offseason, as well as (LB) Keito Numata who transferred in from Zweigen Kanazawa to replace Tokumoto. If Tavares can produce, or Torikai can get healthy and return to his top form, defense could all of a sudden become be a hidden strength for this team.  There is an off chance that Ryoji Fukui starts in place of Suzuki, as he was Highuchi’s preferred choice all last season when there was an injury anywhere cross the back 4, but Suzuki seems to have the demeanor you want in a CB and I hope he is in there come Sunday.

Finally, we come onto the goal keeping crew. With Dany out rehabbing from offseason surgery, FCR are left with some unproven options on the roster. Inose started one match for FC Ryukyu last year at Mito and Tsumita has never featured for the club at this level. Then there is Junto Taguchi who signed from Albirex Niigata but I believe hasn’t featured in a competitive match in well over year. The closest I could find was a loan spell at Fujieda MYFC. For a side that only kept 7 clean sheets in all of 2019 (all 7 from Dany) there are many questions and concerns heading into the season opener.

Player Injuries

JEF UTD Chiba: MF Tameda (Cannot locate the injury) Return 8-10 weeks.

FC Ryukyu: GK Carvajal: (Ankle) Expected Return-4weeks. DF Okazaki: (Foot Fracture) Expected Return-3 weeks. MF Tomidokoro (Ankle/Foot) Expected Return-4 weeks. MF Yamaguchi: (Calf/Hamstring Pull/Tear) Expected Return-6 weeks.

Keys to Victory

Going to add a twist for 2020 to this section and provide a level of confidence after each key to victory indicating the likelihood that I think it will happen. The scale below:

5. An almost certainty: 4 Fairly Certain: 3 Somewhat Certain: 2 Very Unlikely: 1 Miracle

1. Stifle the JEF attack and do not expose the FCR goal keeper. I think FC Ryukyu may have the advantage on defense (words I would have never uttered in 2019) so this is a real possibility and necessity on Sunday. I cannot speak to how Higuchi split the preseason reps between Taguchi, Inose and Tsumita but the last thing FCR needs to do is turn this game into a shooting gallery back there for our goalie. Likelihood: 2

2. Exploit the JEF back line. The JEF defensive unit, much like the FCR back line, is newly formed and learning to play together for the first time. This is probably the weakest link in the JEF side which should allow FCR to get some shots on net which leads to point #3. Likelihood: 4

3. Capitalize on whatever opportunities are afforded by the JEF defense. JEF’s goalkeeper is a step up from last year and a proven shot stopper so weak, ill-advised and off-target shots will not help FCRs chances of victory. Especially if we only have 2-3 quality scoring chances that day. Abe seems dialed in from the amount of pre-season goals he scored so hopefully he can bag a brace on the weekend and give FCR the win. Likelihood: 3

Match Prediction

JEF is stronger on the ends of the pitch at GK and FWD with FCR having the advantage through the middle (MF/DEF). JEF has 3 proven double-digit goal scorers from last year whereas FCR have none. FCR also lack the experience in goal compared to that of JEF. However, FCR are slightly stronger across the back line and loaded with talent through the MF.

Each side is orientated to the attack and therefore this game will boil down to who has the most cracks at the back. Unlike last year when FCR failed to fire in any of their matches against JEF, I think this year will be different. However, I also feel that JEF will capitalize on their opportunities more than FCR and therefore will edge out FCR on the opening day.

Match Day Prediction: JEF UTD Chiba 2-1 FC Ryukyu.

Match Day Information

Please see Lost in Football’s website for information on how to purchase tickets and get the match at JEF UTC Chiba. http://lostinfootballjapan.com/club-profiles/jef-united-chiba/

JEF: https://jefunited.co.jp/event/2020/0223/. Can translate into English if using Google Chrome.

FC Ryukyu: http://fcryukyu.com/news/23000. List of goods on sale at JEF’s stadium.

J Soccer Magazine also has a ton of information on these clubs as well as all the J League sides. http://www.jsoccer.com/new/j2

Check out the latest J2 podcast, J-Talk Extra Time Ep.121, on iTunes Podcasts as well as Podbean where Stuart and Jon cover the opening round of fixtures for J2 this weekend. @sushi_football & @J2KantoBites

Conclusion

It is truly anyone’s guess how the opening day fixture will play out as we’ve never seen these sides face each other with this current crop of players. Will the occasion be too much for Taguchi in net for FCR? Does FCR have the firepower to get into shootouts this season? Can the back line for FCR morph from a position of weakness in 2019 to one of strength in 2020? All good questions that will be answered in short order. But for now, let’s enjoy the opening fixture of the 2020 season as we’ve all waited long enough for it to finally come around.

“Thus Endeth the Preseason” Final FC Ryukyu Preview of 2020 #FC琉球

The 2020 preseason has come to a close for FC Ryukyu and with that, there are plenty of observations and questions still surrounding this club leading into the regular season. let’s take a quick glimpse at each of those and then prepare for JEF Chiba United next Sunday.

Overall Pre-Season Record 3W3L0D

(L) Gamba Osaka                             1-9 L

(L) Omiya Ardija                              0-1 L

(W) Tokyo Verdy                              3-0 W

(W) Consadole Sapporo                  7-3 W

(L) Urawa Reds                                 1-4 L

(W) Kaiho Bank                                15-1 W

Score Sheet: (2) Abe, Uehara & Shunsuke Mogi (1) Koya Kazama, Shinji Ono & Hitomi.

*No score sheet provided for Kaiho Bank nor amount of multiple goals in a single match for any one player.

Player Injuries

Dany Carvajal: Ankle Surgery, 8-12-week recovery time beginning in December. Dany is probably 2/3 of the way through his recovery/rehab and is not walking with any noticeable limp or restrictions. Expect him back by April 1.

Yuya Torikai: Dislocated Tendon Surgery for his Ankle, 3-month recovery starting in October of 2019. Torikai has shed the support tape around the ankle/calf but I have no idea if he is at match fitness level yet. Saw him the other day and similar to Dany, no limp and looks eager to return.

Ryohei Okazaki: Foot Fracture, 5-week recovery. Could return as early as March 9.

Club Announcements

1. FC Ryukyu will have their own beach soccer team and the first practice is on March 8th. http://fcryukyu-bs.com.

2. FC Ryukyu re-signed Ramon and then sent him out on loan to Gainare Tottori. He promptly scored in one of the preseason matches.

3. Uesato was named team captain again for the 2020 season.

4. FC Ryukyu signed Yuhei Abe to a technical staff position. This signing may go under the radar but could be of vital importance for the club. I am not sure what he will study, or how his data analysis will impact Higuchi’s game plan each week, but it is an encouraging sign from the club.

Large, Looming Questions ahead of the First Match Day

1. Who will be the FC Ryukyu starting GK for Match Day 1? One has to feel that Junto Taguchi has the upper hand in that regard but has Inose or Masuda done enough to assert themselves this off-season? It is vitally important that FC Ryukyu get Dany back to full health and match fit quickly as they are a different side when he is in there and at 100%. The first 11 weeks are a brutal slate of games for FC Ryukyu and we need our top players out there each week.

2. Who fills in for Okazaki at CB while he is out injured? According to the roster, and Higuchi’s preference from 2019, that would be Ryoji Fukui. However, I wouldn’t count out Daisei Suzuki from what I saw of that player in the pre-season. Suzuki has a loud booming voice that easily organizes a back line and could prove a shrewd signing if he out produces Okazaki this year.

3. The Lineup crisis. Many questions here. First, who starts at FWD (Abe or Uehara) and can either play a full 90’? Second, do we have a true #10 behind either Abe or Uehara? I have zero idea who will be out there in one week’s time and for all I know, it could be someone totally unexpected. Finally, how does Higuchi get all the talented midfielders on this roster into the lineup, and keep them happy? Bursting at the seems with MF talent it would be wise to play those players that have the “hot hand” vice sticking to a lineup with the hopes that a player returns to form.

4. The Shinji Ono paradox. Simply put, attendance numbers versus results. Can Shinji play a full 90? If Higuchi decides to play Shinji, coupled with the fact that both our strikers are over 30 years old, has Higuchi limited his substitution options every game down to just 1? Let me explain, if Shinji enters/exits for Koki Kazama, that is 1 substitution. If Higuchi intends on subbing Uehara or Abe for each other at some point, that is sub number 2. Therefore, FC Ryukyu have only 1 available sub every match. This becomes predictable for our opponents and means we tread a very fine line for not picking up a red card or injury at any point. Granted, FC Ryukyu had zero red cards in 2019 but you certainly cannot bank on that in 2020. Lineup selection and reserve/substitution selection will be very interesting to begin the season.

5. Have FC Ryukyu solved the defensive woes that led to the most goals conceded in J2 during 2019? I have no idea and the fact that we’ll have a new CB partnership, plus GK, provides glimmers of hope with bouts of trepidation. FC Ryukyu cannot live on the razors edge as they did last year. The bleeding at the back has to stop.

6. Where will the goals come from in 2020? FC Ryukyu have sold their top goal scorers in each of the last 2 seasons. Yuta Togashi, Nakagawa, Koji and Uejo are all gone. That is absolutely ridiculous while being completely understandable for a club with limited resources. So then, who steps up? I think if FC Ryukyu can get 14 goals from Abe in 2020, coupled with some Mid-Fielders chipping in a bunch, we could be alright. We will need Uehara, Kawai, Tanaka, Koya and Motegi to be around the 4-5 goal mark each. We will also need about 5-7 goals from our defenders. Then the big ask will be to reduce the amount of goals we concede. Our opposition certainly has the advantage early as we without our starting CB and GK to begin the campaign.

Conclusion

So nothing unexpected here, many questions and many uncertainties surrounding FC Ryukyu. 2020 maybe a season where the goal is just building the fan base an increasing the operating budget for 2021. Not as glamorous as making it to J1 but football, most of the time, is a marathon not a sprint. We are building something special here in Okinawa and that journey continues in one weeks time.