Soccer in Japan

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Football match in Japan, Consadole Sapporo versus Avispa Fukuoka in the Atsubetsu Stadium in Sapporo

Football is the second most popular team sport in Japan after baseball . Although the sport came to the country quite early through British and Dutch dealers and a national club cup has been held since 1921, it only played a relatively small role as a student sport for many decades . This only changed after the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo . The preliminary high point of development was the 2002 World Cup , which took place in South Korea and Japan. In 2006, the country again took part in a World Cup, but dropped out in the preliminary round. In 2010, the Japanese national team made it to the round of 16 like in 2002, but failed on penalties to Paraguay. In 2011 , the Japanese women's national soccer team became the first Asian national team to win a senior world title.

History of Japanese Football

Before the war

It is unclear when the first soccer game took place on Japanese soil. In any case, the sport enjoyed great popularity, especially in student circles, which is certainly also due to the fact that Japan's students at that time were very interested in European culture and Western customs.

As early as May 9, 1917, Japan played the first unofficial international game, which they lost 5-0 in China . The national football association JFA was founded in 1921 (a FIFA member since 1929 ), and the nationwide Imperial Cup is held in the same year, making it one of the oldest football competitions in Asia.

The Japanese team achieved their first international successes in 1930 with a shared victory at the East Asian Games (they separated from China 3: 3 in the final) and in 1936 with a 3-2 victory over Sweden during the 1936 Summer Olympics - their first victory over a European one Team, but then lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual Olympic champion Italy with 8-0.

With Cramer to the Olympics

The Second World War not only brought the Kaiser Cup to a standstill, it also isolated the JFA international: it was not re-admitted to FIFA until 1950, but had long since missed international affiliation.

The 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo marked a turning point in Japanese football: at the games in their own country, the Olympic Committee was also interested in the successful performance of the Japanese in football and in 1960 hired the German Dettmar Cramer , Japan's first foreign football teacher for the national team led to a 3-2 victory over Argentina in the Olympic tournament . In the quarter-finals, however, came against Czechoslovakia with a 0: 4. In contrast, it succeeded four years later under coach Shun'ichirō Okano to win the bronze medal in Mexico, this was the best placement in an intercontinental tournament. In 1965, the nationwide semi-professional Japan Soccer League was founded, in which mostly works teams from large corporations (such as Toyota , Hitachi or Mitsubishi ) crowned the Japanese champions until 1992. In the Kaiser Cup , too , which had previously been dominated by university teams, the works teams soon gained the upper hand.

Asian champions and professional football

Over time, the sport became more and more popular among the people. Also manga , anime and video games took since the early 1980s, the issue of (about Captain Tsubasa or Ganbare! Kickers ). But it was not until the 1990s until Japan was also successful in professional football: 1992 first time found Asia Championships Area Association AFC held in Japan. The team, led by Dutch coach Hans Ooft (the first foreign national coach since Cramer) had only qualified for a final round before - and still won the tournament.

Another milestone was the founding of the nationwide professional league J. League in 1993 , in which the top ten JSL teams were converted into professionally managed clubs (today the professional division comprises 30 teams in two divisions). The J. League is attracting more and more fans; In 2003, 6.8 million viewers followed the games throughout the season (average: approx. 17,000 per game).

Japan's national team qualified for a World Cup for the first time in 1998. She was trained by the Brazilian Zico until the 2006 World Cup in Germany .

National team successes

Asian Championships

In 1988 Japan managed to qualify for a final round for the first time after several unsuccessful attempts; since then it has won the tournament four times, making it the most successful nation in the tournament.

year host Result S. U N Gates
1988 Qatar Preliminary round 0 1 3 0: 6
1992 Japan Asian champion 3 2 0 6: 3
1996 UAE Quarter finals 3 0 1 7: 3
2000 Lebanon Asian champion 5 1 0 21: 6
2004 China Asian champion 3 3 0 13: 6
2007 Indonesia , Malaysia , Thailand and Vietnam 4th place 2 3 1 11: 7
2011 Qatar Asian champion 4th 2 0 14: 6
2015 Australia Quarter finals 3 1 0 8: 1
2019 United Arab Emirates place 2 6th 0 1 12: 6

World championships

Japan was able to qualify for a World Cup finals for the first time in 1998, after the qualification for the 1994 World Cup , which had already been believed to be safe, failed due to a goal conceded in injury time in the last game . In 2002 you were the host, for the tournaments in 2006, 2010 and 2014 Japan was the first team in the world to qualify in a sporting way. At the 2010 finals in South Africa they reached the second round after 2002.

year host Result S. U N Gates
1998 France Preliminary round place 4 0 0 3 1: 4
2002 Yep / Südk. Round of 16 2 1 1 5: 3
2006 Germany Preliminary round place 4 0 1 2 2: 7
2010 South Africa Round of 16 2 1 1 4: 2
2014 Brazil Preliminary round place 4 0 1 2 2: 6
2018 Russia Round of 16 1 1 2 6: 7

Club soccer

In 2016, club football in Japan is organized as follows:

The promotion and relegation between the leagues is mostly regulated according to sporting aspects, but for the professional area (J1 League, J2 League and J3 League) certain economic framework conditions must be observed. Unlike in most European leagues, the season runs within one calendar year.

In addition to the Japanese championship, the cup competition called the Kaiser Cup and a league cup , the J. League Cup , will continue to be held. The top three teams in the J1 League and the cup winners take part in the AFC Champions League , the highest Asian club competition.

Japanese clubs are among the strongest in Asia alongside the Korean and Saudi clubs ; since 1986 they have already won eight Asian cups. (South Korea: 8, Saudi Arabia: 9). The most famous clubs are the Kashima Antlers (record champions of the J. League), the Yokohama F. Marinos (record cup winners) and the Urawa Red Diamonds .

Current soccer league pyramid

step league
1 J1 League
18 clubs
↑ ↓ 3 clubs
2 J2 League
22 clubs
↑ 0–2 clubs
(depending on the fulfillment of the requirements by the newcomers from J3)
3 J3 League
16 clubs
↑ 0–2 clubs
(A club can be promoted to the J. League if it so wishes and if it meets the requirements of the J. League.)
4th JFL
16 clubs
↑ ↓ 0-2 clubs
(The number of promoted and relegated clubs depends on the relegation and the number of promoted clubs to the J. League.)
5 (& 6) 9 regional leagues
Hokkaidō Soccer League
(1 class)
8 clubs
1st & 2nd Tōhoku Shakaijin Soccer League
10 & 20 clubs
(2 seasons in 2nd class)
1st & 2nd Kantō Soccer League
10 & 10 clubs
1st & 2nd Hokushin'etsu Football League
8 & 8 clubs
1st & 2nd Tōkai Shakaijin League
8 & 8 clubs
1st & 2nd Kansai Soccer League
8 & 8 clubs
Chūgoku Soccer League
(1 class)
10 clubs
Shikoku Shakaijin League
(1 class)
8 clubs
Kyūshū Soccer League
(1 class)
10 clubs
↑ ↓ 2 clubs ↑ ↓ 1 club between each season ↑ ↓ 2 clubs ↑ ↓ 2 clubs ↑ ↓ 2 clubs ↑ ↓ 2 clubs (relegation) ↑ ↓ 2 clubs (relegation) ↑ ↓ 2 clubs (relegation) ↑ ↓ 2 clubs (relegation)
6 or
under 7
4 seasons
(DōŌ, Dōtō, Dōnan, Dōhoku)
North Season (Aomori, Iwate, Akita)
South Season (Miyagi, Yamagata, Fukushima)
Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tōkyō, Kanagawa, Yamanashi Nīgata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Nagano Shizuoka, Gifu, Aichi, Mie Shiga, Kyōto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi Fukushima, Saga, Nagasaki, Ōita, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa

See also

Web links

Commons : Soccer in Japan  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. FIFA counts a game against the Philippines on May 7, 1917 as the first international game that Japan lost with 2:15 [1] , but also the date of September 10, 1917 [2] and May 10, 1917 [ 3] must be specified