Football fandom — Japan style

Kobe Vissel, Kyoto Purple Sanga and Cerezo Osaka all have one thing in common. No, not disappointing seasons but a loyal and fiery fan base that see them through thick and thin.

Soccer is a fast growing professional sport in Japan with the first official kick-off taking place at the Tokyo National Stadium on May 15th 1993. An impressive 59,626 supporters were there to witness the beginning of a new sporting frenzy that was to pleasantly surprise Japan in the following decade. The J-League consists of J1 and J2 with a total of 28 clubs to date. Supporter numbers have grown from 5.6 million in 1994 to 6.8 million fans in 2003. J2's Albirex Niigata remain the league's fan base champions with an average of 30,339 punters turning up to cheer on their team at home games.

In terms of money, the J-league is also one of the best for low-priced tickets, making loyalty to your local team affordable. Season tickets are priced between ¥10,000 and ¥30,000, which covers all home games, including the Nabisco league cup. Regular games are fixed at between ¥1,500 and ¥5,000 per game, depending where you sit. Some teams advertise discounted tickets for local derby fixtures, cup games or friendlies, so keep your eye out for special offers.

Football supporters are a fast-growing clan in Japan, but
fan culture is quite different from other footballing countries.
It is a culture where football is a friendly sport, a family sport.
On the face of it, the terraces in Japan have much in common with any other country. You have the team colours, the flags and chants. But under the face paint, the Japanese fan is a distinct breed.

Abroad, it is typical for home and away supporters to be strictly separated. Often the home supporters are confined to the stadium while the visiting fans are first let out and directed away from the ground. Here, home and away supporters sit together and talk about the game with no danger of coming to blows.
You can bring your own food and drink into the stadium (not international games) or you can purchase munchies and beer at the ground kiosks — and bring it back to your seat. All this is strong contrast to, say, Britain, where drink is banned from the seats and confined to the bar. Here, you may see ven-dors selling direct to the fans in their seats. Fans are less boisterous. There's no shouting at the referee, no shouting obsceni-ties at the other team's players, and never, ever any coin throwing.

The fact is, Japanese soccer fans are terribly nice. During the 2002 World Cup, the Japanese fans were praised for their good nature and their contribution to a friendly and frictionless world cup.

Although the supporters were capable of generating lots of noise with their chants of 'Nippon!, Nippon', demonstrating some of that famous Asian group harmony, they were equally capable of generating lots of silence, much to the bewilderment of the world's sports press. There is also a demographic of noise. Stands are divided into different areas so you can get the quiet, family experience (seats on the sidelines), or the singing, flag waving and chants (the goal end).

It isn't just the variable energy in the stands that strikes outsiders. A French news-paper in Toulouse once observed, 'the suppo-rters enthusiastically cheered on their team during the game, and afterwards they put their litter into blue garbage bags they had brought to express support for their blue-shirted Japanese players and took it home. Some of them even used portable ashtrays. For football fans, this is extraordinary, almost surreal behaviour'. This also happens in domestic games as Cerezo Osaka fans will take their pink litter bags on a mission after the game and clean up Nagai. There is though an incentive: a free pair of tickets to the next game.

Like any dedicated followers of football, Japanese fans have upon occasion been known to get over excited. Cerezo saw some bad times last summer as passions ran high at Nagai after a bitter defeat at the hands of fellow battlers Kashiwa Reysol.

Banners and chants against the then manager and constant booing were only quelled by the appearance of injured talismanic striker Yoshito Okubo after the game. The fans got what they wanted — the manager was sacked. On a more positive note, their fan power was shown later as Cerezo supporters willed their team to an almost miraculous escape from relegation. The power of prayer is strong indeed.

Occasionally reserved and always polite, the local fans are nevertheless capable of generating a thrilling atmosphere. The most excitement can be experienced the derby matches. In Kansai, Kyoto Purple Sanga are in J2 but there are frequent meetings between J1 outfits Gamba Osaka, Cerezo Osaka and Kobe Vissel. The Osaka derby is momentous for any Osaka soccer fan as the black and white army of Gamba take on the pink and blue stripes of Cerezo. Although Nagai is the better stadium, Gamba are the better team, but the atmosphere is tense and every goal is worth twice the price of a season ticket.

Soccer is still a baby in the Far East compared to its baseball sibling, but it has a lot of potential. With a growing professional league, reasonably priced tickets and beers available at your seat, there's a bright future for J-league and its supporters.

Text: Naheen Madarbakus
Photos: Michael Gover, Naheen Madarbakus