Japan Sports thread (besides Baseball, Sumo, Olympics)
May 30, 2019, 11:31 pm
#1
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Japan Sports thread (besides Baseball, Sumo, Olympics)
Figured it might be interesting to start a sports thread.
Soccer, rugby, basketball, Naomi Osaka, hockey, horse racing, whatever.
But not baseball and sumo and Olympics, since those are 3 major topics that probably merit being discussed in their own respective threads.
Mod: If you think this is too broad, feel free to delete please.
For baseball and sumo, currently these threads exist:
Buying Japan Baseball tickets
Sumo: worth seeing or not
How can I get Sumo Tickets in simple procedure?
[There's been a couple of Olympic threads that were very narrow in scope, so someone needs to start a 2020 Olympics thread.]
Soccer, rugby, basketball, Naomi Osaka, hockey, horse racing, whatever.
But not baseball and sumo and Olympics, since those are 3 major topics that probably merit being discussed in their own respective threads.
Mod: If you think this is too broad, feel free to delete please.
For baseball and sumo, currently these threads exist:
Buying Japan Baseball tickets
Sumo: worth seeing or not
How can I get Sumo Tickets in simple procedure?
[There's been a couple of Olympic threads that were very narrow in scope, so someone needs to start a 2020 Olympics thread.]
May 30, 2019, 11:49 pm
#3
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Another recent big news:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/.../#.XPC_lY9lDIU
Also, the first person not of African descent to break the 10-second barrier in 100-metre dash was almost going to be a Japanese person ~20yrs ago.
Koji Ito clocked 10.00 flat and I think the clock initially showed 9.99 before the official time was unfortunately changed to 10.00.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/.../#.XPC_lY9lDIU
Also, the first person not of African descent to break the 10-second barrier in 100-metre dash was almost going to be a Japanese person ~20yrs ago.
Koji Ito clocked 10.00 flat and I think the clock initially showed 9.99 before the official time was unfortunately changed to 10.00.
May 31, 2019, 12:10 am
#4
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Attending a J-league match
1. Since most visitors don't have a favorite team, pick a match with date/time and venue that work for you. Some venues are notoriously difficult to get to, like where Zelvia Machida plays. Watching a J2 match isn't bad either. There's not too much dropoff in the experience and entertainment factor between J1 and J2 imo. A somewhat important factor is the size of the stadium and whether it is football-only (as opposed to having track separating the field from the seats).
2. Buy ticket in advance using the ticket booking machine at a convenience store (eg, Family Mart, Lawson, etc). Whether/not this is possible in English has been discussed elsewhere but I'm not sure what the conclusion was (I'm Jpnese... someone help). You select your preferred seat zone, but choose carefully and I would avoid the area behind the goal where there tend to be fanatics.
3. On the match day, I'd arrive at the stadium at least 45min before kickoff. There're various stalls, atmosphere to be taken in, and you get to watch players warm up up-close.
2. Buy ticket in advance using the ticket booking machine at a convenience store (eg, Family Mart, Lawson, etc). Whether/not this is possible in English has been discussed elsewhere but I'm not sure what the conclusion was (I'm Jpnese... someone help). You select your preferred seat zone, but choose carefully and I would avoid the area behind the goal where there tend to be fanatics.
3. On the match day, I'd arrive at the stadium at least 45min before kickoff. There're various stalls, atmosphere to be taken in, and you get to watch players warm up up-close.
Jun 3, 2019, 10:36 pm
#5
Join Date: Jan 2008
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Going to watch some horse racing at Oi keibajo (Tokyo City Keiba) tomorrow night. Will be enjoying their BBQ area inside the track too!
https://www.tokyocitykeiba.com/en/
https://seaside-creations.co.jp/shop-list/tckbbq/
https://www.tokyocitykeiba.com/en/
https://seaside-creations.co.jp/shop-list/tckbbq/
Jun 4, 2019, 7:38 pm
#6
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Going to watch some horse racing at Oi keibajo (Tokyo City Keiba) tomorrow night. Will be enjoying their BBQ area inside the track too!
https://www.tokyocitykeiba.com/en/
https://seaside-creations.co.jp/shop-list/tckbbq/
https://www.tokyocitykeiba.com/en/
https://seaside-creations.co.jp/shop-list/tckbbq/
I've never been to a horse race. I know there're some European jockeys competing in Jpn, but do many foreigners go watch horseraces in Jpn?
Jun 8, 2019, 12:54 am
#8
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Thorsten Fink appointed new manager at Vissel Kobe. Revolving door keeps turning in Kobe. They've spent boatload of cash on over-the-hill European stars who are constantly injured.
Oct 10, 2019, 11:18 pm
#9
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Naomi Osaka
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/naomi-o...okyo-olympics/
This is good and bad.
Good because she's a star that makes Jpn proud.
Bad because her bailing Jpn might've been a catalyst to more discussions about abolishing Jpn's dumb dual citizenship restrictions.
This is good and bad.
Good because she's a star that makes Jpn proud.
Bad because her bailing Jpn might've been a catalyst to more discussions about abolishing Jpn's dumb dual citizenship restrictions.
Nov 15, 2019, 1:12 pm
#10
Join Date: Sep 2004
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I just went through the experience of purchasing football tickets (Cerezo v. Shimizu S-Pulse) via the official J-League website in English. While it was pretty easy, there were a few annoying things about it:
1) So many steps! Even after I purchased the tickets, I then I had to go through a link that was emailed to me in order to get the actual tickets, which in this case were in the form of QR codes that I have saved to my phone.
2) You could only select which section you wanted but could not select where in the section or what specific seats. Living in North America and being used to sites like Stubhub where you can see the individual seats, this was disappointing. Due to the way Japanese stadiums number their seats, I still have no idea where we're sitting (seats 92 - 94)
Anyway, I look forward to the match despite the running track at Cerezo's ground but schlepping out to Gamba's ground in Suita seemed like a bit of a hassle. Their ground looks nice but also seems very boring. Despite being at the Cerezo match, I will be following the FC Tokyo v. Urawa match to see if FC Tokyo can finally clinch their first J-League title! Vamos Tokyo!
1) So many steps! Even after I purchased the tickets, I then I had to go through a link that was emailed to me in order to get the actual tickets, which in this case were in the form of QR codes that I have saved to my phone.
2) You could only select which section you wanted but could not select where in the section or what specific seats. Living in North America and being used to sites like Stubhub where you can see the individual seats, this was disappointing. Due to the way Japanese stadiums number their seats, I still have no idea where we're sitting (seats 92 - 94)
Anyway, I look forward to the match despite the running track at Cerezo's ground but schlepping out to Gamba's ground in Suita seemed like a bit of a hassle. Their ground looks nice but also seems very boring. Despite being at the Cerezo match, I will be following the FC Tokyo v. Urawa match to see if FC Tokyo can finally clinch their first J-League title! Vamos Tokyo!
Nov 16, 2019, 12:23 am
#11
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I just went through the experience of purchasing football tickets (Cerezo v. Shimizu S-Pulse) via the official J-League website in English. While it was pretty easy, there were a few annoying things about it:
1) So many steps! Even after I purchased the tickets, I then I had to go through a link that was emailed to me in order to get the actual tickets, which in this case were in the form of QR codes that I have saved to my phone.
2) You could only select which section you wanted but could not select where in the section or what specific seats. Living in North America and being used to sites like Stubhub where you can see the individual seats, this was disappointing. Due to the way Japanese stadiums number their seats, I still have no idea where we're sitting (seats 92 - 94)
Anyway, I look forward to the match despite the running track at Cerezo's ground but schlepping out to Gamba's ground in Suita seemed like a bit of a hassle. Their ground looks nice but also seems very boring. Despite being at the Cerezo match, I will be following the FC Tokyo v. Urawa match to see if FC Tokyo can finally clinch their first J-League title! Vamos Tokyo!
1) So many steps! Even after I purchased the tickets, I then I had to go through a link that was emailed to me in order to get the actual tickets, which in this case were in the form of QR codes that I have saved to my phone.
2) You could only select which section you wanted but could not select where in the section or what specific seats. Living in North America and being used to sites like Stubhub where you can see the individual seats, this was disappointing. Due to the way Japanese stadiums number their seats, I still have no idea where we're sitting (seats 92 - 94)
Anyway, I look forward to the match despite the running track at Cerezo's ground but schlepping out to Gamba's ground in Suita seemed like a bit of a hassle. Their ground looks nice but also seems very boring. Despite being at the Cerezo match, I will be following the FC Tokyo v. Urawa match to see if FC Tokyo can finally clinch their first J-League title! Vamos Tokyo!
If attending a J1 match is a must-do agenda on your trip, definitely consider securing the tix in advance like kevincrumbs did (I did not know you could do that in English). I landed in Jpn 3 days before match day this past summer, and I was going to attend one of 3 matches within an hour radius from my base in Kanagawa. To my surprise, every single one of those was already sold out 3 days in advance. Most J1 matches don't sell out. But on certain game days (like during vacation time or holidays) when Marinos play at Mitsuzawa Stadium, or derby matches (eg, Tamagawa Clasico), or for crucial late-autumn matches when championship/relegation is on the line, matches do sell out.
With apologies, I am rooting for Yokohama FMArinos this year.
Kashiwa Reysol just clinched J2 championship!
Heading into today, 3 J2 teams vying for the 2 top spots that earn automatic J1 promotion (one that loses out goes to the promotion playoff spot), 6 more teams all within 2 point totals of each other (65-67) vying for the 3 more promotion playoff spots.
Promotion-relegation battle seems always crazy in Jpn... one of the things that make J-League so exciting year after year.
Looks like Omiya and Okayama haven taken a big hit at this critical juncture of the season.
Nov 16, 2019, 12:38 am
#12
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Tokushima just won again!
They were nowhere in sight just 3 months ago, and they've since come on like gangbusters.
10 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss in the last 14 matches.
Yokohama FC started the year 2-0-4. They're 16-6-1 in the last 23 matches.
They were nowhere in sight just 3 months ago, and they've since come on like gangbusters.
10 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss in the last 14 matches.
Yokohama FC started the year 2-0-4. They're 16-6-1 in the last 23 matches.
Dec 13, 2019, 10:45 pm
#13
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Just ~15min remaining in the relegation-promotion match between Shonan (J1) and Tokushima (J2).
Tied at 1-1. Tokushima needs a win to earn promotion. Very unfavorable format for the J2 teams. We'll see what happens.
Tied at 1-1. Tokushima needs a win to earn promotion. Very unfavorable format for the J2 teams. We'll see what happens.
Dec 13, 2019, 11:02 pm
#15
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just concluded.
Shonan stays in J1 by virtue of a draw (J1 team gets to stay in J1 with win/draw).
I think J1 promotion is too difficult, and the life in J2 is too brutal.
Omiya was 20-7 w/ 15 draws, and that wasn't even good enough.
Tokushima went 11-1 with 3 draws in the last 15, then advanced through the J2 promotion playoff. But they had to then get a win away to the third-to-last J1 team, and they only get one chance to do so, else they're right back to square one in J2 next year. And it was a draw, so Shonan stays in J1, Tokushima back in the thick of quagmire that is J2.
Shonan stays in J1 by virtue of a draw (J1 team gets to stay in J1 with win/draw).
I think J1 promotion is too difficult, and the life in J2 is too brutal.
Omiya was 20-7 w/ 15 draws, and that wasn't even good enough.
Tokushima went 11-1 with 3 draws in the last 15, then advanced through the J2 promotion playoff. But they had to then get a win away to the third-to-last J1 team, and they only get one chance to do so, else they're right back to square one in J2 next year. And it was a draw, so Shonan stays in J1, Tokushima back in the thick of quagmire that is J2.