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Football in Japan
Football in Japan
	Jubilo Iwata players and fans celebrate a goal in the J.League Cup in 2010.
Country	Japan
Governing body	JFA
National team(s)	Men's team; Women's team
National competitions
	FIFA World Cup; AFC Asian Cup;
Club competitions
	League: ; J1 League ; J2 League ; J3 League ; Japan Football League ; Regional Leagues ; Prefectural Leagues ; Cup(s): ; Fujifilm Super Cup (Super Cup) ; Emperor's Cup JFA Japan Football Championship (National Cup) ; J.League YBC Levain Cup (League Cup);
International competitions
	FIFA Club World Cup; AFC Champions League Elite; AFC Champions League Two;

Football is among the most popular sports in Japan,^[1]^[2]^[3] together with baseball, tennis, golf, sumo, and combat sports.^[4] Its nationwide organization, the Japan Football Association, administers the professional football leagues, including J.League, which is considered by many the most successful football league in Asia.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9] Japan is also the country with the most comprehensively developed football in Asia in both men and women as well as in both futsal and beach soccer.

Football

Although the official English name of the Japan Football Association uses the term "football", the term sakkā (サッカー), derived from "soccer", is much more commonly used than futtobōru (フットボール). The JFA's Japanese name is Nippon Sakkā Kyōkai.

Before World War II the term in general use was shūkyū (蹴球, kick-ball), a Sino-Japanese term. With previously exclusive Japanese terms replaced by American influence after the war, sakkā became more commonplace. In recent years, many professional teams have named themselves F.C.s (football clubs), with examples being FC Tokyo and Kyoto Sanga FC.

History

The introduction of football in Japan is officially credited by the Japan Football Association, and numerous academic papers and books on the history of association football in Japan, to then Lieutenant-Commander Archibald Lucius Douglas of the Royal Navy and his subordinates, who from 1873 taught the game and its rules to Japanese navy cadets while acting as instructors at the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy in Tsukiji, Tokyo.^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]

The first official football match in Japan is widely believed to have been held on February 18, 1888, between the Yokohama Country & Athletic Club and Kobe Regatta & Athletic Club. YC&AC is the oldest running association football club in Japan as Association Football was introduced into the club on December 25, 1886, for training sessions starting from January 1887. The first Japanese association football club, founded as a football club, is considered to be Tokyo Shukyu-dan, founded in 1917, which is now competing in the Tokyo Prefectural amateur league.

In the 1920s, football associations were organised and regional tournaments began in universities and high schools especially in Tokyo. In 1930, the Japan national association football team was organised and had a 3–3 tie with China for their first title at the Far Eastern Championship Games. The Japan national team also participated in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, the team had the first victory in an Olympic game with a 3–2 win over powerful Sweden.

Aside from the national cup, the Emperor's Cup established in 1921, there had been several attempts at creating a senior-level national championship. The first was the All Japan Works Football Championship (AJWFC), established in 1948 and open only to company teams. The second was the All Japan Inter-City Football Championship (AJICFC), established in 1955 and separating clubs by cities (any club, works, university or autonomous, could represent their home city and qualify) but the Emperor's Cup remained dominated by universities until the late 1950s. All these tournaments were cups following single-elimination formulas, similar to Serie A in Italy before 1929.

The first organized national league, the Japan Soccer League, was organized in 1965 with eight amateur company clubs and replaced the AJWFC and AJICFC. At the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games, the Japan national team, filled with the top JSL stars of the era, had its first big success winning third place and a bronze medal. Olympic success spurred the creation of a Second Division for the JSL and openings for the first few professional players, in the beginning, foreigners (mainly Brazilians), and a few from other countries, which also led to the country hosting its first international competition, the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship. Japanese players, however, remained an amateur, having to work day jobs for the companies owning the clubs (or other companies if their clubs were autonomous). This limited the growth of the Japanese game, and many better Japanese players had to move abroad to make a living off the game, such as Yasuhiko Okudera, the first Japanese player to play in a professional European club, (1. FC Köln of Germany). UEFA and CONMEBOL aided the Japanese awareness of football by having the Intercontinental Cup played in Tokyo as a neutral venue.

In 1993, the Japan Professional Football League (commonly known as the J.League) was formed replacing the semi-professional Japan Soccer League as the new top-level club competition in Japan.^[14] It consisted of some of the top clubs from the old JSL, fully professionalized, renamed to fit communities and with the corporate identity reduced to a minimum.^[15] The new higher-standard league attracted many more spectators and helped the sport to hugely increase in popularity. The professionalized league also offered, and offers, incentives for amateur non-company clubs to become part of their ranks with no major backing from a company; major examples of community, non-company-affiliated clubs who rose through the prefectural and regional ranks into the major leagues are Albirex Niigata and Oita Trinita.

Japan participated in its first-ever World Cup tournament at the 1998 FIFA World Cup held in France. In 2002, Japan co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup with Republic of Korea. After this, the association football communities of both countries received the FIFA Fair Play Award. The Japanese national team has reached the round of 16 on four occasions – as hosts in 2002, where they were knocked out by Turkey 1–0, in 2010, where they lost to Paraguay in penalties, in 2018 where they fell 2–3 to Belgium, and in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Japan also qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Football in fiction

The first worldwide popular association football-oriented Japanese animation (manga) series, Captain Tsubasa, was started in 1981. Captain Tsubasa was extremely popular among children of both genders in Japan. Its success led to much more association football manga being written, and it played a great role in association football history in Japan. Playing football became more popular than playing baseball in many schools throughout Japan from the 1980s due to the series.^{[citation needed]}

Captain Tsubasa has also inspired the likes of prominent footballers such as Hidetoshi Nakata,^[16] Seigo Narazaki, Zinedine Zidane, Francesco Totti, Fernando Torres, Christian Vieri, Giuseppe Sculli, James Rodríguez, Alexis Sánchez^[17] and Alessandro Del Piero^[18] to play association football and choose it as a career. The inspiration for the character of Tsubasa Oozora came from a number of players, including most prominently Musashi Mizushima, arguably the first Japanese footballer to play abroad, and whose move to São Paulo FC as a ten-year-old boy was partly mimicked in the manga.^[19]

The anime Giant Killing revolves around a team's efforts to go from one of the worst professional teams in Japan to the best. Other works focusing on football include Hungry Heart: Wild Striker (from the same author of Captain Tsubasa), The Knight in the Area, Days, Inazuma Eleven and Blue Lock.

Women's football

As in European countries, Japanese women's football is organized on a promotion and relegation basis. The top flight of women's association football is the semi-professional L. League (currently billed as the Nadeshiko League). Most clubs are independent clubs, although the recent trend is to have women's sections of established J.League clubs.

The national team has enjoyed major success at the FIFA Women's World Cup, having achieved its greatest triumph ever by winning the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany^[20] and finishing as runner-up in 2015 in Canada.

Small-sided football

Championships and tournaments

Domestic tournaments

J.League (Japan Professional Football League) is the top national league in Japan with a J1, J2 and J3 League.
Japan Football League (JFL) is the national amateur league.
Emperor's Cup (since 1921) the national open cup.
J.League Cup is the cup restricted to J.League members (usually J1 alone).
All Japan Adults Football Tournament, cup for clubs in regional leagues below JFL.
Japanese Regional Football Champions League, round-robin elimination tournament for the promotion of regional-league clubs into JFL.

Other international tournaments held in Japan

1958 3rd Asian Games, Tokyo
1964 Tokyo Olympic Games
1979 FIFA World Youth Championship
1992 AFC Asian Cup, Hiroshima
1993 FIFA U-17 World Championship
1994 12th Asian Games, Hiroshima
1998 Dynasty Cup, Tokyo & Yokohama Dynasty Cup
2001 FIFA Confederations Cup (joint with South Korea)
2002 FIFA World Cup (joint with South Korea)
Intercontinental Cup / Toyota European/South American Cup (1981–2004)
2005–2008, 2011–2012, 2015–2016 FIFA Club World Cup
2020 Tokyo Olympic Games

Japanese footballers

Kunishige Kamamoto (1944– ), Top scorer in 1968 Summer Olympics.
Yasuhiko Okudera (1952– ), first Japanese player in the European League (Bundesliga).
Kazuyoshi Miura (1967– ), Asian Footballer of the Year in 1993 and also currently the oldest person still playing professional football, at the age of 57.
Masami Ihara (1967– ), Asian Footballer of the Year in 1995
Masashi Nakayama (1967– ), first Japanese player to score a goal in a FIFA World Cup
Hidetoshi Nakata (1977– ), Asian Footballer of the Year in 1997 and 1998
Shunsuke Nakamura (1978–), Scottish Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year in 2007
Homare Sawa (1978–), FIFA Women's World Player of the Year in 2011 and one of only two players of either sex to participate in six World Cup final tournaments
Shinji Ono (1979– ), Asian Footballer of the Year in 2002
Yasuhito Endō (1980– ), Most capped (152) player

Men's national team achievements

1968 Mexico Olympic Games – Bronze Medal
1992 2nd Dynasty Cup 1992 – Champions
1992 10th Asian Cup – Champions
1993 5th Afro-Asian Nations Cup – Champions
1995 3rd Dynasty Cup – Champions
1998 4th Dynasty Cup – Champions
1999 FIFA World Youth Championship – Silver Medal
2000 12th Asian Cup – Champions
2001 FIFA Confederations Cup – Silver Medal
2002 FIFA World Cup – Round of 16
2004 13th Asian Cup – Champions
2006 FIFA World Cup – Group Stage
2007 14th Asian Cup – Semi-final
2010 FIFA World Cup – Round of 16
2011 15th Asian Cup – Champions
2014 FIFA World Cup – Group Stage
2015 16th Asian Cup – Quarter Final
2018 FIFA World Cup – Round of 16
2019 17th Asian Cup – Runners-up
2022 FIFA World Cup – Round of 16
2023 AFC Asian Cup –　Quarter-finals

Women's national team achievements

1986 AFC Women's Championship – Runners-up
1989 AFC Women's Championship – Third place
1990 Asian Games – Silver Medal
1991 AFC Women's Championship – Runners-up
1993 AFC Women's Championship – Third place
1994 Asian Games – Silver Medal
1995 FIFA Women's World Cup – Quarter-finals
1995 AFC Women's Championship – Runners-up
1997 AFC Women's Championship – Third place
1998 Asian Games – Bronze Medal
2001 AFC Women's Championship – Runners-up
2002 Asian Games – Bronze Medal
2006 Asian Games – Silver Medal
2008 AFC Women's Asian Cup – Third place
2010 AFC Women's Asian Cup – Third place
2010 Asian Games – Gold Medal
2011 FIFA Women's World Cup – Champions
2012 London Olympic Games – Silver Medal
2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup – Champions
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup – Runners-up
2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup – Champions
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup – Round 16
2020 Tokyo Olympic Games – Quarter Final
2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup – Semi-final

Seasons in Japanese association football

1920s:		1921	1922	1923	1924	1925	1926	1927	1928	1929
1930s:	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939
1940s:	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949
1950s:	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
1960s:	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
1970s:	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
1980s:	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
1990s:	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
2000s:	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
2010s:	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
2020s:	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029

Football stadiums in Japan

Stadiums with a capacity of 50,000 or higher are included.

#	Stadium	Capacity	City	Region	Built	Home team(s)
1	Japan National Stadium	80,016	Tokyo	Kantō region	2019	Japan national football team (some matches) Japan national rugby union team
2	Nissan Stadium	72,327	Yokohama	Kanagawa	1998	Yokohama F. Marinos
3	Saitama Stadium 2002	63,700	Saitama	Kantō region	2001	Japan national football team (most matches) Urawa Red Diamonds
4	Shizuoka Stadium	50,889	Fukuroi	Shizuoka	2001	some Júbilo Iwata and Shimizu S-Pulse matches

Support

Polling

Most supported J1 League clubs (Statista, 2024)^[21]
Club	%
Urawa Red Diamonds	4.3%
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	2.9%
Nagoya Grampus	2.9%
Gamba Osaka	2.8%
Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo	2.6%
Yokohama F. Marinos	2.6%
Kashima Antlers	2.5%
Cerezo Osaka	2.4%
Avispa Fukuoka	2.3%
Vissel Kobe	2.3%
Kawasaki Frontale	2.1%
Júbilo Iwata	1.9%
Tokyo Verdy	1.5%
FC Tokyo	1.5%
Kyoto Sanga	1.0%
Kashiwa Reysol	0.9%
Albirex Niigata	0.9%
Sagan Tosu	0.8%
Machida Zelvia	0.8%
Shonan Bellmare	0.5%

Attendances

Average home attendance figures of the 2024 J1 League:

#	Football club	Average attendance^[22]
1	Urawa Red Diamonds	37,519
2	FC Tokyo	33,225
3	Nagoya Grampus	27,650
4	Gamba Osaka	26,096
5	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	25,609
6	Yokohama F. Marinos	24,843
7	Kashima Antlers	22,998
8	Albirex Niigata	22,430
9	Vissel Kobe	21,156
10	Kawasaki Frontale	21,076
11	Tokyo Verdy	20,976
12	Cerezo Osaka	17,903
13	Machida Zelvia	17,610
14	Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo	17,086
15	Júbilo Iwata	13,817
16	Kyoto Sanga	13,535
17	Kashiwa Reysol	12,070
18	Shonan Bellmare	11,315
19	Sagan Tosu	9,800
20	Avispa Fukuoka	9,698

References

^ "Japanese baseball finds itself at a crossroads | Reuters". Reuters. July 12, 2021. Archived from the original on July 12, 2021.
^ "J-League History Part 1: Professional football begins in Japan". Goal.com. September 9, 2013. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
^ Blickenstaff, Brian (February 26, 2013). "Tom Byer, the man who made Japanese soccer a player on the world football stage". Slate.com. Archived from the original on October 9, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
^ "The 8 Most Popular Sports in Japan". December 28, 2016. Archived from the original on April 15, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
^ "Japan Comment: The Standard Of Football Is Rising In Japan – Time For The Media To Follow". Goal.com. November 10, 2009. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
^ "Asian Debate: Is The Japanese Game Losing Its Innocence?". Goal.com. October 24, 2009. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
^ "Japan raising eyebrows :: Total Football Magazine – Premier League, Championship, League One, League Two, Non-League News". Totalfootballmag.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
^ "Asian Cup Japan is On The Up". The New York Times. February 2, 2011. Archived from the original on September 30, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
^ "The success of the J-League mirrors the success of Japan the country « World Soccer World Soccer". Worldsoccer.com. October 20, 2012. Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
^ "History of the Japan Football Association". jfa.or.jp. Archived from the original on April 21, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
^ Horne, John; Horne, Professor of Modern European History John; Manzenreiter, Wolfram (September 23, 2004). Football Goes East: Business, Culture and the People's Game in East Asia. Routledge. ISBN 9781134365586. Archived from the original on May 3, 2023. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
^ Manzenreiter, Wolfram; Horne, John (August 14, 2007). "Playing the Post-Fordist Game in/to the Far East: The Footballisation of China, Japan and South Korea". Soccer & Society. 8 (4): 561–577. doi:10.1080/14660970701440899.
^ Sport and Body Politics in Japan. Routledge. 2014. ISBN 9781135022358. Archived from the original on May 3, 2023. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
^ "Japan Wages Soccer Campaign". Christian Science Monitor. June 11, 1993. Archived from the original on August 7, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
^ "Tokyo Journal; Japan Falls for Soccer, Leaving Baseball in Lurch – New York Times". The New York Times. June 6, 1994. Archived from the original on August 7, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
^ "The Sunday Times". Timesonline.co.uk. November 10, 2013. Archived from the original on January 6, 2006. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
^ "Los cracks que confesaron su admiración por los Supercampeones | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Archived from the original on August 5, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
^ "Leading News Resource of Pakistan". Daily Times. May 10, 2002. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
^ Football Goes East: Business, Culture and the People's Game in East Asia: The People's Game in China, Japan and Korea. Routledge. 2004. ISBN 9780415318976. Archived from the original on May 3, 2023. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
^ "Small-sided soccer turns Japan into big-time women's program". Chicago Tribune. May 19, 2012. Archived from the original on October 28, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
^ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1080743/japan-most-popular-j1-teams/
^ https://www.worldfootball.net/attendance/jpn-j1-league-2024/1/

External links

Japan Football Association (JFA) – official website (in English and Japanese)
Competitions - JFA official website
FOOTBALL-1 International Football Business Exhibition (English version)

Awards
Preceded by Paolo Di Canio	FIFA Fair Play Award Winner 2002	Succeeded by Fans of Celtic F.C.

[1] "Japanese baseball finds itself at a crossroads | Reuters". Reuters. July 12, 2021. Archived from the original on July 12, 2021.

[2] "J-League History Part 1: Professional football begins in Japan". Goal.com. September 9, 2013. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2013.

[3] Blickenstaff, Brian (February 26, 2013). "Tom Byer, the man who made Japanese soccer a player on the world football stage". Slate.com. Archived from the original on October 9, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2013.

[4] "The 8 Most Popular Sports in Japan". December 28, 2016. Archived from the original on April 15, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2017.

[5] "Japan Comment: The Standard Of Football Is Rising In Japan – Time For The Media To Follow". Goal.com. November 10, 2009. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2013.

[6] "Asian Debate: Is The Japanese Game Losing Its Innocence?". Goal.com. October 24, 2009. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2013.

[7] "Japan raising eyebrows :: Total Football Magazine – Premier League, Championship, League One, League Two, Non-League News". Totalfootballmag.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2013.

[8] "Asian Cup Japan is On The Up". The New York Times. February 2, 2011. Archived from the original on September 30, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2013.

[9] "The success of the J-League mirrors the success of Japan the country « World Soccer World Soccer". Worldsoccer.com. October 20, 2012. Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-17.

[10] "History of the Japan Football Association". jfa.or.jp. Archived from the original on April 21, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2015.

[11] Horne, John; Horne, Professor of Modern European History John; Manzenreiter, Wolfram (September 23, 2004). Football Goes East: Business, Culture and the People's Game in East Asia. Routledge. ISBN 9781134365586. Archived from the original on May 3, 2023. Retrieved April 1, 2015.

[12] Manzenreiter, Wolfram; Horne, John (August 14, 2007). "Playing the Post-Fordist Game in/to the Far East: The Footballisation of China, Japan and South Korea". Soccer & Society. 8 (4): 561–577. doi:10.1080/14660970701440899.

[13] Sport and Body Politics in Japan. Routledge. 2014. ISBN 9781135022358. Archived from the original on May 3, 2023. Retrieved April 1, 2015.

[14] "Japan Wages Soccer Campaign". Christian Science Monitor. June 11, 1993. Archived from the original on August 7, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2013.

[15] "Tokyo Journal; Japan Falls for Soccer, Leaving Baseball in Lurch – New York Times". The New York Times. June 6, 1994. Archived from the original on August 7, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2013.

[16] "The Sunday Times". Timesonline.co.uk. November 10, 2013. Archived from the original on January 6, 2006. Retrieved November 17, 2013.

[17] "Los cracks que confesaron su admiración por los Supercampeones | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Archived from the original on August 5, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.

[18] "Leading News Resource of Pakistan". Daily Times. May 10, 2002. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved 2013-11-17.

[19] Football Goes East: Business, Culture and the People's Game in East Asia: The People's Game in China, Japan and Korea. Routledge. 2004. ISBN 9780415318976. Archived from the original on May 3, 2023. Retrieved April 2, 2015.

[20] "Small-sided soccer turns Japan into big-time women's program". Chicago Tribune. May 19, 2012. Archived from the original on October 28, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2013.

[21] ttps://www.statista.com/statistics/1080743/japan-most-popular-j1-teams/

[22] ttps://www.worldfootball.net/attendance/jpn-j1-league-2024/1/

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Football in Japan