With the support of SingaCup & J.League, Junpiter Futbol paid visits to some of the most supported football clubs in Japan within a span of 5days! Main agenda of this trip was not only to promote SingaCup, but also to learn more about football management from the Japanese. So to ensure all effort and time were not wasted in enjoying the cooling weather, We made our way to Japan Football Musuem located at Ochanomizu, immediately 2 hours after touching down at Narita Airport.
Japan Football Museum
This was not the first time we had been to the amazing venue which housed the history of Japanese football. However, the venue never fail to impress us every time we step into it. The moment we entered the Musuem, Japan National Team’s head coach, Alberto Zaccheroni’s wax figurine welcomed us at the main entrance! In fact, apart from that, there were many new updates and decorated areas which were not ready when we visited the venue last February. Definitely, this is a must-go for all Japanese football fans!
Our next stop was the famous Adidas Futsal Park on top of a building in Shibuya! Futsal courts might be getting popular and common especially in Singapore now but they have this equipment rental service which certainly stand out from the rest of the futsal venues. Different sizes of futsal shoes are available for rental. Not only that, futsal apparels, shin pads, winter football wear and even ball pump needles are available for renting at a reasonable price! Well, we only see the advantage of such services especially if the local futsal operators do that in Singapore. Imagine there is a last minute invitation to join your friends for a futsal game after work and you do not have your football gears with you? Well, no more hesitation as you just need to be there and everything would be well taken care of! (Photo taking are not allowed at Adidas Futsal Park)
Before we return to our hotel after the first long day, we rushed over to Harajuku for one last “retail-mission”. And that’s every football fans’ heaven, the Kamo Soccer Shop in Harajuku! Packed with everything you need to find to gear up for a new football season, that’s one great place for you. Although the prices for some of the items were typically more expensive than some of the other football shops in Tokyo, Kamo certainly has more varieties in terms of selections. Obviously, we had done some damages to our pockets to end our first night in Japan.
World first Puma Football Shop
Second day of our trip saw us making our way to Puma’s first Football Shop in the World located on the 2nd floor of Kamo Soccer Shop Shibuya! Apart from the main cashier counter which was totally decorated with striking red Puma footballs as a backdrop, the colorful customized football boots displayed wall got to be the next attraction! You can customize your own Puma football boots with the numerous colors available and be the most outstanding player on the pitch.
Lastly, prior to us leaving the retail area, the shopkeeper, Mr. Naoya Akutsu highly recommended us to check out their unique changing room. To our astonishment, the walls of the Puma changing room was covered beautifully with actual changing room lockers’ wallpapers with many Japan National Team players’ autographs on it! The reflection of the small changing room from the full body length mirror had also enhance the capacity of the room which made it look larger than it was supposed to! Truly a creative work by Puma Japan!
FC Tokyo vs Kawasaki Frontale
Initially, we were supposed to catch Urawa Reds taking on Shimizu S-Pulse at Saitama Stadium. But unfortunately, Urawa would have to play in an empty Stadium as they had been penalized for a Racism-related action. Nothing was going to damp our excitement for that day as we proceeded to Soccer Shop Kamo Shibuya’s football cafe, Estadio to catch the live telecast of Urawa’s match. For those who are keen to experience the football cafe, this Estadio is located just beside Soccer Shop Kamo Shibuya. You would not want to miss it!
Although this was not our first J.League match which we have watched, the feeling of knowing that I am going to walk the Stadium on a match day was something which kept my adrenaline pumping fast throughout the whole day!
From Shibuya, we took a train to Tobitakyu where we joined up with the supporters to catch FC Tokyo hosting Kawasaki Frontale at Ajinomoto Stadium. From the train station, it was about a good 15 minutes walk to the Stadium. As both the teams are separated by a river named Tama, this particular match has also been labeled as “Tama River El Clasico”!
Although the game only kicked off at 7pm, supporters from both clubs were already packing the Stadium from 3pm onwards. The supporters, many came together with the whole family, would be having quick meals at the mobile stores outside the Stadium, busy gearing up scarfs and jerseys for the match at the nearby merchandize shop and some would even be extremely early to ensure they get good seating!
Just when the players started coming out from the tunnel for warming up, we were escorted to the FC Tokyo Official Team by the J.League Office team. FC Tokyo’s General Manager, Mr. Ogane Naoki greeted us and led us for an exclusive Stadium tour to the pitch side while both teams’ players were warming up! Stadium tour could never be better with the respective players warming up in the background for sure!
The home team felt the cold that night as they crumpled to a heavy 4-0 defeat in front of their home crowd. Kawasaki Frontale, which was led by Japan International, Nakamura Kengo and former International, Okubo Yoshito, looked more of a dangerous side as they dominated the attacking third half throughout the entire match.
Day 2 of our visit to Japan ended on a high note as we witnessed 4 goals in a single J.League match. How about day 3 onwards? Stay tune for more articles coming soon!
More photos from the match, FC Tokyo vs Kawasaki Frontale at Ajinomoto Stadium, please Click Here.
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