Ask any fans of Japanese football what the Tokyo Derby is and the majority of people would probably say it’s FC Tokyo versus Tokyo Verdy although supporters of current J1 table toppers Machida Zelvia may suggest otherwise! Hipsters may suggest that it’s Tokyo Musashino against Criacao Shinjuku in the fourth tier of the football pyrmaid which is  known as the Japan Football League (JFL). However, there is actually another Tokyo Derby one league down from there and I recently witnessed it live and in person.

It may have been the Tokyo Derby but it was actually played in one of the neighbouring prefectures. Kaihimmakuhari in Chiba Prefecture is about 40 minutes east of Tokyo station on the Keiyo Line, and is a popular destination for people who go to conventions at Makuhari Messe or baseball at ZOZO Marine Stadium. A 10 minute walk east of the station takes you to a football ground.

A few months ago I was looking through this seasons fixtures in the Kanto Soccer League; the regional division which is the fifth tier of Japanese football. It was all written in Japanese with just a few words in English spelling out the name of an interestingly-named ground.

ZOZO Park Honda Football Area was going to be used for a couple of matches featuring a team called Aries Tokyo FC who I did see in action elsewhere on one boiling hot August morning last year. The first of those two games was against Tokyo United who I also saw a couple of times in the second half of last year. Details of those games can be seen in this football match day experiences compilation post.

Originally I just assumed the Honda in the name was due to sponsorship from the automobile company but it’s actually to do with the well-travelled former Japanese international star Keisuke Honda who played for CSKA Moscow, AC Milan and Melbourne Victory among others.

This was actually the inaugural derby for these sides as Aries Tokyo FC were only founded in 2022 (by contrast Tokyo United’s history dates all the way back to 2015!) and were promoted from Division 2 of the Kantō Soccer League last year. They may be a football club but they consider themselves to be a family rather than a club which instantly reminds me of Vin Diesel saying the word throughout the Fast & the Furious saga!

The match was to kick off at 7:00 pm on a Sunday evening which seemed quite late for lower league football, and I really had to push myself to go out rather than winding down with a relaxing night at home ahead of the working week. Door-to-door, it took me nearly two hours to get there and the weather conditions were quite cool with drizzly rain. The chance to see a match at a ground I’d never been to was one that excited me though.

When it comes to lower-league grounds, some kind of stand and/or signage is important for me (just a field is not really of interest!) and this place certainly possessed the latter.

There are a couple of nice-looking buildings pitchside. One was the changing room for Aries Tokyo and the other was a clubhouse with some autographs, signed items and a few  shirts including a Nadeshiko Japan shirt worn by current captain Saki Kumagai in the 2015 Women’s World Cup.

A few pairs of Honda’s matchworn boots were also present in glass display boxes. That is about it so I wouldn’t exactly call it a museum!

By the time the match kicked off at 7:00 pm, the earlier drizzly rain had become a little heavier but my spirits were raised after meeting a fellow Englishman who I chatted to throughout the match which was really nice. A less positive thing was that we had to watch the action unfold through netting that surrounds the artificial pitch.

Aries were certainly the team on top in a fairly entertaining first half, and before their first goal on 24 minutes I actually went round and counted by hand the number of people in attendance so it can’t be 100% accurate but it was basically around the 100 mark. Aries doubled their lead on 28 minutes and I thought a thrashing may be on the cards but United hit back with a great strike just five minutes later.

The second 45 minutes was even better and United seemed inspired by their goal before the break. They put their Tokyo counterparts under considerable pressure for the vast majority of the half and deservedly equalised on 68 minutes. They then looked the more  likely to take the lead after that and indeed hit the bar at one point.

Derbies are often won and lost on big moments and after soaking up all the pressure, Aries then stunned United with a decisive goal in the 84th minute when it seemed like they’d be lucky to hold on for a draw.

There are quite a few Tokyo Derbies these days but this lower league one is a welcome addition between two ambitious teams giving football fans the chance to get up really close and personal with the players. I just hope there’s no netting between the two when the teams play the return league match in September!!

Final Score: Aries Tokyo FC 3-2 Tokyo United

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