Home | About Tokyo Fox (東京狐) | Archives
May 5, 2015 9:49 am
It wasn’t just live baseball that I saw in Hiroshima-ken this Golden Week as I also took the opportunity to see the 2012 J-League champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima play against Vegalta Sendai at the 50,000 seater Edion Stadium last Saturday.
The weather was glorious as we joined the purple brigade on the journey to Koiki-koen-mae station at the end of the very expensive Astram Line (440 yen one way!). Saturday was also my wife’s birthday so what could be more romantic than taking her to see her first ever live football match!!
As for me, it was my first J-League game for 7.5 years (though in that time I have seen a friendly match involving Arsenal against Urawa Reds). Back in November 2007 I wrote on here about losing my appetite for J-League football but in the last year or so that has been rekindled due to my interaction on Twitter with some very passionate fans of the game in Japan. Furthermore, I have also contributed a few articles to the quarterly J-Soccer Magazine publication albeit stuff relating to the Samurai Blue national team rather than the J-League itself.
As for the action on the field, Sanfrecce were in control of the game really without ever having to step up a gear or two and Sendai look like a team who will be fighting for survival this year. Midfielder Gakuto Notsuda bent the first one in to the top corner from 20 yards on 38 minutes and then substitute Takuma Asano made it 2-0 towards the end with a great finish on a counter attack as Sendai pressed on in search of an equaliser. No sooner had that match been settled and my attention turned to more pressing matters; Leicester versus Newcastle in the Premier League relegation battle.
Anyone who read my previous post is probably disgusted with me for switching allegiance regarding my baseball team of choice but that is definitely not going to happen for the J-League. I was very glad to have the chance to see a Sanfrecce Hiroshima match at their home stadium but I am way more attached to Kashiwa Reysol than I was for the local baseball side.
In fact the Sanfrecce fans were singing Kashiwa throughout this game which was quite reassuring for me although it was actually for their player of the same name rather than my J-League team who I am now keen to see in action once again as soon as I get the chance.
Posted by tokyofox
Categories: Japan Travel, Sport
Tags: Astram Line, buy JSoccer magazine online, Edion Stadium, j-league game, Koiki-koen-mae station, Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Vegalta Sendai
Mobile Site | Full Site
Get a free blog at WordPress.com Theme: WordPress Mobile Edition by Alex King.
[…] ← Hiroshima-ken 2015 Pt II: My First J-League Game For A While […]
By Hiroshima-ken 2015 Pt III: Okunoshima (a.k.a. Rabbit Island) | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on May 11, 2015 at 10:39 am
[…] You can read about my recent experience at a Sanfrecce Hiroshima game here […]
By Football Match Held Up By An Earthquake! | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on June 5, 2015 at 3:32 pm
[…] Seven years to see Kashiwa Reysol in live action and then I end up seeing them play on consecutive weekends! The previous weekends game at FC Tokyo was a kind of bonus as when I looked at the fixture list a while back the main match in my mind was the one yesterday at home to Sanfrecce Hiroshima; the team that I went to watch whilst I was over that way during Golden Week. […]
By Back To The Hitachi Stadium After An Absence Of 11 Years! | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on June 9, 2015 at 3:12 pm
[…] was the fifth different stadium I’ve visited since May following trips to Edion Stadium, Ajinomoto Stadium, Hitachi Stadium and Sapporo Dome. I met up with Reds fanatic Yuji at Urawa […]
By Friday Night Football | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on September 13, 2015 at 8:21 am
[…] couple of years and the 2015 season has seen me take in a handful of live games in the likes of Hiroshima, Sapporo, Yokohama, Omiya, Urawa, Kashiwa and Tokyo and last week I had another J-soccer […]
By Tokyo Daytripper: Ohara Training Ground In Saitama | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on November 8, 2015 at 12:13 pm
[…] was a lot of wall props relating to local J-League team Vegalta Sendai; a team I saw in action last May when they were visitors the Edion Stadium in Hiroshima. The mascot is a golden eagle inspired by Greek mythology. He’s called Vegatta and is […]
By 24 hours In Sendai | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on April 1, 2016 at 8:39 am
[…] Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Tokyo Kashiwa Reysol Consadole Sapporo Urawa Reds Yokohama F. Marinos Omiya Ardija […]
By Back To J-League Action In Kawasaki | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on April 18, 2016 at 10:30 am
[…] Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Tokyo Kashiwa Reysol Consadole Sapporo Urawa Reds Yokohama F. Marinos Omiya Ardija Kawasaki Fronatle […]
By Away Day Travel To Ibaraki Prefecture | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on April 29, 2016 at 12:37 am
[…] travel and other commitments is never easy but somehow I’ve managed to get lucky in Hiroshima (last year in Golden Week), Sapporo (last June) and Kobe this Golden Week can now be added to that […]
By Golden Week J-League Football In Kobe | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on May 19, 2016 at 11:46 am
[…] Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Tokyo Kashiwa Reysol Consadole Sapporo Urawa Reds Yokohama F. Marinos Omiya Ardija Kawasaki Fronatle Kashima Antlers Vissel Kobe […]
By Attending Two J-League Matches In One Day Pt I | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on June 13, 2016 at 10:23 am
[…] Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Tokyo Kashiwa Reysol Consadole Sapporo Urawa Reds Yokohama F. Marinos Omiya Ardija Kawasaki Fronatle Kashima Antlers Vissel Kobe […]
By Attending Two J-League Matches In One Day Pt II | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on June 16, 2016 at 9:53 am
[…] Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Tokyo Kashiwa Reysol Consadole Sapporo Urawa Reds Yokohama F. Marinos Omiya Ardija Kawasaki Fronatle Kashima Antlers Vissel Kobe Shonan Bellmare […]
By July J-League Jaunts Taking-In Two Chiba Teams | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on July 26, 2016 at 9:22 am
[…] and much bigger mountains in the distance of that. I cycled on to see the dinosaur kitted out in Sanfrecce Hiroshima strip which I had noticed the previous day as we drove by it coming back from the aforementioned […]
By Hiroshima 2016 Pt II: Hijiyama Park & Lazy Days Aplenty! | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on September 16, 2016 at 9:19 pm
[…] Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Tokyo Kashiwa Reysol Consadole Sapporo Urawa Reds Yokohama F. Marinos Omiya Ardija Kawasaki Fronatle Kashima Antlers Vissel Kobe Shonan Bellmare JEF United […]
By Fourth Tier Football Frolics | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on October 4, 2016 at 9:35 pm
[…] of Tokyo Fox for the last few issues which has taken in stadia from all over the country (Okinawa, Hiroshima, Kobe, Kashiwa, Kashima, Sapporo etc). There have been three parts to the series so far and […]
By Around The Grounds | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on April 20, 2017 at 10:00 am
[…] Golden Week holidays in Japan have resulted in trips to watch J1 games at Hiroshima Sanfrecce, Kobe Vissel and Shimizu S-Pulse in recent years so I was delighted to be able to add another top […]
By A Visit To Japan’s Newest Top Flight Stadium | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on May 6, 2018 at 11:35 pm
[…] 6. Edion Stadium – The football team Hiroshima Sanfrecce live very much in the shadows of the baseball team despite being the more successful of the two until recent years. The stadium is a bit of a pain to get to, and is also at the end of a very expensive line but it’s worth the effort as it seems like the good times are returning to a club who have been champions three times in the last six seasons. More details here […]
By TF Top 10……Things To Do In Hiroshima City Once You’ve Done The Big Two! | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on December 16, 2018 at 5:35 pm
[…] at least one football match in the Golden Week holiday in Japan. Previous grounds have included Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Vi$$el Kobe,Shimizu S-Pulse, Fujieda MYFC and Gamba Osaka. Just because of my occasional Twitter […]
By A Football Stadium Amidst Stunning Surroundings? I Give You FC Gifu! | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on May 16, 2019 at 10:36 pm
[…] ground. I discounted the likes of Cerezo Osaka, FC Tokyo, Kawasaki Frontale, Shonan Bellmare and Sanfrecce Hiroshima from the top 10 as they all have running tracks around them. Yokohama FC’s ground is a […]
By TF Top 10…… J1 League Stadiums You Should Visit This Season | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on February 17, 2020 at 11:39 pm
[…] here to read ‘Hiroshima-ken 2015 Pt II: My First J-League Game For […]
By Witnessing An Historic Upset In The 102nd Emperor’s Cup Final | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on October 18, 2022 at 8:09 am
[…] really resumed going to any games starting off in Hiroshima when I took my wife on her birthday to see Sanfrecce in action. What could be more romantic! I made my long awaited return to the Hitachi Stadium after that and […]
By TF Flashback: My J-League Beginnings (2004) | Tokyo Fox (東京狐) on October 11, 2023 at 9:59 am