Like many people in this country, I have only really followed the fortunes of Nadeshiko Japan (the women’s national football team) team since they triumphed over the USA on penalties in the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final. Winning the biggest prize of all came at an important time for a country which had a few months earlier suffered greatly due to the earthquake and tsunami that ripped through parts of Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures. It gave the country a much needed lift and really helped put women’s football on the radar for much of the nation.

Since then, Nadeshiko Japan have had their ups and downs. They’ve twice won the Asian Cup but they failed to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, and had even slipped out of the top ten rankings ahead of the recent Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. I still believed they were capable of at least getting to the last four and things did look quite promising after a 100% record (without any goals being conceded) in the group stage.

However, the USA’s conquerors Sweden beat Nadeshiko Japan 2-1 in the quarter finals but then lost by the same scoreline against Spain in the semi final. That was the same Spain who were thrashed 4-0 by Japan in the group stage but went on to actually win the whole thing after beating my native England Lionesses in the final.

The majority of the World Cup matches were sadly scheduled during my working hours so I didn’t get to see as many live matches as I wanted but I did keep up with it all via highlights on the FIFA+ website as well as a variety of podcasts. The fact that there was no proper TV deal in Japan (NHK only showed the Japan games and the final) and very little coverage on the news meant this World Cup totally bypassed much of the nation.

Had Japan managed to defeat Sweden then maybe it would’ve been a different story but,  other than the hardcore fans. it takes a lot of success for the masses to really get interested in such things here. There is the worry that Japan is falling behind the European teams where there has been more investment in the game in recent times.

On the back of their World Cup success in 2011 it still took a decade to get the professional WE League up and running. Its inception though has coincided with a surge in popularity of leagues in the likes of Spain, France and England, and it does seem like the game in Japan is starting to lag behind more countries than before.

A large part of the appeal for people attending women’s football in those countries has been the more family-friendly atmosphere but in Japan you’ve already got that to an extent with the men’s game so it’s hard to know how the female game can differentiate itself.

The WE League has followed the European-style calendar for its two seasons thus far so that is something different but of course there is a bit of overlap. After its introduction, the Nadeshiko League became the second tier of women’s football and back in June and July I attended a trio of matches in this league at three different stadiums on consecutive Sundays. The most adventurous trip was the middle one and to be fair it didn’t really reward my efforts in getting all the way over to the other side of Shizuoka Prefecture on a three hour one way local train journey.

Still, there’s more to match days than just the game and it was good to see a football match at this stadium for the first time. There were some wall murals and kids paintings from the 2002 FIFA World Cup when the stadium hosted a few games including the quarter final between Brazil and England where Ronaldinho lobbed Seaman from 40 yards for the winner.

In more recent times the stadium held four Rugby World Cup matches in 2019 including South Africa against Italy but the most famous match was Japan’s shock defeat of Ireland, and indeed there is even a statue to commemorate Kenki Fukuoka’s decisive try in that win.

I was never really looking at returning to this stadium but when searching online for matches in Shizuoka Prefecture I came across this one and so a plan was made to see and do a few other things in and around that area but it didn’t quite go to plan!

Sadly the hot conditions meant the football was not the best, and I’m really not sure why it was played in that massive stadium.

Sanwiched in between that game in Shizuoka were a couple of Sfida Setagaya matches with the most anticipated one for me being at the old Olympic Stadium in Komazawa Park. Again, the on-the-field action sadly didn’t live up to the pre-match festivities but that didn’ matter too much as the off-the-field activities more than made up for that.

The highlight of the day was meeting my favourite Setagaya player ahead of kick off on yet another super-hot afternoon. More details here

In terms of the actual football, the game in Chofu a fortnight before that was the most interesting one. 12 months earlier I had seen the same sides with Setagaya romping it 6-0. It was a much tighter affair this time and indeed the home side were quite lucky to hold on to their lead in a match full of chances.

My first women’s match of this year though was a step up from the three mentioned thus far as it was a top of the table clash featuring the innaugural WE League champions INAC Kobe in Tokyo at the closest stadium to the Tokyo Fox Global Operations Centre.

The atmosphere, occasion and the football itself was better than what I’d witnesssed on previous visits to Nishigaoka. A draw was probably a fair result and ultimately not good enough for either side as they failed to catch up with Urawa Reds Ladies who went on to win Japan’s premier women’s league by eight points.

Bonus: In much of the western world, the idea of seeing a game on Christmas Day is pretty absurd but that is exactly what my wife and I did at the end of last year when we saw eventual champions Urawa Reds. This match was part of the 2022-23 season! More details here

Click here to read ‘Time To Jump On The Women’s Football Bandwagon For A New Experience!’

Click here to read ‘What Better Way To Spend Christmas Day Than Going To See A Football Match!’

Click here to read ‘TF Top 10……Football Match Day Experiences In 2022’