In 2023 I went to 20 football matches in Japan and I’ve already matched that with less than two thirds of 2024 gone. I guess 30 is now the aim for this year so there will be a part 3 in a few months time. This second compilation features a total of eight different grounds in six prefectures including five I’d never been to before.

A few of these have had their own blog posts but the majority of them weren’t really considered to be worthy of a solitary post so I have collated them into this rankings list. As ever, it’s certainly not one to be taken too seriously as it’s based on a mixture of occasion, weather, people I met, the stadium and maybe even the football itself! For the record, I have enjoyed all of them in different ways.

10. Tokyo United FC 0-1 Nankatsu SC @ Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka, Kita-ku (Tokyo), 21st July – Very few efforts on goal and a pretty poor game won by a late goal which was reward for Nankatsu’s amazing support. I met a fellow Leicester fan at this game too which was really nice.

9. Aries Tokyo 1-1 Toin University of Yokohama FC @ Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka, Kita-ku (Tokyo), 23rd June – The opening goal came after just 21 seconds! The fastest I’ve ever “experienced” at a live match. I took a photo of the match kicking off, looked at the picture, deleted it, closed the app, put the phone in my pocket and the ball was in the back of the net!! I missed it on what was a fairly miserable afternoon of wet, drizzly weather.  

8. Shibuya City FC 0-0 FC Casa Fortuna Omiya (Shibuya City FC won 5-4 on penalties) @ Kiyose Uchiyama Athletic Park Soccer Field A, Niiza (Saitama-ken), June 2nd – Within seconds of arriving at this ground it started to rain, and it continued to get heavier and heavier throughout a fairly drab first half. It didn’t get too much better after the break but thankfully the penalty shoot-out did provide some drama.

7. FC Suntory EGS 2-1 FC Korea @ Akabane Sports-no-mori Park, Koto-ku (Tokyo), 15th June – Ever since I first heard about FC Korea, I’ve wanted to see them play but finding out about their schedule is not so easy as they don’t seem to update their social media anywhere near as much as other clubs do.

6. J-League Select U15’s 3-1 Tottenham Hostpur U15’s @ Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka, Kita-ku (Tokyo), 26th July – Before arriving at the stadium (late!), I just thought there would be under a hundred people present so I was quite shocked to see nearly 2000 people gathered on three sides of the ground. Pretty impressive for an academy match!

5. Toin University of Yokohama FC 1-5 Tokyo 23 FC @ Daiichi Cutter Field, Akitsu (Chiba Prefecture), 16th June – Baking hot conditions on an open terrace with six goals and a penalty miss. There may have only been about ten Tokyo 23 FC ultras in attendance but they sure did make it a great atmosphere with their tuneful and rhythmic chanting throughout the course of the match.

4. Oita Trinita 0-0 Ventforet Kofu @ Resonac Dome Oita, Yokoo (Oita Prefecture), 29th June – A truly awful game with very few chances at all but just because it was in a stadium I’ve long wanted to visit it gets a higher place in these rankings than is probably justifed!

3. Vissel Kobe 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur @ Japan National Stadium, Shinjuku-ku (Tokyo), 27th July – Some great football at times in a fairly entertaining game featuring a couple of great finishes from either side. Korean superstar Son Hyeung-Min also got on the scoresheet and received a rapturous ovation from all in the stadium when he came off after an hour. More details here.

2. Kyoto Sanga 2-2 Kashiwa Reysol @ Sanga Stadium by Kyocera, Kameoka (Kyoto Prefecture), 26th June – A late injury time equaliser for Reysol was reward for the players effort. Mine too as this trip to one of the top flight’s newest football-only stadiums was the culmination of a very long and busy day in Kansai. More details here.

1. Sagan Tosu 1-4 Kashiwa Reysol @ Ekimae Real Estate Stadium, Tosu (Saga Prefecture), 30th June – Very wet conditions on an open terrace for us away fans with things not looking so good on the pitch for the first hour wasn’t the most positive start but it rained goals after that as Reysol were rampant. The old four stand-style stadium was wonderful as was the location right next to the station and just a few minutes from my hotel. More details here.

Click here to read ‘TF Top 10……Football Match Day Experiences So Far In 2024 (Part 1)’

Click here to read ‘TF Top 10……Football Match Day Experiences In 2023 (Part 2)’

Click here to read ‘TF Top 10……Football Match Day Experiences So Far In 2023 (Part 1)’

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