Two sports matches in one day is something I’ve done a few times in Japan over the years but it has always involved football. There was one time when I did a combo of rugby and football but all other occasions were a double header of the latter. This time though was a mix of two sports that I don’t see too often.

First up on a boiling hot afternoon last Friday (July 4th) was a trip down to a very familiar area of Shinjuku for me. It was my 14th visit (9 football & 4 rugby) to Japan National Stadium which is a reasonably good total I guess given that it’s only been open for just over five years. It did feel strange for me to not cycle there on this occasion but I had to go by train due to the location of the sport that would follow this initial event.

This was the 109th Japan Athletics Championships and no I could not tell you a thing about any of the previous 108 meetings! In fact, I can’t reveal too much about this one either as I wasn’t aware of any of the athletes taking part!

The pole vault was already underway when I arrived mid-afternoon so it was fun to watch the female athletes attempting to clear the bar at various levels. It’s really not easy!

When watching this activity, one always has to wonder what led to the athletes in question becoming pole vaulters!

My reason for attending this was basically just as something of a warm up for the World Athletics Championships at the same stadium in September. After the ill-fated Tokyo 2020 Olympics it’ll be a second chance for the public to actually see some top-level athletes compete in the Japanese capital.

The track and field action taking place at this event was far from that level but that didn’t bother me, and it was still interesting to see the likes of the 110 metres hurdles, 100 metres and 400 metres relatively close to the action.

Watching all of that (as well as the discus throw) was sufficient enough for me, and so shortly after 5:00 pm I left and moved on to the next venue which was about an hour away by train and a 20 minute walk from Toyosu station. Ariake Arena lies about 10 kilometres south-east of the National Stadium and is where my wife and I saw Kylie live in concert back in March of this year.

On that occasion it was raining and dark so I didn’t get to appreciate the exterior of the arena which was built for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics where it hosted the volleyball competition. The sport in question on this particular night though was basketball with the women’s national teams of Japan and Denmark facing off in a Mitsui Fudosan Cup exhibition series in preparation for the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup in China this month.

That’s not a Denmark basketball jersey!

With Denmark in action it gave me a chance to wear the classic Hummel away shirt from Mexico ’86 which was my first World Cup, and so made a big impression on me. Nearly 40 years later and for a completely different sport I decided against wearing it inside as I would be supporting Japan anyway. Go Akatsuki Japan!

It was no surprise to see a merchandise store right next to the arena selling all manner of t-shirts, towels, stationery and other such goods displaying the words Akatsuki Japan which is presumably the nickname of the women’s basketball team. It literally means dawn or daybreak.

I really wasn’t expecting to see any familiar faces but on my way in I saw a guy called Alex who I know from the Japan English-speaking football community on social media, and met last summer at the Newcastle United football friendly in Urawa.

Myself and Alex are re-united!

Finding a seat was as difficult as ever (the price you pay for arriving at such events quite late!) and I had to go on the very back row in the corner which actually wasn’t too bad as I had no-one next to me and a lot of space to stretch my legs and so on. The view was good enough for me, and I could even stand up without ruining the view for anyone else!

With Akatsuki Japan being a top ten team you’d be forgiven for thinking that this second match in the friendly series against a team ranked 55 in the world would be a foregone conclusion. However, the previous night’s match was a rare drawn match with both teams scoring 65 points a piece so I wasn’t taking a home win for granted.

Fear not as I won’t be going through any play-by-play details as it really is a sport which is end to end with points being scored very often. On this evening, the home team were basically more clinical with their shooting, particularly the 3-point shots from outside the arc.

Thanks to the clappers given out, it was a great atmosphere throughout the four periods of play with some rythmic chanting of “Nippon”.

Final Score: Japan 89-55 Denmark

So would I recommend trying to watch two sports in one day? It really depends on the time and distance between the two as well as your interest. In this case, the basketball match was hanging over my head all afternoon so leaving early was always going to be the only option. I knew that beforehand though and was happy to just sample some of the track and field action for a reasonably cheap price (¥1500/$10/£7.50). For the record, the basketball was double that price.

Missing the start or leaving before the end of live sport was something the younger me would consider madness but these days with less emotional attachment to the teams involved I really can live with it. Leaving whilst the action is ongoing is not easy but if you can deal with that then a double dose of action is a good way of maximising your sporting day.

Click here to read ‘How Many Different Sports Did I Manage To Go & Watch Live In 2024?’

Click here to read ‘I Had A Golden Time At This Athletics Event In Yokohama’

Click here to read ‘Live Basketball Play Off Final In Tokyo’

Click here to read ‘5 Different Sports On 5 Separate Visits To A Multi-Purpose Venue In Tokyo’s Sporting Mecca’