The ever changing poses of Tokyo Fox!

In 2024 I went to 32 football matches in Japan which was the most I’ve ever done including my years as a season ticket holder at Leicester City back in the 1990s. It was planned to scale things back a bit this year, and indeed I did in the first half of the year, but a busy July and August has meant that I may get close to last year’s tally.

This is the second batch of matches featuring five different stadiums/grounds (only a single new one this time round I’m afraid!) with all of them taking place in Tokyo and Saitama. The vast majority of them weren’t really considered to be worthy of a solitary post so I have collated them into this rankings list. 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. Aries Toshima 0-2 Tokyo United @ Tokyo Gas Fukagawa Ground, Koto-ku (Tokyo), Sunday 13th July (15:00 KO)

A new ground for me albeit one with nets restricting vision of this Tokyo Derby in the fifth tier of Japanese football. If it’s good enough to feature on the Futbology ground hopping app then it’s sufficient to be included here! Thankfully it was free and gave me a good two hour (return) workout on my bicyle ride from the Tokyo Fox Global Operations Centre.

Weather: Boiling hot, Price: 0 yen, Attendance: Unknown.

9. Tokyo Musashino United 1-0 Atletico Suzuka @ Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka, Kita-ku (Tokyo), Sunday 20th July (18:00 KO)

The pulling power of King Kazu (the world’s oldest professional footballer) is still quite a big thing in Japan even though he’s often just a substitute. I went to the same match three years ago (albeit at a different stadium) and he never played then! Likewise here. I wasn’t there to see him though but watching him warm up was probably more interesting than the game itself which was decided very late on.

Weather: Warm, Price: 1000 yen, Attendance: Unknown.

8. Urawa Reds Ladies 0-0 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina @ Urawa Komaba Stadium, Urawa (Saitama Prefecture), Sunday 10th August (18:00 KO)

A rather unspectacular opening weekend match in the WE League. The visitors nearly scored in the first minute but not too much happened after that, and the game predictably ended in a stalemate.

Weather: Drizzle, Price: 2,500 yen, Attendance: 2,646.

7. Tokyo United FC 1-0 Nihon University N. @ Koishikawa Sports Ground, Bunkyo-ku (Tokyo), Sunday 24th August (17:30 KO)

Whilst I’m able to remember fairly bad matches (see the previous entries in this list!) I can’t always recall too much from certain games when it comes to compiling these lists. I regret not making some post-match notes of this one but my guess is that it was just a fairly average game. Nothing amazing but nothing terrible either! The atmosphere sadly  wasn’t as good as my previous attendance at this ground for the same team.

Weather: Hot, Price: 0 yen, Attendance: Unknown.

6. Tokyo United 1-0 RKU Dragons @ Akabane Sports-no-mori Park, Kita-ku (Tokyo), Saturday 5th July (18:00 KO)

To be honest, I missed about the first 20 minutes of this one due to work. A closely fought contest was decided by a single goal where the goalie spilled a low cross right onto the foot of the attacker who could hardly believe his luck. Other than that messy goal, there were a few good curling efforts which just narrowly missed the target. The mixed weather was probably more memorable though with hot and humid conditions in the first half making way for rainy ones in the second period.

Weather: Mixed, Price: 0 yen, Attendance: Unknown.

5. J-League Select Under 15s 1-0 Liverpool FC Under 15s @ Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka, Kita-ku (Tokyo), Tuesday 29th July (19:00 KO)

Last year’s Academy matches were goal-fests so I was looking forward to the first of two games involving Liverpool Under 15s played before the day before their all-star first team had a friendly against Yokohama F. Marinos. The respective keepers were the stars of this cagey game.

Weather: Warm, Price: 0 yen, Attendance: 3,142.

4. Aries Toshima 0-2 Nankatsu SC @ Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka, Kita-ku (Tokyo), Sunday 6th July (18:30 KO)

My first time to go behind the away goal at Nishigaoka as I joined a few dozen Nankatsu ultras to cheer their guys on to victory. They dominated the first half with some nice passing moves which created a fair few chances but none were converted before a great  finish from an acute angle broke the deadlock in the second half.

Weather: Warm, Price: 1000 yen, Attendance: Unknown.

3. J-League Select Under 15s 2-0 Liverpool FC Under 15s @ Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka, Kita-ku (Tokyo), Thursday 31st July (19:00 KO)

A slightly better game for the second match in three days between these academy sides. Again, it was a rather tight and closely fought contest. The goalies were the star men with some fine saves but sadly for the Liverpool number one it’ll be remembered for his error which gifted the Japanese team the lead on the hour mark. To be fair to him, it was more down to an awful backpass putting him under pressure.

Weather: Breezy, Price: 0 yen, Attendance: 3,193.

2. RB Omiya Ardija 0-1 JEF United @ Nack5 Stadium, Omiya (Saitama Prefecture), Saturday 9th August (19:00 KO)

JEF had an electric start with two chances in the opening minute before the home side woke up and energised themselves. They hit the post and forced their opponents goalie to make a great save before the break. The away team, backed by a healthy travelling contingent, were again off to a flyer as the second period got underway and they scored a bullet header within a few minutes of the restart. Omiya huffed and they puffed but they just could not find a way through to level things up, and eventually time ran out for them. More details here.

Weather: Warm, Price: 2,000 yen, Attendance: 12,271.

1. Tokyo Beleza 5-0 Nojima Stella @ Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka, Kita-ku (Tokyo), Sunday 17th August (18:00 KO)

Probably the best atmosphere I’ve ever experienced at Nishigaoka with the Beleza fans in fine voice for their team’s first home match of the season. The first half was tight, and they hit the bar twice before finally breaking the deadlock around the hour mark. That certainly opened the floodgates and the goals flowed after that. Some of them were very good ones too.

Weather: Hot & humid, Price: 3,000 yen, Attendance: 2,121.

Click here to read ‘TF Top 12……Football Match Day Experiences In 2025 So Far (Part 1)’

Click here to read ‘TF Top 12……Football Match Day Experiences In 2024 (Part 3)’

Click here to read ‘TF Top 10……Football Match Day Experiences So Far In 2024 (Part 2)’

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