The incredible support shown by the Urawa Reds fans at the Club World Cup this summer left us thinking: Who is this team? Who are these fans? And are Japanese Ultras a thing across the whole country? With so many questions yet so few answers, we did what any normal football fans would do - hop on a 15 hour flight across the world to find out more. From experiencing match day in the J.League to meeting so many incredibly passionate fans, this is football culture as far away and as brilliant as it gets. We're FourFourTwo, Welcome to Japan.
00:00When you go behind the goal at an Arawa Reds game,
00:23it is 100% about supporting the team.
00:30The atmosphere is just a phenomenal.
00:51Despite all the big money transfers this summer and the millions of pictures on Instagram
00:58of players on the holiday, one thing has caught my eye, this.
01:05The Arawa Red Diamond fans lighting up the Club World Cup like it's the final.
01:10Now, for a very Eurocentric football fan like myself, this was quite unusual.
01:17Who are this team? Who are these fans? Is the whole of the J League like this?
01:23You will close your eyes and think that you're in Germany or in the Netherlands. It is deafening.
01:30From the matchday experience to Liverpool's pre-season tour, from the history of the J League to their unique culture in society today.
01:37This is football culture like you've never seen it before.
01:39I'm Matt from 442 and welcome to Japan.
01:46In 1993, after decades of semi-professional football, Japan introduced the J League to the world.
01:53Thank you very much.
02:16A lot of the teams that you see in the J League today were really starting to establish themselves.
02:30Yomiuri SC eventually became Verdi Kawasaki. Nissan SC became Yokohama Marinos.
02:36Mitsubishi SC became Arawa Red Diamond.
02:39Founded in 1992, they kicked off their maiden season with just 10 teams and the initial aims of raising the standard and profile of Japanese football amongst the masses.
02:52The first outcome of which saw the league's founding teams removing their company or sponsor from the team name to allow fans to identify better with their local team.
03:00For example, Kashima Antlers has a little bit more of a ring to it than the Sumitomo Metal Industries Factory Football Club.
03:07So with a new start, new stadiums, new commercial deals and some serious funding, the Football Association's size was set even higher on hosting a World Cup.
03:19Making it to the round of 16 with a new age mix of domestic players and a few special stars who had made it big abroad,
03:24the co-hosting of the 2002 FIFA World Cup alongside South Korea was a success not only on the pitch but off it too.
03:32The J-League knew they had to capitalize on this and once everything had settled down in terms of registration, schedules and the rules too,
03:39interest started to grow, the money started to come in and so the standard of the league was raised.
03:44Which brings us to now when the league is able to produce top talents that have gone on to have successful careers in the Premier League.
03:55Think of the likes of Kagawa, Endo, Minamino, even Okazaki, a Premier League winner, the list goes on.
04:01You've also got young stars like Mitoma and the new Spurs signing Kota Takai joining the Premier League directly from the J-League.
04:08A real testament to the progress of the league itself.
04:11Japanese clubs have also reaped the rewards on the continental stage with five AFC Champions League title victories,
04:17three of them for the Urawa Red Diamonds, the latest in 2022.
04:27Few clubs in the J-League really carry the weight of expectation like the Urawa Red Diamonds do.
04:32They are backed by a massive fan base and they're more than just a football team.
04:35They're a symbol of the pride and the ambition of the whole club.
04:47All of the J-League clubs have amazing active support, but Urawa are just at a different level completely.
04:52Not only can they put on huge displays at home, but they can do it away and internationally, as we've seen, in the summer of the Club World Cup.
05:09Club World Cup.
05:10The Club World Cup is amazing, so I think I've grown a lot.
05:16I think it's a great place to be able to win the World Cup in 32 countries.
05:24I'm proud to be here.
05:28And the symbol of the club is here at the Saitama Stadium.
05:31There's young fans, there's old fans, there's new fans.
05:34There's fans that have been following and seen their team throughout the generations.
05:38This really is the complete melting pot where all of them come together to support the Urawa Red.
05:43Urawa Red supporters are a breed of their own.
05:47They do consider themselves Ultras in the Japanese sense where you are a diehard supporter of the team.
05:54You are participating in active support.
05:57Home, away, midweek, does not matter.
06:00That definition is removed from the European definition of Ultras,
06:04which obviously has the more political nuance to it.
06:08And that's something that we don't really see a lot of in Japan.
06:11My father liked me, and I got to go to my first time.
06:16I was very happy to be here.
06:19I'm a champion of the Urawa Red.
06:21I feel like I'm a champion of the Urawa Red.
06:23I feel like I'm a champion of the Urawa Red.
06:24I feel like it is difficult.
06:26I'm going to go to see the match and move together together.
06:42So this is where it all comes together.
06:44All the sights, the colours, the sounds,
06:46everything that all the fans have waited for all week.
06:48have waited for all week.
06:49It's match day at Saitama Stadium.
07:03None of them are using their cell phones.
07:04None of them are taking selfies.
07:06None of them are taking video for the Gram.
07:18All right, let's go.
07:48That match day experience is just everything you'd expect.
08:03The footballing culture and societal culture roll into one in the space of just a few hours.
08:08Pre-game, it's the unity of all the fans, it's the politeness, it's the fact that the
08:11home fans and away fans can mingle together without the need for a massive police presence.
08:16During the match, it's everything you think you'd see, it's the passion, it's the unrelenting
08:20commitment to supporting their team.
08:22Like we saw at the Club World Cup, this isn't just for a special event, this isn't a polished
08:26version, this is the normal, this is the every single game day.
08:30There are no fake friends at Urawa.
08:32Let's say you're a salaryman in Tokyo.
08:35I'd say a nine to five job, shuffling paperwork all day.
08:39You go back home, shower, you go to sleep and that's your five a week.
08:44And then Saturday comes and that's the one day where you can, you know, you put on your
08:49uniform, you go to the stadium, you have a few beers and you let loose.
08:53I mean football in general, that's where you can be yourself.
08:56That's where you can let go whatever happened at work that week.
09:00You know, it doesn't matter, like you're there to sort of let it all out.
09:04Then you're outside, you're back to normal, to the still, to the serene,
09:07to the quiet, to people just going home.
09:16It may have made a lasting impression, but then you realise it was just another match day in the J League.
09:37Are you there?
09:42Like you, I don't know.
09:44I don't know.
09:48I'm very happy to get this feeling.
09:54I'm really happy to be here.
09:58I'm very happy to be here.
10:03I have a life all over the world.
10:05I will be able to be able to be able to live in the next day.
10:11I will be able to be able to live in the next day.
10:17I want to come back to the next match, I think I'm living every day.
10:47had a match on the moon then Liverpool fans would find a way to get there.
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