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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