Tokyo Weekender - October 2017

The Future
of Japanese
Football
Meet the man who believes he can transform the game
Words by Matthew Hernon
It's been almost a quarter of a century
since the launch of the J-league and
though not as glamorous as it once was,
it's arguably in a better place now than it
has ever has been. Like the current Chinese
Super League, the early initiative was to
bring in an array of high-profile players such
as Zico, Gary Lineker, and Hristo Stoichkov
to entice large crowds. For a brief time, it
worked, but in a struggling economy it was
unsustainable and the novelty began to wear
off in the mid-Nineties.
With the big names departing, attendances
plummeting and clubs’ sponsors pulling
the plug on their investments, the League
decided to change its approach. The focus
switched from the superstar individuals and
became more about the teams, who were
encouraged to build close ties with their local
communities.
It was all part of the 100 Year Vision project
that was announced towards the end of
the 20th century aimed at making 100 professional
teams by 2092. At the time, many saw
it as overly ambitious; however, with 54 sides
currently spread out over three divisions,
the plan looks like it could come to fruition
sooner than expected.
When viewing the League from a domestic
perspective, there's a lot to be positive
about. Attendances have been steadily
increasing (the J1 average this season is, at
the time of writing 1,000 higher than the last
campaign), title races are often unpredictable,
and exciting young players are emerging
all the time. Japanese football is popular in
certain Asian countries and does have something
of a cult following elsewhere, but could
it be doing more to attract greater interest
from the rest of the world?
Takehiko Nakamura certainly thinks
so. The New York-based president, CEO and
founder of sports management consulting
firm Blue United Corporation has a wealth
of experience in the game, having worked in
management roles for Major League Soccer
in the US and FC Barcelona. The man chiefly
responsible for bringing former Italian World
30 | OCTOBER 2017 | TOKYO WEEKENDER