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Is football popular in Japan? |
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Football's popularity zoomed after the Japanese national team reached the quarterfinals at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo and also after it won the bronze medal at the Mexico City Games in 1968. Suddenly, schools began setting up football teams, and youth leagues sprouted up everywhere. Football emerged as a popular amateur sport, particularly among young people. But it wasn't until professional football made its debut in 1993 that the sport really took off. The establishment of the J. League propelled football even past baseball as the favorite sport among male middle school students, according to a 1995 finding by the Ministry of Education. Another big boost came when the world's ruling football body selected Japan to co-host the 2002 World Cup with South Korea. The players have been getting better with more exposure to world-class competition, and they earned the nation's first-ever berth in the World Cup finals--held in 1998 in France--when Japan beat Iran in a qualifying round match in November 1997. The entire nation erupted in jubilation with that victory, for it was a moment fans had long been waiting for. It took Japan 10 tries--and 44 years--to finally make it to the World Cup finals. Although the Japanese team could not win a game in France, it provided a lot of excitement with its close teamwork. Photo courtesy of Tokyo Metropolitan Government. |
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