It was Saturday December 4th. The weather was fair, the sky was clear, and even though it was a little chilly it was a great day in December. This was certainly a day to take in some Japanese sporting action, and what better sport to watch than soccer? With my HD video recorder and dSLR in hand I traveled south out of Tokyo to Yokohama to watch the three time J-League champions Yokohama F. Marinos take on the not so successful Omiya Ardija at the Nissan International Stadium in Yokohama.
The fans were as energetic as I've seen at any international soccer game. The stadium atmosphere was top notch, and to top it off I managed to nab some great seats at midfield on the fifth row. Watching a soccer game doesn't get better than that, unless of course you're on the field itself. One thing I found interesting was that the fans, who were 99% Japanese, chanted in English for the entire game. They chanted theme songs of Premier League teams like Man U and Chelsea. This was both very funny and entertaining.
As for the game itself, well let's just say it wasn't exactly premier cup or Series A, but those guys played their hearts out and gave a good show. Below are some clips from the game itself.
