Football in Tokyo

Soccer for a long time has been staying in the shadows of other popular games like baseball and rugby football. However the recent successes of the Japanese football team in international tournaments and the introduction of the J league have increased the popularity of the game manifold.

The game is quite popular among the youth and the universality of the game has gone a long way in making the game acceptable in the island nation of Japan. The capital city of Japan, Tokyo on the other hand is very cosmopolitan in terms of sports and you could try your hand in a host of other games like baseball, softball, cricket, tennis and almost any other game under the sun.

One can try their hands or legs in the game of soccer in places like the Yoyogi Park and at the Riverbank at Futako Tamagawa where you can play with fellow soccer lovers. However if you want to play the game in its real form then there are a few options in Tokyo where you can satisfy your thirst for soccer. On and off there have been tournaments for foreigners which provided quite a mouthful for people who are interested in the game. There was a league organized by a sergeant at the Yokota Air Force Base, where teams were usually formed on the national lines so rivalry and competition were at its pinnacle.

This was followed by the Tokyo-based International Friendship football league which gave opportunity to foreigners and the locals to display their soccer skills. In recent times several clubs have joined hands to start a new league named the Tokyo Metropolis league.

The game doesn't require one to be a superstar or a person with out of the world soccer skills but what is required in unlimited love for the game with a sense of competition. There are about nineteen teams in the competition, numbers of which can go up to twenty four in the due course of time. Even if you are not participating in any of these games watching them could be a lot of fun also.