Thanks Furtho!!!

Supporters Kashiwa !

I was able to catch the second half of the Shonan Bellmare-Yokohama Marinos match, and I must say that Shonan's defending was just poor. Yokohama could have doubled their 3 goal haul easily.

Welcome to OTF, WonsanUnited. I was able to see most of the Shonan - Yamagata game on the first weekend of the season and although it was an enjoyable match to watch in that it was pretty close and competitive, it did seem as if both of them would be likely to struggle when they came up against better teams. Sure enough, of course, they both lost 3-0 in round 2. Montedio seemed to have a little bit more about them in terms of a cutting edge, so we'll see how things are looking after a few more games.

While most of the football world is busy this morning mulling over the Champions League exploits of Samuel Eto'o, Jose Mourinho and Inter Milan, at Sevilla last night it could just be that a new international star was born. Keisuke Honda began his career with Nagoya Grampus but in 2008 moved abroad to the glamour of the, er, Dutch Second Division and VVV Venlo. Quickly becoming the star of the team, Honda guided them to promotion but instead of joining one of a number of larger clubs reportedly interested in him, he stayed with Venlo for the first half of 09/10.

Over the winter, however, the 23-year-old signed for CSKA Moscow and made his Russian Premier League debut on the opening day of the season at the weekend, in injury time scrambling in the only goal of the game against Amkar Perm. Tuesday saw Honda and CSKA in Spain for the second leg of their CL Round of 16 tie with Seville, having only drawn 1-1 in the home game. Six minute before half time, Honda fed Tomas Necid to fire in a superb opening goal and although Diego Perotti equalised shortly afterwards, a ferocious second-half Honda free kick was fumbled by keeper Andres Palop for the winner. Highlights here.

Having nothing better to do at 11am this morning I wandered along to Marinos Town to see Yokohama F Marinos play a friendly against Kansai University. There were a few surprising things - first, there were about 500 other people who had nothing better to do of a Wednesday morning, some of them suspiciously dressed in client-visiting suits. Second, the Marinos team was their full first team, and third, and most surprising, was that one of those with nothing better to do, sitting alone in what passes for the posh seats at Marinos' training ground, was one Takeshi Okada, national team manager.

Now, I'm not too sure what he could have learnt from this practice match, other than that Shunsuke Nakamura is desperately unfit, and when in such a state has a talent for getting caught in possession and giving the ball away, but after half an hour came surprise number four, when the referee blew his whistle, and all the players trooped off. It turned out it was a game of three 30 minute...er...halves, with a different Marinos team for each half.

I don't want to be nasty, but we were 10 minutes into the second period, with Marinos' full reserve team playing, before Okada finally appeared to spot the changes and duly buggered off. Maybe I'm being harsh. He could have been enjoying it.

Marinos were 4-0 up after the first period, and eventually won 8-2, but the highlight of the game for me occurred on the neighbouring pitch. After his 30 minutes of non-defending in the first period, Yuji Nakazawa, Japan's International centreback, then took a whole load of footballs and spent an entire hour on his own just blasting shots from 30 yards towards a goal tended by a reserve keeper, while various apprentices kept him supplied with footballs. Most of the shots missed. By a lot. It's nice to see that international footballers train in exactly the same way as I do when I go to the park with a mate. With roughly the same result.

He was joined for the last 20 minutes or so by Marinos thug Ryuji Kawai, who decided that 30 metres was too close, so started hitting them from 40 metres, and off they sailed, out of the ground...

Great story, Oitim. It seems like people can't decide whether or not the Sailors are the real deal this year and that two major reasons for their fans to get excited are, uh, their win over a less-than-well-equipped Bellmare and the return of Mr Nakamura. Is that really enough to hang your hopes for the season on? After all, this is a team which has found it impossible to break out of mid-table for the last few seasons and their other signings are mostly a dictionary definition of mediocre. Still, maybe Nakamura will pull it together for the World Cup; after all, if Inamoto is doing okay, anything's possible.

On to a brief preview. Kawasaki Frontale have got off to the best possible start to the new J-League season, but in the match of the weekend they go to a Yokohama F Marinos who did indeed rip apart Shonan Bellmare last weekend. The other J1 team with maximum points, Vegalta Sendai, are at Kyoto Sanga while champions Kashima Antlers take on Omiya Ardija. Early strugglers Shonan need to get something from their home game against Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Montedio Yamagata need striker Yu Hasegawa to be fit for a tough-looking match with Urawa Reds.

There are some surprise packages at the top of J2 and although Yokohama FC will be optimistic that they can continue their good start by beating Thespa Kusatsu, the fixture list is trickier for the other two leading teams. Freescoring Avispa Fukuoka are at relegated Kashiwa Reysol and Tokushima Vortis meet JEF United in what looks set to be a cracking match. In the JFL, the promoted trio all have their first home games, Matsumoto Yamaga against Sony Sendai, Tochigi UVA against Yokogawa Musashino and Zweigen Kanazawa against title-holders Sagawa Shiga.

Kashiwa Reysol 1-0 Avispa Fukuoka

81' Kudo (Kashiwa) 1-0

yeah Kashiwa!!!

There's not much doubting the result of the round in the J-League over the weekend, Shunsuke Nakamura getting his first goal back in Japan for Yokohama F Marinos as the Sailors shivered the timbers of Kanagawa prefecture rivals Kawasaki Frontale. A 4-0 triumph puts Marinos in fourth, which is good enough news for the fans - although perhaps even better is the manner of their team's victory, quick passing and movement cutting the Frontale midfield and back line to shreds. Could it really be that Nakamura can indeed be the spark to ignite a championship challenge?

Leading the way at present are Shimizu S-Pulse, who despite missing star forward Shinji Okazaki scrapped to a 1-0 win over Vissel Kobe thanks to a late free kick by Australian defender Eddy Bosnar. But S-Pulse are ahead only on goal difference from both Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Kashima Antlers, Sanfrecce's Hisato Sato netting twice in a 3-1 defeat of Shonan Bellmare and the Antlers winning a physical encounter at Omiya Ardija that saw Kashima's new midfielder Fellype Gabriel substituted in only the fifth minute of the game.

Atop J2 we see the extraordinary sight of both of my pre-season dark horse selections. Let's just enjoy the moment. Ahhh. That's right, extraordinary as it may seem Yokohama FC and Tokushima Vortis maintained their 100% start to the new season, Yokohama's Masashi Oguro getting a hat-trick against Thespa Kusatsu and Vortis claiming an impressive win over relegated former J1ers JEF United. And after two rounds first place in the JFL, meanwhile, goes to V Varen Nagasaki, last minute winners at - oh dear, it isn't is it - JEF Reserves.



S-Pulse's man of the moment Eddy Bosnar

J1 Scores & Standings @ Round 3/34

FC Tokyo 0-0 Cerezo
Gamba 0-0 Niigata
Kyoto 2-1 Sendai
Marinos 4-0 Kawasaki
Nagoya 2-0 Jubilo
Omiya 0-1 Kashima
S-Pulse 1-0 Kobe
Shonan 1-3 Hiroshima
Yamagata 1-1 Urawa

1. S-Pulse 7 (+4)
2. Hiroshima 7 (+3)
3. Kashima 7 (+3)
----------------
4. Marinos 6 (+6)
- - - - - - - - - -
5. Nagoya 6 (+2)
6. Sendai 6 (+2)
7. Kawasaki 6 (-2)
8. FC Tokyo 4 (-)
9. Kyoto 4 (-1)
10. Urawa 4 (-1)
11. Omiya 3 (-)
12. Kobe 3 (-)
13. = Gamba 2 (-1)
13. = Niigata 2 (-1)
15. Yamagata 2 (-3)
----------------
16. Cerezo 2 (-3)
17. Jubilo 1 (-3)
18. Shonan 1 (-5)

J2 Scores & Standings @ Round 3/36

Ehime 0-0 Mito
Gifu 0-1 Kofu
Kashiwa 1-0 Fukuoka
Kitakyushu 1-0 Verdy
Kusatsu 0-3 Yokohama FC
Okayama 0-0 Kumamoto
Tochigi 0-1 Sapporo
Tokushima 3-1 JEF
Toyama 1-3 Oita

1. Yokohama FC 9 (+6)
2. Tokushima 9 (+5)
3. Kashiwa 7 (+2)
-----------------
4. Fukuoka 6 (+4)
5. Oita 6 (+3)
6. = Kumamoto 5 (+1)
6. = Mito 4 (+1)
8. JEF 4 (-)
9. = Ehime 4 (-)
9. = Okayama 4 (-)
11. Kofu 4 (-1)
12. Sapporo 4 (-2)
13. Gifu 3 (-2)
14. Kitakyushu 3 (-3)
15. = Tochigi 1 (-2)
15. = Tosu 1 (-2)
17. Verdy 0 (-2)
18. Toyama 0 (-3)
19. Kusatsu 0 (-5)

JFL Scores & Standings @ Round 2/34

Arte Takasaki 0-1 Sagawa Printing
FC Ryukyu 1-1 Gainare Tottori
Honda Lock 2-2 Blaublitz Akita
JEF Reserves 1-2 V Varen Nagasaki
Machida Zelvia 2-0 MIO Biwako Kusatsu
Matsumoto Yamaga 0-2 Sony Sendai
Ryutsu Keizai University 1-2 Honda FC
Tochigi UVA 1-0 Yokogawa Musashino
Zweigen Kanazawa 2-2 Sagawa Shiga

1. V Varen Nagasaki* 6 (+3)
2. Gainare Tottori* 4 (+3)
3. Blaublitz Akita 4 (+2)
4. Machida Zelvia* 4 (+2)
- - - - - - - - - -
5. Sony Sendai 4 (+2)
6. Sagawa Printing 4 (+1)
7. FC Ryukyu 4 (+1)
8. Tochigi UVA 4 (+1)
9. MIO Biwako Kusatsu 3 (+3)
10. Yokogawa Musashino 3 (-)
11. Honda FC 3 (-)
12. Sagawa Shiga 2 (-)
13. Zweigen Kanazawa 1 (-1)
14. Ryutsu Keizai University (-1)
15. Honda Lock 1 (-2)
16. Arte Takasaki 0 (-3)
17. Matsumoto Yamaga* 0 (-5)
18. JEF Reserves 0 (-6)

* indicates J-League associate member and thus potentially eligible for promotion

The Group Stage of the 2010 Asian Champions League has reached its halfway point after the third round of games played on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Japan's four entrants had a generally successful time of it, although first-time participants Sanfrecce Hiroshima would seem to be edging their way out of the competition. Bulgarian defender Ilyan Stoyanov was sent off after only half an hour of their Group H game at Adelaide United and although Sanfrecce came from behind to lead 2-1, they conceded two late goals to stay rooted to the bottom of the standings with three defeats in three games.

Kawasaki Frontale recovered from their crushing weekend loss at Yokohama F Marinos, putting four past Melbourne Victory to give themselves a chance of progression from Group E. The J-League side with the best record so far are easily Kashima Antlers, who still have maximum points after beating Indonesia's Persipura Jayapura 5-0, but Gamba Osaka had a rocky old time of it at minnows Singapore Armed Forces. Gamba were being held to a draw with only twenty minutes to go, but reserve striker Shoki Hirai got a hat-trick in a 4-2 win to put the Blue and Blacks clear in second spot in Group G.



Kawasaki Frontale in the rain against Melbourne Victory

ACL Group E - Scores & Standings @ Round 3/6

Kawasaki Frontale 4-0 Melbourne Victory
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunwa 3-1 Beijing Guoan

1. Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 9 (+6)
2. Beijing Guoan 6 (+1)
----------------
3. Kawasaki Frontale 3 (-)
4. Melbourne Victory 0 (-7)

ACL Group F - Scores & Standings @ Round 3/6

Changchun Yatai 1-2 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Kashima Antlers 5-0 Persipura Jayapura

1. Kashima Antlers 9 (+7)
2. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 6 (+3)
----------------
3. Changchun Yatai 3 (+7)
4. Persipura Jayapura 0 (-17)

ACL Group G - Scores & Standings @ Round 3/6

Henan Construction 0-2 Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Singapore Armed Forces 2-4 Gamba Osaka

1. Suwon Samsung Bluewings 7 (+4)
2. Gamba Osaka 5 (+2)
----------------
3. Henan Construction 2 (-2)
4. Singapore Armed Forces 1 (-4)

ACL Group H - Scores & Standings @ Round 3/6

Adelaide United 3-2 Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Pohang Steelers 1-0 Shandong Luneng

1. Adelaide United 9 (+4)
2. Pohang Steelers 6 (+1)
----------------
3. Shandong Luneng 3 (-2)
4. Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0 (-3)

I was at the Adelaide vs Sanfrecce game... Stoyanov's sending off looked a little harsh, but they seemed to play better with ten men after he had gone off!

It was a good game, and could have gone either way. Adelaide coach Aurelio Vidmar played for Sanfrecce about 12 years ago, so the visiting Japanese media made a bit of a fuss over him. About 50-60 visiting fans in one corner of the ground managed to make quite a noise with their drums!

Cheers Trimster, good to hear from you again. There was some speculation as to whether any Sanfrecce fans would bother to make the trip after their less-than-stellar start to the competition; fair play to those fifty or sixty who did so, lugging banners and a drum. Hiroshima have had a bit of an odd 2010 so far, as although the ACL has proved a massive disappointment - bearing in mind some commentators were making the now outlandish-looking prediction that they were the sort of team who could go all the way - they've achieved good results in the J-League and are undefeated in second place, having scored six goals in the three games to date.

Their scheduled fixture for this weekend against Nagoya Grampus has been put back to the end of next month, meaning that the most interesting-looking match in J1 is probably leaders Shimizu S-Pulse at Kawasaki Frontale. Kawasaki won 4-0 in the ACL in midweek having been given a 4-0 pasting by Yokohama F Marinos at the weekend and Marinos will hope to build on that impressive performance at Vissel Kobe. Struggling Gamba Osaka need to pick up their first league win of 2010 at home to promoted Vegalta Sendai, while neighbours Cerezo Osaka host the stuttering Urawa Reds.

Top of the list of the weekend's games in J2 is first against second - which sensationally means Yokohama FC against Tokushima Vortis, the only clubs in the J-League who still have 100% records. Something's got to give. Kashima Reysol in third go to a Tokyo Verdy side who have lost both their matches so far. Already two points clear in front in the JFL, V Varen Nagasaki are at home to MIO Biwako Kusatsu, but the promoted sides still looking for their first win have a tough week, with Zweigen Kanazawa at Machida Zelvia and the very disappointing Matsumoto Yamaga going to Yokogawa Musashino.

There was disappointment for two of the leading J1 teams over the weekend as table-toppers Shimizu S-Pulse looked more than a little toothless in a goalless draw at Kawasaki Frontale and Yokohama F Marinos conceded an injury-time equaliser at Vissel Kobe. In contrast, Kashima Antlers swept aside Montedio Yamagata 3-1 with some at times excellent pass-and-move football - although the champions and new J1 front-runners took the foot off the gas after half time, enabling Yamagata's on-loan Kashima striker Yuzo Tashiro to head in a consolation goal.

Tashiro's current team are now stuck in the relegation places alongside a Jubilo Iwata side who slumped to a 3-2 home defeat by Kyoto Sanga; the Kanagawa Blue and Greens of Shonan Bellmare shot up the table due to a vital win over an unimpressive-looking Albirex Niigata. The Osaka teams both continued their poor starts, Cerezo learning the hard way that their defence is even leakier than that of Urawa Reds and Gamba conceding a couple of penalties to end 2-2 against Vegalta Sendai, meaning that the representatives of Japan's second city both remain in the bottom third of the standings.

Tokushima Vortis continued their amazing start to the J2 season and are now the only J-League team with a 100% record after a 2-1 win at erstwhile division leaders Yokohama FC. Moving into second go Kashiwa Reysol as they beat lowly Tokyo Verdy, while high-scoring Avispa Fukuoka are third thanks a to a 5-0 whupping of bottom side Kataller Toyama. In the third-tier JFL, it's all very tight at the top as mighty Blaublitz Akita lead the way on goal difference from Sony Sendai and a trio of J-League associate members in Gainare Tottori, Machida Zelvia and V Varen Nagasaki.



Yokohama FC's pink-shirted keeper Junnosuke Schneider tries for a late equaliser

J1 Scores & Standings @ Round 4/34

Cerezo 2-3 Urawa
Gamba 2-2 Sendai
Hiroshima - Nagoya [21 Apr]
Jubilo 2-3 Kyoto
Kashima 3-1 Yamagata
Kawasaki 0-0 S-Pulse
Kobe 1-1 Marinos
Omiya 0-2 FC Tokyo
Shonan 2-0 Niigata

1. Kashima 10 (+5)
2. S-Pulse 8 (+4)
3. Marinos 7 (+6)
----------------
4. Hiroshima 7 (+3)
- - - - - - - - - -
5. Sendai 7 (+2)
6. FC Tokyo 7 (+2)
7. Kyoto 7 (-)
8. Urawa 7 (-)
9. Kawasaki 7 (-2)
10. Nagoya 6 (+2)
11. Kobe 4 (-)
12. Shonan 4 (-3)
13. Gamba 3 (-1)
14. Omiya 3 (-2)
15. Niigata 2 (-3)
----------------
16. Cerezo 2 (-4)
17. Yamagata 2 (-5)
18. Jubilo 1 (-4)

J2 Scores & Standings @ Round 4/36

Fukuoka 5-0 Toyama
JEF 2-1 Kusatsu
Kumamoto 1-0 Gifu
Mito 0-0 Kitakyushu
Oita 1-4 Tochigi
Sapporo 2-0 Okayama
Tosu 2-1 Ehime
Verdy 0-2 Kashiwa
Yokohama FC 1-2 Tokushima

1. Tokushima 12 (+6)
2. Kashiwa 10 (+4)
3. Fukuoka 9 (+9)
-----------------
4. Yokohama FC 9 (+5)
5. Kumamoto 8 (+2)
6. JEF 7 (+1)
7. Sapporo 7 (-)
8. Mito 6 (+1)
9. Oita 6 (-)
10. Tochigi 4 (+1)
11. = Kofu 4 (-1)
11. = Tosu 4 (-1)
13. Ehime 4 (-1)
14. Okayama 4 (-2)
15. Kitakyushu 4 (-3)
16. Gifu 3 (-3)
17. Verdy 0 (-4)
18. Kusatsu 0 (-6)
19. Toyama 0 (-8)

JFL Scores & Standings @ Round 3/34

Blaublitz Akita 3-0 JEF Reserves
Gainare Tottori 2-1 Ryutsu Keizai University
Honda FC 1-2 Arte Takasaki
Machida Zelvia 2-0 Zweigen Kanazawa
Sagawa Printing 1-0 Honda Lock
Sagawa Shiga 5-1 Tochigi UVA
Sony Sendai 1-0 FC Ryukyu
V Varen Nagasaki 1-1 MIO Biwako Kusatsu
Yokogawa Musashino 0-1 Matsumoto Yamaga

1. Blaublitz Akita 7 (+5)
2. Gainare Tottori* 7 (+4)
3. Machida Zelvia* 7 (+4)
4. V Varen Nagasaki* 7 (+3)
- - - - - - - - - -
5. Sony Sendai 7 (+3)
6. Sagawa Printing 7 (+2)
7. Sagawa Shiga 5 (+4)
8. MIO Biwako Kusatsu 4 (+3)
9. FC Ryukyu 4 (-)
10. Tochigi UVA 4 (-3)
11. = Honda FC 3 (-1)
11. = Yokogawa Musashino 3 (-1)
13. Arte Takasaki 3 (-2)
14. Matsumoto Yamaga* 3 (-4)
15. Ryutsu Keizai University 1 (-2)
16. Zweigen Kanazawa 1 (-3)
17. Honda Lock 1 (-3)
18. JEF Reserves 0 (-9)

* indicates J-League associate member and thus potentially eligible for promotion

This week's photo special allows us to take a brief but celebratory look at three J-League teams who typically pick up perhaps less than their fair share of press attention. Vissel Kobe, for instance, have a reputation for being a rather dull footballing side, although with undercurrents of off-the-field tensions based around the fact that the club are owned by Hiroshi Mikitani, who despite being boss of the wildly successful Rakuten shopping website is regarded by Vissel fans as being something of a meanie with the old wallet. An injury time equaliser against Yokohama F Marinos was good news for them, anyway.

Kobe's only win of the season so far was in round one against an atrocious Kyoto Sanga, who have since rather bounced back and pulled off a very handy 3-2 win at Jubilo Iwata to move them into the top half of the table. Sanga have a target of ACL football for next season, which will be extremely tough but, hey, a team can dream. And a team can also pick up their best-ever J-League result, which is exactly what happened to J2 minnows Tochigi SC on Sunday, recording their first win of 2010 in extraordinary style via a magnificent 4-1 away defeat of former J1ers Oita Trinita.



Whooping it up, Vissel Kobe style



Kyoto Sanga's Diego



Ricardo Lobo of Tochigi SC reaches for the stars

It's a busy midweek for all eighteen clubs in J1 this week, with the four ACL participants having matches in the continental competition and everyone else starting off in the 2010 Nabisco Cup. The format of this J1-only League Cup-equivalent sees those fourteen Everyone Elses divided into two lots of seven for the first round Group Stage. Each team plays three home and three away games, the top two from both of the groups then going through to the knock-out Quarter Finals alongside the lucky old ACL teams, who don't have to muddy their hands on the Group Stage thanks to a bye.

Many sides view the tournament as an opportunity to try out younger players in a half-way competitive atmosphere and there's no doubt that the Nabisco Cup is regarded as being easily the least important of the three pieces of silverware for which J1 clubs are able to compete. That said, holders FC Tokyo have an interesting-looking game at home to Nagoya Grampus as the pick of the ties in Group A, while in Group B league strugglers Jubilo Iwata, winless and bottom of the early-season table, will look to gain a confidence boost from picking up a decent result at Urawa Reds.

Is there a regular Japanese Cup involving all the teams?

Nice grindy start for the 'hock. And their next match is live on TV! Does NHK do web streams, anyone know?

mitohollyhock.blogspot.com/

That's an 8am kick-off on Saturday 17th April for the live game, delicatemoth. If you're keen to follow the action, my suggestion would be hunting round the, um, alternative methods of finding a stream, because I'd be very surprised indeed if it ended up on an NHK site. Still, more broadly, as a source of all Mito news it's good that you're familiar with Hollyhock blogger, volunteer staffer and some time Holly-the-mascot costume wearer Vendo The Fastlane. He's a bit disappointed with how things are going so far, but an unbeaten start is an unbeaten start and my feeling is that J2 will be close this year.

As to your question about cup competitions, yes, there is a more or less direct equivalent of the FA Cup in the form of the Emperor's Cup. In a typical season there are 6000 or so entrants from all over the country and the early rounds take place at prefectural (i.e. county) level, involving high school and university sides, the youth teams of J-League clubs and all sorts. The J1 and J2 teams obviously enter the tournament much later on and the last few rounds are staged after the end of the J-League season, throughout December and leading up to the Emperor's Cup Final on New Year's Day.

already have Spanish Web

futboljapones.com/

This coming weekend sees the start of the 2010 Regional League season, potentially a crucial campaign indeed in the development of Japanese club football. As discussed earlier in this thread, the expansion to a capacity 22 teams of J2 is nearing completion - the promotion from the JFL of Giravanz Kitakyushu at the end of last year means there are now nineteen sides in the J-League's second division - and as such it will soon enough be necessary for the league to have decided and communicated how they intend to proceed, in conjunction with other interested parties the JFL and JFA.

As such, those Regional League teams seeking to move within the next few seasons into a J3 of some description will not only be watching for signals coming out of J-League HQ, but also working hard to maintain momentum on and off the pitch. This is easier said than done at the moment, in that as we shall see the impact of the global economic crisis has stretched as far as Japanese non-league football, and sponsorship in particular is proving hard to come by for many clubs. But for the time being, let's take a quick look at the runners and riders in each of the nine Regional Leagues across the country.

In Hokkaido, Sapporo University Goal Plunderers are the team to beat, after having won the title last year and performed respectably in both the All-Japan Shakaijin Tournament and the Regional League Championship Winners' Play-off. Club Fields Norbritz Hokkaido, champions for the six previous seasons, were the Goal Plunderers' only challengers and it's unlikely that that situation will change in 2010. The two promoted teams are Blackpecker Hakodate, experienced at this level of football, and Maruseizu FC, hailing from the small provincial city of Obihiro and making their debut in the fourth tier.



It's the Goal Plunderers

Meanwhile Cobaltore Onagawa are the club to have made the step up to the top flight in Tohoku. Based just along the coast from Sendai, Cobaltore are an ambitious community-based side and it will be interesting to see how competitive they are, given the failure of the two strongest teams in the area, Grulla Morioka and Fukushima United, to gain promotion to the JFL last year. Elsewhere, FC Scheinen Fukushima are clearly in possession of a wunderbar name and have moved up into Division 2 (South), where they will join teams called Merry and Bandits Iwaki. Excellent.

Where Grulla Morioka and Fukushima United failed, Matsumoto Yamaga and Zweigen Kanazawa both succeeded with bells on to get to the JFL - and Hokushinetsu League football has changed considerably as a result. Division 1 looks set to be a two-way battle between Japan Soccer College and AC Nagano Parceiro, while another club with J-League ambitions, Saurcos Fukui, have the opportunity to become realistic challengers. Promoted into Division 2 are Artista Tobu from Ueda in Nagano, for their first appearance at Regional level, and a teachers' team, Fukui KSC.



Saurcos Fukui in green against Zweigen Kanazawa

To the surprise of most non-league fans Hitachi Tochigi UVA also managed to get themselves into the JFL come the end of 2009, but the Kanto League they've left behind is looking pretty moribund. Gunma's Tonan Maebashi might pep things up in Division 1, but Division 2 is becoming dominated by corporate teams, as longstanding members Toho Titanium are joined by Hitachi Building & System Care, Sagawa Computer System and also the mighty Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance. Dunno if that last lot do any merchandise but their scarf would a sight to behold.

In the Shizuoka / Nagoya area all the talk over the close season has been of the demise of Shizuoka FC, Tokai League champions five times in eight years but swallowed up at the end of January by Japan's equivalento to Ebbsfleet United, Fujieda MYFC, who skipped two promotions in the process. FC Kariya have been relegated into the league from the JFL and will likely be strong challengers to 2009 title winners Yazaki Valente, while Mie prefecture's J-League hopefuls FC Suzuka Rampole have reached the fourth tier for the first time in their short history.

Fulfilling the same potential professional franchise role in their own prefecture as Rampole are Nara Club, now up to Division 1 of the Kansai League and arguably the most open of all the Regional Leagues, following the restructuring to amateur status a year ago of Banditonce Kakogawa. The 2009 champions were a company team, Sanyo Electric Sumoto, who were nowhere near good enough to get through the Play-offs, but a strong campaign could see any one of half a dozen or so sides take the title this time around, Osaka-based corporates Ain Food looking as worthwhile a bet as any.



That most coveted of items, a Nara Club shirt

If you can't handle the wild unpredictability of Kansai, perhaps sir would be more interested in the two-horse race that is the Shikoku League? Kamatamare Sanuki and Tokushima Vortis Second have emerged in recent years as the best non-league teams on the island, Kamatamare hoping to follow Vortis' first XI and Ehime FC into the J-League. They haven't managed it so far, though - and things could be complicated by the fact that Ehime's second string as of twelve months ago, Ehime FC Shimanami, are looking like they might start to benefit from coming under the umbrella of a pro club. Crikey.

But have Renofa Yamaguchi really not made it out of the Chugoku League yet? Well no, which is why I mention them. In fact, Renofa are looking like they might turn into a classic example of a Regional League team prevented by the Play-off bottleneck from moving up the pyramid, thereby losing momentum and setting back the prospect of pro football in Yamaguchi potentially by many years. They'll first have to overcome 2009 champions Hiroshima's Sagawa Kyubin Chugoku and there are rumblings over on the Japan Sea coast, too, as Dezzolla Shimane are joined by promoted neighbours Volador Matsue.



HOYO Atletico ELAN go for goal in the Kyushu promotion play-off

Last and now, sadly, in many ways least, the Kyushu League has fallen pretty far, pretty fast. Not so long ago it was the toughest of the Regional Leagues, producing JFL and J-League candidates one after another. But over the winter, champions Okinawa Kariyushi and Vainqueur Kumamoto both folded for financial reasons, prompting angry postings on Kyushu League messageboards about the wide-ranging impact of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The coast would seem to be clear for Volca Kagoshima to become the strongest team in the area, but things sure ain't what they used to be. No indeed.