Football in Japan
overview of association football practiced in Japan
Football (soccer) is among the most popular sports in Japan, together with baseball, tennis, golf, sumo, and combat sports. Around 40% of Japanese people consider themselves football fans. The nationwide organization of football, the Japan Football Association, administers the professional football leagues, including J.League, which is considered by many the most successful football league in Asia. Japan is also the country with the most comprehensively developed football in Asia in both men and women as well as in both futsal and beach soccer.
Football
Although the official English name of the Japan Football Association uses the term "football", the term sakkā (サッカー), derived from "soccer", is much more commonly used than futtobōru (フットボール). The JFA's Japanese name is Nippon Sakkā Kyōkai.
From 1885 to around 1908 in the Meiji era, fūtobōru (フートボール) was the most commonly used term, and assoshieshon (アッソシエーション) also appeared; these were often written together with kemari (蹴鞠), a ball game of the Heian period. During the Taishō era and the early Shōwa era, terms such as ashiki futtobōru (ア式フットボール), ashiki shūkyū (ア式蹴球), and shūkyū (蹴球) came into frequent use. With previously exclusive Japanese terms replaced by American influence after the war, sakkā became more commonplace. In recent years, many professional teams have named themselves F.C.s (football clubs), with examples being FC Tokyo and Kyoto Sanga FC.
History
The introduction of football in Japan is officially credited by the Japan Football Association, and numerous academic papers and books on the history of association football in Japan, to then Lieutenant-Commander Archibald Lucius Douglas of the Royal Navy and his subordinates, who from 1873 taught the game and its rules to Japanese navy cadets while acting as instructors at the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy in Tsukiji, Tokyo.
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