Part 1: Autoethnographic analysis of the J-league

After much deliberation on a topic for this assignment , I have decided

to watch a Japanese football game and make an autoethnographic analysis of this

particular game. The J-league (Japanese professional football league) is not one of the

biggest leagues in the world. Therefore, I had to do some background reading to find out

more about it. I also found it difficult trying to find an appropriate game in order to be

able to give a accurate analysis of what a game played in the J league is actually like, and

what distinguishes it from other competitions around the world. Coming from Australia,

I have mostly been subjected to Australian football and English football (which is the

biggest and most well know league globally). One of the main things that I first noticed

that separated a game in the Hyundai A-league (Australian Professional Football

League) and the J-League was culture. Japanese culture is very strong and important to

the Japanese people. I was fortunate enough to have witnessed this first hand last

February when I traveled to the amazing country of Japan. Unfortunately, I did not get

to watch a professional football game when I was in Japan, as it was the middle of

winter. However I can only imagine based on their personalities and culture how

passionate the game would be. The games are played with a lot of passion and football

is increasing in popularity all the time. It is not the most popular sport. Baseball takes

the title as the most popular sport in Japan. Football is catching up and is not far behind

baseball.

After finding out a bit about Japan and what football was like in Japan I decided

to look up how they compared on an international scale. Both the Hyundai A-league and

the J-League were ranked similarly. They are both professional leagues. However, they

are both near the bottom of the world professional football rankings with leagues like

the EPL (English Premier League) and La Liga (Spanish First Division Professional

Football) featuring up the top of the ladder. I was intrigued to see how many Australians

footballers played in the J-League since there are many Japanese players in the A-

League.

The match I have chosen to view and analyse is a match between the two J-

League teams: The Urawa Red Diamonds and Vegalta Sendai. I had honestly never heard

of these two teams before, so I may have had some preconceived ideas of the level that

they would play at. However, I tried to keep an open mind in order to ensure this did

not taint my view as I watched and analysed the game.

Selecting the game was obviously down to availability, but when I found the right

area of YouTube, it was easier. Then there was the quality of the match, which became a

consideration as well. I wanted the J-League game to give me a good idea of not just the

two best teams going head to head, but to involve a team that might be closer to the

relegation zone in order to get an accurate idea of the depth of quality in this league.

It was very challenging for me to find a game in high definition. Once I found one, there

were a few options with aided me in my decision. The Japanese footballing world

obviously is not big on the Australian Internet yet. This is understandable as Australia

has its own league and the J-League is not one of the highest quality leagues. If I lived in

Japan, then these would be easily accessible as it is fully televised over there. Here is the

link that I used when watching the game, which you can change into high definition.

Something that stood out to me when watching the game was the lack of physicality of

the players. I assumed that this would be the case, but I was not expecting how short

and skinny some of the players were. I was so impressed how they were able to use

their bodies to their advantage and play a much more tactical game than a physical one.

The Japanese play a very smart, fast paced game, which works to their advantage as

most of the players showed great agility. In my opinion football can get too physical and

so I was eager to see how the players would cope with the physical side of the game

over the full 90 minutes. The game/recording that I watched did not have a pre game

show, so I was not able to witness the style in which the Japanese would perform a pre

game show. This was a bit disappointing. However, when the game did start I could hear

the tone of the commentators and it sounded very similar to what I am used to in

English and Australian football.

The advertisements around the pitch were very noticeable to me since I am not used to

seeing Japanese writing, although this obviously would not have been the case for to the

Japanese supporters at the game. What may have stood out to them more could have

been the colours of the advertisement or the font size. But the most likely thing would

have been the actual writing itself. I can not read Japanese, so I have no idea what the

advertisements were about but of course they would have known. This is a good

example of cultural difference and how one culture differs from the next. Australian

culture isn’t as alien to the Japanese as most of them learn to speak English at school,

even if it is only just the basics. English is one of the most spoken languages in the world

and is universally used in most commercial transactions around the world. Australians

often don’t bother learning other languages as they expect people to speak English.

Mandarin is the most spoken language in the world.

The final score of the game was 3-1 to Urawa Reds, so I was blessed with plenty of goals

and goal celebrations. The goal celebrations changed after every goal but seemed very

similar to those in the A League and in the EPL. It was just a celebration to the crowd

and a run to the bench to celebrate with the rest of the team and the managers. This was

very similar to most other leagues around the world. However I watched some match

highlights and some of those teams had funny group goal celebrations. However, this

was not common.

When the game was over, the teams lined up to shake hands. I think this showed great

respect and sportsmanship on both sides. Although Vegalta Sendai ended up losing the

match they still waited around at the end to show support for their fans that travelled to

watch them play away from home. Urawa Reds stayed for much longer as the

celebrations began and the chanting grew louder. This was a great win for the Urawa

Reds and they fully deserved the win in my opinion. Until next week they can sleep

soundly when another testing game would stand in their way. The J-League is an ever

changing and improving league, so I can’t wait to see what it has in store for the future.

 

References

http://www.thesportster.com/soccer/top-15- worst-professional-soccer-leagues- in-the- world/

(Urawa Red Diamonds vs. Vegalta Sendai J1 League 2016 Season)

highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckF4QJDeUaY