State of the J – J.League Regista

State of the J – Shonan Bellmare

(Header photo from @bellmare_staff) The Kanagawa coastline is starting to get busy. Summer is coming, and the beaches are starting to get full of the surfers, loafers & people that…

State of the J – Vissel Kobe

A brief hiatus, our look at the state of J.League teams is back for another salvo, this time looking at the interesting case of Vissel Kobe. The Rakuten backed club…

State of the J: Cerezo Osaka

This is a team I’ve been wanting to explore for a long time. The club that brought us Shinji Kagawa & Takashi Inui have long been a glamorous name in…

State of the J: Giravanz Kitakyushu

Now this is an interesting case. A club that was seemingly on the way up but now finds itself struggling a bit to get to grips with life in the…

State of the J: FC Tokyo

The team that represents the Japanese capital in J1 had Sky Tree high designs for this season. With manager Yoshiyuki Shinoda installed on a permanent basis after a fine run…

State of the J: FC Gifu

I know, I know. “Why are you talking about FC Gifu? You should be remaining impartial!” I get it, and that is why I’ve enlisted the help of someone who…

State of the J: Yokohama FC

The previous installments of this series have looked at teams in the top tier of Japanese football, but now we’re going to switch lanes and look at a team that…

State of the J: Yokohama F. Marinos

Yokohama F.Marinos were a mystery before the season started, and have continued on the mysterious trajectory, combining some excellent performances such as their opening day win against Urawa with some…

State of the J: Sanfrecce Hiroshima

With the emphasis on “state” – because that is what Sanfrecce Hiroshima are in. Currently in the bottom three with just two wins from their thirteen games so far, this…

State of the J: Kawasaki Frontale

Often the “trendy pick” amongst the football hipsters in Japan (or have I just imagined that?) Kawasaki Frontale have flattered to deceive on many occasions. Under previous boss Yahiro Kazama…