KAWAGUCHI, Saitama Pref. -- Soccer fans hoping to stop for a cup of coffee on their way to or from World Cup games at Saitama Stadium won't be able to do so at Katsura cafe here. Whenever matches are being played -- and hooligans might be in the area -- the cafe will be closed.
Owner Shizue Yoshida, 57, has also taken out special "hooligan insurance" on her cafe, which has full-length windows along two walls and is located on the street running between Higashi Kawaguchi Station and Saitama Stadium.
"Though I'm a bit curious (about the kind of customers who might have turned up), I'm closing the cafe for the entire day during each of the four matches," she said. "I can't risk putting it in the same situation I've seen in TV broadcasts from overseas."