Dome Corporation president Shuichi Yasuda has the vision, Satoshi Okura the know-how and former Dutch international and Rangers player Pieter Huistra the experience. The goal now is to combine their respective talents as they embark on the task of building a professional soccer club from scratch.
Yasuda announced the creation of the new team, Iwaki FC, earlier this week at the Dome Kickoff party at Ariake Coliseum, and he has grand ambitions. He wants the club to become a pillar in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture (among the areas devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011), and ultimately, years, maybe decades down the line, help change Japan's sporting landscape.
"We would like to energize Japan through sports," Yasuda said Wednesday. "Well, actually, reform it. When you look at America and European countries such as Germany and Britain, they lead their societies with sports. We've looked closely at what they do and we've always wanted our society to do the same. We must do it. We've talked about this project over the past year and it has materialized."