Which among Japanese soccer’s many rivalries —whether geographical, contrived or simply the result of familiarity breeding contempt — best represents the last 30 years of the J. League?

Is it the Shizuoka Derby, fought by Shimizu S-Pulse and Jubilo Iwata in what was, for decades, considered to be the country’s top prefecture for producing players?

Is it Urawa Reds vs. Kashima Antlers or any of the other so-called National Derbies between the league’s “Original 10” founding clubs?

Or is it the “Battle of Kyushu,” a league-backed effort to hype up matches between the ever-growing number of clubs on the southwestern island?

The real answer may lie along the Tama River that flows between Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture, where another card — aided by a bit of marketing and no small amount of attitude — has come to produce some of the J. League’s best atmospheres.

The "Tamagawa Clasico," contested by FC Tokyo and Kawasaki Frontale, may lack the 121-year history of its namesake — the legendary “El Clasico” between Barcelona and Real Madrid — but its growth into one of the J. League’s highest-profile rivalries highlights the significance of what the two clubs represent to the league and potentially lays out a blueprint for other clubs to follow.

“It’s a bit different from foreign derbies — of course, neither team wants to lose. But in a good sense, there’s mutual respect,” said former Tokyo midfielder Naohiro Ishikawa. “That might be unique to Japan. It’s a clasico, it’s a derby, but there’s respect. I think that’s the biggest thing. Overseas, I don’t think there’s necessarily that level of respect between the two teams.”

Both clubs, upon entering the J. League as part of the newly launched second division in 1999, addressed key needs that enabled them to quickly develop strong support in their communities.

Frontale was embraced by fans in Kawasaki who had long grown cynical of league co-founder Verdy Kawasaki’s attempts to brand itself as “Nippon SC” — in the style of the club’s baseball siblings, the Yomiuri Giants — rather than focus on generating a local following.

Meanwhile, despite the J. League having grown from 10 to 18 clubs between 1993 and 1998, FC Tokyo was the first to hail from the capital proper — Tokyo’s National Stadium had been used by other clubs as a neutral ground in order to drum up interest, as well as a venue for cup finals.

Prior to co-founding the J2, Frontale and Tokyo enjoyed a strong rivalry in the 1990s-era Japan Football League, and that relationship continued as both secured promotion to the top flight in their first season — even though Frontale would spend just one campaign in the J1 before dropping back to J2 for a four-year spell.

An FC Tokyo-developed poster campaign asking if Frontale “really want to beat Tokyo,” displayed at stations along the JR Nambu line connecting Kawasaki to western Tokyo, drew an enthusiastic response ahead of their November 2006 clash — where Tokyo came back from a 4-1 deficit to win 5-4 — while Frontale officials had long been considering establishing a derby that could be continuously promoted by the club.

The two clubs agreed to formalize the relationship, announcing the Tamagawa Clasico branding at a news conference in 2007 that promised joint promotional campaigns and drew unusually strong media coverage. Their first game that season — a 5-2 Frontale win — was dubbed the 11th Tamagawa Clasico, retroactively including their 10 previous J. League meetings.

“We knew there would be more attention, not just among Tokyo and Frontale’s supporters but from J. League fans across the country,” said Ishikawa, who currently holds a public relations role with FC Tokyo following his 2017 retirement. “We were excited about more people watching us play, because that’s what you want as a player.”

The matchup has historically been among the biggest draws of the season for both clubs, with sellouts far from uncommon. The 2009 Nabisco Cup final, though not officially branded as a Tamagawa Clasico, drew 44,308 to the old National Stadium, while Friday’s announced crowd at the new National Stadium was 56,705 — well exceeding the previous J1 high of 42,604 set at Ajinomoto Stadium in July 2019.

While things can get heated between the teams, the Tamagawa Clasico has avoided serious incidents of poor fan behavior that have marred the Shizuoka, Osaka, Saitama and Yokohama derbies in the past, and among Friday's crowd were 9,000 Frontale supporters who filled the away stand with blue and black flags.

“The Tamagawa Clasico is a different atmosphere, a different level of passion from both teams,” said Tokyo winger Teruhito Nakagawa, who until last year faced Kawasaki in the Kanagawa derby as a member of Yokohama F. Marinos. “We knew that we had a chance to get our confidence back by beating Frontale, and everyone was motivated.”

After entering the pitch to an elaborate display featuring 1,000 fireworks and 200 drones, the players engaged in fireworks of their own on the pitch, with five yellow cards and a red shown over the course of the game.

Tokyo held on for a 2-1 win over 10-man Frontale — its first in the Clasico since May 2018.

“I’ve played in a lot of Tamagawa Clasicos, and I have a lot of disappointing memories, but it’s because of those that I can be so happy about winning today on such a big stage,” Tokyo defender Masato Morishige said.

Friday saw Frontale’s unbeaten streak of eight wins in nine games come to an end, but Toru Oniki’s men can take heart in the team’s overall Clasico record of 21 J1 wins to Tokyo’s 11 — and both teams’ fans will be looking forward to the Sept. 16 rematch at Todoroki Stadium.

“The Clasico represents everything that had built up and everything we wanted to accomplish, and that feeling has become stronger every year,” Ishikawa said. “Even though I’ve retired, Frontale has jumped ahead as a J. League champion and I want us to catch up to them.”