Japanese clubs chase elusive Tokyo cachet
A controversial decision by J. League second-division side Machida Zelvia to rebrand as FC Machida Tokyo has dominated water-cooler discussions in the Japanese soccer world this week. The announcement by club owner CyberAgent last Friday at a fan meeting was met with instant disapproval, both ...
Japan firms fight the frugal retail psyche with AI-driven pricing and other tricks
After years of soggy inflation and a long reign by Japan's tightfisted shoppers, businesses are adopting new methods to lift prices, from artificial intelligence to simple packaging tweaks. Despite many rounds of stimulus, policymakers have failed to jolt households out of the deflationary mindset that ...
Thai star drives J. League's popularity abroad
After seven years of hard work, the J. League's vaunted "Asian Strategy" has resulted in some significant successes. Building on them will be an even bigger challenge. European stars such as Andres Iniesta and David Villa may be giving the J. League its long-awaited global exposure, ...
Fernando Torres retires with positive J. League legacy
After a night of pomp and circumstance, Fernando Torres' professional career came to a close on Friday as he played his last game wearing the neon blue and pink of Sagan Tosu. Across from him on the pitch were two players with whom he won ...
E-commerce firm Mercari Inc. announced Tuesday it has bought a controlling stake in the first-division Kashima Antlers soccer club, the most successful team in J. League history. Mercari will acquire a 61.6 percent stake in Kashima Antlers F.C. Co., which operates the club, from Nippon ...
Kawasaki Frontale beat Oita Trinita 3-1 in the J. League first division on Saturday after captain Yu Kobayashi struck the winner midway through the second half. Manabu Saito opened the scoring for Frontale in the 51st minute at Todoroki Stadium, but the visitors equalized 10 ...
J. League clubs, players learning to deal with farewells
It's rarely easy to say goodbye. That's especially so in the J. League, where the celebration of players leaving to go overseas has turned into an annual event — along with a never-ending debate over whether much of it is deserved. The honor guards, the video ...
The J. League on Tuesday announced a global distribution deal through the newly launched Rakuten Sports streaming service. The platform, which is currently available for free, will stream three first-division matches per round to over 140 countries through Rakuten's partnership with rights holder Lagardere Sports. ...
Blown call leaves Japanese soccer world scrambling to enact reforms
Friday night's 3-2 win by Shonan Bellmare over Urawa Reds showcased everything great about the J. League, with the plucky underdogs winning in stoppage time to cap a dramatic comeback. Unfortunately, it also saw one of the league's biggest problems — inconsistent officiating — evolve ...
FC Tokyo continues superb start to season
A crucial lesson in FC Tokyo’s 12-game unbeaten run to start the 2019 J. League first-division campaign has been that goals don’t need to come from top striker Diego Oliveira, so long as they come from someone. That was all too true on Saturday at ...
In the third year of the J. League's decade-long, $2 billion domestic broadcasting deal with DAZN, the league is hitting its digital stride and starting to deliver content on par with some of the world's top competitions. The league's ability to rapidly upload viral clips ...
J. League shows sense of humor
Sometimes a sports organization's greatest strength is the capability to laugh at itself. Developing this skill has been one of the J. League's biggest challenges in the modern age of social media-based marketing. It's a challenge that transcends sports in Japan, where a company's brief foray ...
