JAKARTA - The Japanese Premier League (Meiji Yasuda J1 League) 2022 competition is one of the best in Asia and the competition between clubs is very fierce, especially in the match between two teams from one region (derby) which is much awaited by fans.
Derby matches are usually not only hot on the pitch, but also become a battle of prestige between fans or supporters of both clubs, which makes this match even more important.
The emergence of a new club or a club that moved cages after the J.League era gave rise to various new competitions. In Japan, the derby is divided into several parts, starting from one city team, one prefecture team, one region, until there is a national derby between the two big teams in Japan.
Quoted from Antara from the official J. League website, Friday, the following is a series of Japanese Premier League derby matches:
Greater Tokyo Area
The Greater Tokyo Area is an urban area around Tokyo that forms one of the largest urban areas in the world and this season there are seven teams from that area. From these teams, there are several hot derby matches that are presented.
The Kanagawa derby brought together two teams from Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama F. Marinos and Kawasaki Frontale. The home of the two teams is only no more than 10 kilometers, making the competition between the two teams hot not only on the field, but also for the fans.
Besides the Kanagawa Derby, Kawasaki Frontale was also involved in a fierce match titled Tamagawa Classico, bringing them together with FCTokyo. The cages for the two teams are no more than 20km apart.
In another part of Greater Tokyo, there is the Shizuoka Derby which pits two teams from Shizuoka Prefecture, Jubilo Iwata and Shimizu S-Pulse. Jubilo Iwata's rise to the top caste this season has made this derby match back after a long absence.
Shimizu S-Pulse and Jubilo Iwata were also involved in a derby match with Aichi Prefecture team, Nagoya Grampus, in a match called the Tokai Derby.
Keihanshin Area (Kansai)
Kansai are famous for their accents that are not the same as standard Japanese in terms of pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.
There is a large metropolis here called Keihanshin, consisting of Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto. This means that there are several J.League clubs from this area and this season there are four teams from here: Gamba Osaka, Cerezo Osaka, Vissel Kobe and Kyoto Sanga. The meeting of two of these four teams is commonly known as the Kansai Derby.
The wedge of these four teams also has their own derby designation. Kyoto Sanga's meeting with Gamba Osaka or Cerezo Osaka was named the Keihan Derby, while the Vissel Kobe meeting with two teams from Osaka was named the Hanshin Derby.
The biggest match in this area is the Osaka Derby, pitting Gamba Osaka who is now based in Suita City, Osaka Prefecture with Cerezo from downtown Osaka.
Kyushu Island
Kyushu is the third largest island in Japan and is the southernmost of the main islands of Sakura Country.
This season, there are two J1 League clubs from Kyushu Island. Avispa Fukuoka and Sagan Tosu represent this island in the top caste.
The duels between these two clubs are usually hot, with both of them hailing from different prefectures and carrying the pride of being the best club on the island.
Sagan Tosu may have the biggest name outside of Japan with they managed to sign Fernando Torres a few seasons ago.
National
In addition to the one-region derby, there are several matches which are commonly called the National Derby because of the size of the match between the two teams, namely Urawa Red Diamonds vs. Gamba Osaka which is also called a two-winded duel.
This is because the Urawa Reds who came from the East from Saitama Prefecture, against the Gamba from the West who came from Osaka Prefecture.
Both teams come from two major metropolitan cities in Japan: the Greater Tokyo Area in the East and the Keihanshin Area in the West. This duel is considered a national derby because of the achievements and big names that both have.
In addition, there is also the Kashima Antlers vs Jubilo Iwata match. Antlers are the owners of the most J1 League titles with eight times, while Jubilo had reigned over Japan with three J1 League titles in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
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