J-League Blogs

Japan Soccer

Rising Sun News

The doyen of English-language J. League websites, The Rising Sun news has documented the ups and downs of the Japanese game for more than eight years.

Rising Sun News

Reputedly now on strike (according to the author himself), the Rising Sun News is the definitive voice on Japanese football and, like the sadly dormant Football (Japan)
Lost In Translation
blog remains an excellent online record of Japanese football - with a lively and active message board to boot.

Go! Go! Omiya Ardija

An excellent site that has documented the fortunes of Omiya Ardija since early 2005, Go! Go! Omiya Ardija is run and administered by a group of Omiya fans including Furtho, who also runs the outstanding Japanese Non-League Football News Site (furtho2.blog32.fc2.com).

Tricolore Pride

Started in response to the lack of English-language information coming out of Yokohama F. Marinos, Tricolore Pride is an eye-catching new site that details the daily happenings of the club. The site also complements the hilarious M.O.I.S.T. - sadly no longer updated due to the author's departure to Singapore, although it nevertheless remains one of the funniest and most insightful of the personally-maintained blogs.

Soilent Green

A devastatingly funny account of the fortunes of Tokyo Verdy, the URL provides a glimpse into the confused allegiances of its author. A highlight of last season was an emotional confession from the author himself that he would rather watch Omiya Ardija play then follow the the hapless team in green!

Oretachi No Kyoto

Loosely translated as "Our Kyoto," Oretachi No Kyoto begun in early 2007 following Kyoto Sanga's relegation from the top flight a season earlier.

Kawasaki Frontale Supporters

Slightly off the radar is this well-written account of one Japan's most exciting teams. While Kawasaki Frontale do at least acknowledge the presence of English-speaking fans through a rudimentary English page on their website, this Kawasaki supporters blog provides an in-depth match-by-match analysis of the Kanagawa side - although full match reports can be be somewhat sporadic.

Mito-Hollyhock.com

Heavy on text but with plenty of insight into life at the wrong end of Japanese professional football, author Vendo's site acts as a de facto English-language partner to the Ibaraki outfit's Japanese site.

Forza FC Gifu

Having been around for a while - despite the fact that FC Gifu were only promoted to J2 at the start of this season, Forza FC Gifu has proved particularly useful for those seeking English-language information on one of Japan' newest professional teams.

Cerezo Osaka Fansite

An excellent site that belies its title, the Cerezo Osaka fansite may be authored by a pink-hued Norwegian, but it actually contains fairly comprehensive match reports from all games played in J2.

Super Avispa!

An interesting and at one-time bilingual blog, Super Avispa! holds plenty of interest for both German and Australian fans of the J. League, as well those interested in the general fortunes of Avispa Fukuoka.

Plenty of new sites continue to pop up on a regular basis, including the likes of an FC Tokyo fansite Aishiteru Tokyo (www.aishiteru-tokyo.com), the ever-expanding S-Pulse UK Ultras blog (s-pulseukultras.blogspot.com) and Consadole Ole! (www.consadole.net/carlossb) - an account of Consadole Sapporo's fortunes as viewed by an English-speaking Spaniard, as well as old favourites like Alan's Jsoccer (www.jsoccer.com).

Further proof - if it was needed, that the world game truly does command a global audience.

© Soccerphile.com

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