What are your thoughts as you look back on the 30th anniversary 2023 season? There were various anniversary events this year. Please share your special memories or thoughts on the 30-year history of J.LEAGUE.

I don’t think that there’s any special feeling simply due to the fact we’re marking the 30th anniversary. Whether it’s the 30th year or the 31st year of the League, there’s no difference in terms of the football. Each and every year, without fail, I always feel that all the players and staff are giving their very best. That being said, with regard to the question of how to boost fan numbers and expand the football family, through the various events we have held in the 30th anniversary year, I think that we have been able to reach out effectively and tell our story to various people.

In 2023 the entire football world focused its discussions on the matter of the season system, specifically how it has functioned for the past 30 years, and how it needs to be changed for the next 30 years. People expressed various ideas and views from their respective positions, and the fact that we were all able to focus our minds on the next 30 years as one big topic, including how we compare with the rest of the world, made it a very good year for us.

This was your second year as Chairman. Were you able to build greater momentum for reforms this season?

Since being appointed in 2022 I have approached the job with a sense of forward momentum. In 2022 I worked proactively to change various things and one of those that I gave most thought to this year was whether we are really serious about wanting to compete on the global stage. This was something that had long been on my mind, but I felt it more strongly than ever before this year. Its importance was brought home to me when I met and talked with people from overseas clubs and those doing business in the world of football. When it comes to what motivates national team players and young players when playing football, and whether those of us on the front side share the same kind of mindset, I am glad that I realised, albeit a little belatedly, the importance of being more aware of the international context. I think that our future direction will become clear if we have a strong sense of how J.LEAGUE needs to be, both domestically and internationally.

The Japan National Team made leaps this year, and the way the world views them has also changed. Given this situation, J.LEAGUE can’t just stay the same as it has been, can it?

Exactly. It’s true that brilliant players have emerged from J.LEAGUE, but I believe that we can make the league even better. There are various ways in which we can boost the level of football, and if you focus purely on the football alone, we absolutely need to change the decline in performance that occurs during the summer.

Vissel Kobe became J1 LEAGUE Champions for the first time. What was your impression of their championship run, including the football itself?

Vissel Kobe have faced tough times as a club in the past and so their Championship title was a really good moment for them. I think there were also many times this season when very big decisions had to be made, but I feel that the team got through these moments together, rather than relying on the power of one person alone. In particular, I think the fact that Vissel Kobe achieved such good results in 2023, when there was no particular stand out team in J1, was in large part also due to the strength of the club’s experienced players. I feel that it was the entire club, not just the players, that thought about what kind of football they needed to play and what was necessary to win, and then put those thoughts into footballing action, which is really amazing.

Avispa Fukuoka’s first-ever J.LEAGUE YBC Levain Cup win was also tremendously impactful.

Absolutely. Fukuoka’s winning of the cup was also impressive. Under manager Shigetoshi HASEBE, it’s been amazing to see the club win promotion to J1, steadily improve, and ultimately claim this title.

In J2 and J3 too, FC Machida Zelvia and Ehime FC both claimed their first-ever titles.

In the case of Machida, out on the field, everyone played excellently under the direction of manager Go KURODA. This really showed the importance of growing a club’s size when aiming for the top. My impression is that the group as a whole won promotion, and that includes efforts made to strengthen the players. This is the most rational way of building up a professional football club.
In J3, the clubs were all really evenly matched, and Ehime’s winning of the title was the result of its continuous efforts over the course of multiple seasons.

With regard to attendance during the 2023 season, overall attendance at official J.LEAGUE matches stood at 99.3% of the figures for 2019, which was the all-time best year for attendance. Was this good attendance a result of actively utilising the National Stadium and various other promotions?

Given the restrictions resulting from the impact of COVID-19 during the three years from 2020 to 2022 and also up to May 8, 2023, when COVID-19 was reclassified as a Class 5 disease, the fact that total attendance at official matches has returned almost to 2019 levels is somewhat reassuring. I want us to aim to make 2024 the best year ever for attendance, surpassing figures for 2019. The use of the National Stadium also relates to the question of how to provide an environment where people living in central Tokyo can enjoy football. Using the National Stadium would also be beneficial for clubs that aim to attract fans in the Greater Tokyo Area outside of their home towns. The largest attendance at matches played at the National Stadium in 2023 was 57,058 at a J1 match, and 47,628 at a J2 match. What is more, the match between FC Bayern München and Manchester City FC at the Audi Football Summit powered by docomo attracted a crowd of 65,049 people.

Does having a special stadium like the National Stadium have an impact on attendance numbers?

Yes, without a doubt. It has an impact and the stadium is very important. It is only when a stadium has its own value and appeal that you can enjoy football to the fullest, and I think it will increase demand for good stadiums in the future. The National Stadium enjoys excellent access, which may also make it easier for all people to get there.

Do you plan on actively using the National Stadium during the 2024 season? It will likely be an effective way of developing a new fan base.

Yes, we do indeed have plans to use the stadium in 2024. We have data that shows that matches held on a Friday attract a different sort of demographic from the weekend spectators, with more people who work in the city coming to a match on their way home from work. We believe that gaining football fans in the Greater Tokyo Area and attracting new members of the football family is critical for the further growth of J.Clubs and J.LEAGUE, so we will continue to try out various new initiatives with that in mind.

There are still many, many people out there who may not be passionate supporters or follow a particular team, but who enjoy watching football. Although increasing the number of core fans is of course very important for clubs, we must also think separately about how to bring in new supporters. For there to be a club that has the momentum to lead Japan forward, it will have to be one that many people, not only those in the club’s local region, will want to go and see play. In the context of wanting J.Clubs to be such clubs, it is important to engage in promotions in the Greater Tokyo Area, and J.LEAGUE must support clubs that are thinking in this way.

In terms of developing new opportunities and momentum, the MEIJI YASUDA J.LEAGUE WORLD CHALLENGE was very effective. How was the response to this event?

Many of attendance were people who don’t normally come to J.LEAGUE matches. We were able to invite Manchester City FC, winners of the UEFA Champions League in the 2022-23 season, and FC Bayern München, and the matches proved to be an excellent opportunity to showcase J.LEAGUE and Japanese football to a wider audience. I also believe that by working together, we were able to convey the sheer appeal and power of football to not only spectators but also our partners. It is vitally important that we further expand the football market within Japan, and the event was a good initiative in that respect.

It must have been a good experience for J.LEAGUE personnel involved too.

Yes, indeed. There are relatively few opportunities to interact with people from the football business in other countries, so this was an important experience for J.LEAGUE personnel. There aren’t many events in Japan that attract 60,000 people, so being able to experience such an event makes a big difference. I think that it also provided the opportunity to think more broadly about various things. Although it was perhaps hard work and challenging to organise, it was rewarding for everyone involved.

Next let’s talk about J.LEAGUE’s two growth strategies that look ahead to the next 30 years. In 2024 the number of clubs in the J1 and J2 Leagues is also set to change.

Each league will have 20 clubs, which I hope makes things easier to understand (laughs). For the past 30 years, right from the inception of J.LEAGUE, the priority focus has been on how to win domestically and how to stabilise football domestically. During that time J.LEAGUE has grown significantly, but it is also a fact that there is now a bigger gap between J.LEAGUE and other overseas leagues compared to the situation 30 years ago. Therefore, in the next 30 years, we need to be about changing our mindset and growing not only through domestic competitions, but also by paying close attention to the world.

I think that the battle to see which clubs can take on the world really begins now. Expanding J1 from 18 to 20 clubs expands the opportunity for gaining promotion from J2 and gives all clubs a chance. As the 60 clubs all give their best and steadily develop, some clubs will emerge from the 20 J1 clubs to become leaders of Japanese football, which will drive the value of J1 even further upwards. That is my vision for the next 30 years.

For that to happen we want to see more and more people wanting to become general managers (GM) of clubs that have the potential to take on the world.

I hope that we will see many more business-minded people in football who can lead teams to victory and generate income for clubs through transfers, etc. With players now transferring overseas to the major European leagues, Japanese coaches will also surely start making it overseas soon. In the future, I fully expect that there will be Japanese people involved in every aspect of the football business overseas too. When that happens, it will signify that Japanese football has finally made it to the next level. There are many things we need to do, but what is vital is to have the mindset of seriously aiming for such a scenario. That is where we really need a shift in mindset.

2023 also saw the Club Support Division launch activities.

established Club Support Division assists each region in expanding exposure and other activities, and I think it has been beneficial also for J.LEAGUE personnel to get directly involved with the clubs and learn about the realities that clubs and regions face.

In October 2022 we started broadcasting “KICK OFF!” via local TV stations with the aim of promoting football in each of Japan’s regions. In 2023 this initiative expanded to 30 TV stations nationwide, covering 45 prefectures in total. Aiming to get more and more people interested in football, it is providing a wide range of information around the country, including everything from primary and junior-high-school football to club information. Such efforts to catch people’s attention have helped to boost exposure, including news programme, etc., by more than tenfold, and there is numerical evidence to show that advertising value has also increased about tenfold, which indicates to me that we have achieved more than a good level of success. I would go as far as to say that people around the country now have overwhelmingly more opportunities to come into contact with football. I definitely get a sense that we are becoming more connected with the local media and supporters, and that the football family is growing.

For J.LEAGUE, in the sense that these activities will all pay forward, could you say that they are an investment?

When investing limited resources, whether it is in people or a financial investment, what is important is the expected degree of return and how the returns could then be reinvested. If you can generate such a cycle, it becomes positively reinforcing and there are many aspects in which we have achieved this. What is more, clubs that are still growing are really struggling with resources and other issues, so I think just one or two J.LEAGUE personnel members going to such clubs would be a great deal of help for them.

The fact that J3 clubs can play against J1 and J2 clubs in J.LEAGUE YBC Levain Cup is also a new opportunity.

Yes. It could also attract people who wouldn’t normally come to stadiums to come and watch a match. For the clubs it will provide various experiences and will also have a positive impact on sales and business opportunities. I hope that the J3 clubs can capitalise on such opportunities. When you recognise that something is about to change, it is very important to know how you are going to approach it mentally and how to take on the challenges it will bring. Whether you think that it will be a hassle, or anticipate that something exciting could happen, J.LEAGUE provides the opportunity, and then I hope the clubs will make the most of it.

The J.LEAGUE Board of Directors resolved to implement a season transition(change start time of season) from the 2026/27 season. This outcome is something that took almost one year of discussions to work out. What has been decided from these discussions, and what issues still need to be solved?

As I mentioned at the beginning, the time we spent discussing the transition was really fruitful. We could have come to some kind of a solution in just two or three months if we had tried, but the fact that we were able to spend a year talking things over with various people made it a really important time for thinking about the future of Japanese football and so we proceeded carefully and attentively. I’m not saying that the discussions changed everyone’s minds, but they really helped to shift perceptions. Me and everyone else involved thought it was fantastic that we were all able to think and deepen our understanding about where we want to take football in this country, and what we want to aim for in terms of global football.

It is no easy thing to overturn entrenched views and preconceptions. From a football standpoint, I want to change the season system, but from a business standpoint, I do of course have some concerns about what the changeover may bring. However, when I realised that I should go back to the basics of the J.LEAGUE Mission to “raise the level of Japanese football” and think about things more simply, and I saw the evidence laid out before me in the form of the summer performance data of players, it was absolutely clear that we needed to implement a change. If we simply stick with the current season system, especially considering the likelihood of climate change impact in the future, we would never be able to play high-intensity, high-performance matches. I recognised that we needed to create an environment in which players could aim for even greater heights and that unless we raised the quality of football, we couldn’t achieve the further development of Japanese football. Also, with regard to the second point of the J.LEAGUE Mission, to “foster the development of Japan’s sporting culture,” I realised that we must also change the footballing environment in Japan’s snowy areas, which hasn’t changed for many years.

Looking at it in terms of the role that J.LEAGUE needs to play in order to “raise the level of Japanese football,” and “foster the development of Japan’s sporting culture,” I understood that the season transition(change start time of season) would benefit both the business side and the footballing side, so it was something I could really get behind.

So you will think about the sporting environment in both the summer and winter.

I very much hope that the planned season transition prompts people to think about the best ways to approach the summer and winter seasons for sports in Japan. Environments where football can be played all year round are being developed in various parts of Japan, helping to eliminate regional disparities. I think it’s important for such changes to be firmly established in Japan 30 years from now. If we made a decision in as little as two or three months, such a short timeframe would not have provided time for thought, which is why the time that we took has turned out to be such a positive thing, even for me. There were various questions and doubts raised during the process, and J.LEAGUE personnel did their best to respond to each of them. We were able to flag issues that remain outstanding and through discussions we were all able to align ourselves in the same direction, which is a truly marvellous outcome.

I understand that J.LEAGUE partners have indicated their understanding and support for the season transition (changing start time of season)and the changes to the format of J.LEAGUE YBC Levain Cup.

We have created various opportunities to explain plans for the season transition, and have gained their full understanding. It is really encouraging that our partners are fully on board with the direction J.LEAGUE is set to take.

In October 2023 the number of Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company employees and local peoples around Japan who have visited stadiums exceeded a cumulative total of two million people. Not only is Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance our title partner, it also has partnership agreements with various clubs and is supporting regional football clubs that aren’t in J.LEAGUE. I am truly grateful that we are working together in the same direction for the future of football in Japan. I also believe that YAMAZAKI-BISCUITS Co., Ltd. fully understands the benefits that the changes to J.LEAGUE YBC Levain Cup will have both for business and for football.

We would like to continue our efforts with our partners who support J.LEAGUE to think about what we can do together for society and build win-win relationship all round.