Japanese take terrace chanting to new heights

There is neither the spontaneity nor the violent edge of fans in Europe. Instead there is carefully orchestrated chanting in three languages. At the prompt of the Ultras leader, Asahi Ueda, taiko drums beat out a rhythm for chants such as the Japanese “Nippon, Nippon”, the English “Here We Go” and the French “Allez Japon.” Within seconds it reverberates around the ground.

Although Ultras Nippon is not a formal organisation, it boasts100,000 supporters, most of whom are so familiar with the choreographed chanting of clubs in the national J.League that they slip easily into the routine at international level.

Take Yoko Saki, who has paid 600,000 Yen ($4,300) to be among the approximately 27,000 Japanese fans expected to go to France for the World Cup, is a member of the Shimizu S-Pulse fan club. At their rehearsals, she and 20 others playing drums and tambourines practice the samba rhythms that they will spread among their subgroups of fans on match days.

Ultra’s leader Ueda, who spent a year in England following Leeds United, said that there was no hint of hooliganism among Japanese soccer followers. “The atmosphere of Japanese football is different because there are so many women and families among supporters. Even if we wanted to, we couldn’t intimidate anyone. So we take the opposite approach – we try to impress with our dedication and good behaviour.”

Ueda has even contacted fans in Seoul about joining hands at the World Cupto support each others teams despite the bitter rivalry between Japan and South Korea. His success was apparent late last month at Japan’s final home game before setting off for Europe. At the futuristic Yokohama stadium, almost the entire crowd of 66,000 were singing along in French, giving their team a send-off to a World Cup in which they are rank outsiders. After the game, coach Okada said the players still had a long way to go to live up to such support. “We don’t yet have a top level team, but our fans are among the best in the world.”