The Barmy Army storms over Sapporo town

The town planned according to a North-South, East-West grid, another alien trait in a country where cities are notoriously confusing to navigate – is eminently walkable. The pavements are wide and clean, not too crowded, there are pedestrian lights at every crossing.

For a city of 1.8 million people, there’s no sign of population pressure. The roads, as I said, are clean, the police force smartly turned out and always willing to help, you can always get a place on a bus or streetcar. And no traffic jams.

If there’s any strain on the city, it’s come from the hundreds of English fans who’ve descended here. My hotel (I’ve moved up, accountants notwithstanding, from a motel and all its implications) is bang in the middle of Susukino, Sapporo’s entertainment district.

And Thursday night, 24 hours before the Big match, Susukino was the place to be. Every single bar was packed with English fans, singing, clapping, shouting. The Japanese, for all their westernisation, were complete outsiders in this spectacle. They looked on, gawking and often teasing the girls who stood on the street-corners waiting for their turn at business.

Opposite the road from my hotel room was the Sapporo Sports Bar, apparently the hippest of them all. I was kept up till 3 a.m. by the fans. But I could tell they were flagging when they started on “Land of Hope and Glory”. And I knew it was all over when they sang – or rather rasped their way through – God Save the Queen.

The singing was accompanied by the frequent sounds of police sirens, though I didn’t see the cops do anything more than just show their strength. There were many bleary eyes at breakfast this morning in my hotel’s restaurant. The complimentary all-you-can-eat deal worked out well for the hotel; most of the Englishmen couldn’t eat anything and stuck to coffee. Several corner-girls evidently struck it rich, too; setting out for the day, I saw several, freshly bathed, with their companions of the night before. Who says football doesn’t make friendships?

By Friday evening, kickoff a few hours away, there was a certain tension in Sapporo. You could see it from the policemen who stood on subway platforms, at bus stops and shopping malls, anywhere they smelt trouble. They say the bars will close early tonight. The English seemed to have got wind of that; several of them made off for the Sapporo Dome looking a little unsteady. I’m sure they’ll shout it off.