Is this the most picturesque stadium in Japan?
Why Yamagata has the best sports stadium in Japan
Kia ora Koutou, Tim Bunting, Kiwi Yamabushi here on the Japan you never knew you wanted to know.
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There’s nothing quite like live sports.
I hadn’t been to an actual rugby match since I saw South Africa defeat Japan at the 2019 World Cup. So when I heard that professional rugby was coming to my own backyard (kind of, it’s still a two-hour drive to ND Soft Stadium1), I jumped at the opportunity.
Toyota Verblitz (that Beauden Barrett and Aaron Smith played for) and Suntory Sungoliath held a pre-season match for the upcoming Japan Rugby League One. Why they went with that name I have no idea. Do Japanese people not know of the existence of Rugby league? (If they had a Rugby league league, would they call it Japan Rugby Union One?)
And yes, those are the real names of the teams.
Japanese sports team names are almost as creative as their mascots.
Almost.
For the longest time I couldn’t figure out what Yamagata’s football team name, Montedio Yamagata, meant. Turns out, for Kami knows what reason, it’s from Italian for‘Mountain’ and ‘god’ (is there an Italian football team called Kamiyama?), in a nod to the sacred mountains of Yamagata.
Which, conveniently,
you can see from the stands.
I think it is Omoshiro-yama (Mountain of Intrigue) and Suisho-zan (Crystal Peak, where you can find actual crystals) specifically we can see, but either way,
it is extremely beautiful.
An amazing backdrop under which to compete at sport. Almost as good as The John Davies' Oval in Queenstown that sits next to The Remarkables.
Almost.
Speaking about viewing sports, the award for the best place to watch sports might in fact be in the biggest roundabout in the world, The Basin Reserve.
Or, more specifically,
The toilets of The Basin Reserve.
You see, if you are male, you can take a whizz while watching the game! The toilets there are designed for the perfect view from the urinal. It’s the only toilet in the world that men have to wait longer than women to use.
Unheard of.
And, as expected, when I was watching the rugby match, I kept finding myself affected by the curse of Japan’s mountains. I couldn’t help but stare at the expansive mountains and not want to be up there.
Especially now. Autumn is the best season in Japan.
Don’t agree?
Fight me.
All I need to do is take you up there,
or I could just take you to a rugby match at ND Soft Stadium.
Daily Yamabushi for This Week
Daily Yamabushi posts for the week of November 8 to , 2024.
Read Daily Yamabushi for free at timbunting.com/blog or Medium.com.
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Ka kite ano.
Tim.