The ritual of being a Kashima Antlers Fan and my first J League experience
The first foray into Japan's football fandom
For those who don’t like football, I promise this isn’t a match analysis post but about the fascinating surrounding culture. I am not an expert on J League, so this post will detail an outsiders perspective on game day rituals for a typical league game. I have another post that details the history of the Antlers linked here.
As a diehard football fan I naturally wanted to experience the true live atmosphere. Luckily we have a friend whose devotion to the Kashima Antlers exceeds anything I’ve ever seen. She dedicates almost every match day to drive for hours across the country to follow the team wherever they play. For context this is truly up and down Japan with the most northern team in Sapporo, and the southernmost in Sagan Tosu in the south. She was the perfect guide to the true J League experience.
The Drive
We met our friend in Tokyo; she lives and works there so it was the obvious place to start the journey. Going to a home game, we naively thought this meant it was close to her home. The Kashima stadium is actually over 90 minutes away from Tokyo, in a different city called Kashima! Somehow although the game started at 3pm, we needed to leave Tokyo by 9am. Without needing to consult a calculator, we desperately prayed that we weren’t expected to sit in the stands for 4 and a half hours.
Along the interstate drive north from Tokyo we stopped at a highway rest area. I know this isn’t something very noteworthy, except to say the following:
Highway rest areas in Japan aren’t just a petrol station with suspicious sushi. They are giant malls. This may well be another post, but the rest areas are pretty incredible. There’s a lot of food outlets, clothing stores, the one I went to even had a Gundam vending machine.
This one going northwest from Tokyo was filled with Kashima supporters. While still midway between Tokyo and Kashima (and on a major highway linking many towns and cities), 90% of the people were dressed in Kashima merchandise.
It was really at this rest area that we began to understand that travelling fans were actually the norm for this specific team. This is where a detour into Kashima and the Antlers history would explain a lot.
Read this link if this is of interest, otherwise keep on going!
The pilgrimage
Since no one really lives in Kashima (apologies to the 60,000 residents), most fans travel to go to the home games from other cities. There becomes a routine of leaving around the same time, stopping at the same rest station area, smoking together, then going to Kashima Shrine.
Where other football fans describe their stadium as a cathedral to the team, Kashima could almost be considered a team for the cathedral. Before the Antlers ever existed, there was Kashima Shrine. Historians estimate this was first built during Japanese prehistory (way before Japanese written language, so this is an estimate) in 600BC. From there it became one of the key temples in Shintoism.
Kashima Shrine is the true spiritual home of the team. The name Antlers was chosen due to the deer enclosure at Kashima Shrine. Supporters travel to the Shrine for good luck for the team, but also good luck in general. It is a beautiful location, surrounded on all sides with ancient trees. Some trees are so ancient they get special harnesses to keep them off the ground. Life is treated with reverence and even to a layperson like me, I felt like the shrine transported me to a different time.
The other highlight of the shrine are the deer. Unlike the touristed Nara Temple, where the deer live in the forest, the Kashima deer are kept in a dedicated enclosure. The deer have the same natural curiosity and the shrine accommodates interactions by offering feed for pay. Buy a basket of carrots and the deer adore you. We oblige since these are messengers of the gods and they have travelled a long way. It’s also good luck for the team. On departure we’re glad the fence exists to separates us from sparring males.
Our prayers complete, our carrots eaten, it was time for us to feed ourselves.
The Bakery
We get into the car and within minutes arrive at a stand alone boulangerie. Boulangerie just means bread baked on site ( its popular here to name things in French to add a certain je ne sais quoi). Given the name La Farine, it is unsurprising that the bakery is European style.
All the baked goods were enticing, and we had decided on getting a few chocolatey choices, and some fruity flavours. We ordered more, as we were told this was the last stop before arriving at Kashima stadium. La Farine looked like it was also on the pilgrimage trail for fans, and adorned their store with Antler memorabilia. Unfortunately, I only have a picture of the pastry lit by the afternoon sun.
Address: Japan, 〒314-0031 Ibaraki, Kashima, Kyuchu, 新町附2038-71 (No website!)
The Stadium
Off to the stadium to find parking. Our friend actually drives straight past the stadium with the packed carpark and pulls in directly to a house’s front yard. An elderly woman is stood out front waving people in. Her son (as we find out later), directs all the traffic into unfilled spots. Our friend told us she has lived in this house for decades even before the stadium and decided that every other Saturday her yard would transform into a carpark and generate money.
Once situated, we join the Red Sea into the stadium. The guts of the stadium were lined with people and stalls. It was a mini market that held a reputation for its food. Sausages, Chiban Peanuts, Oden, Katsu-don, ham skewers, and of course beer. Each vendor specialises in one or two items only and they were all enjoying the matchday. Giant queues congested the inner walkways but the scents wafting through made up for the hustle and bustle. Our friend did the ordering as she found another loyal fan to be our stadium guide.
Despite the crowds, there was no instance of hooliganism. Fans were exactly how you picture Japanese crowds, polite and well behaved. We were able to mostly circumnavigate the giant stadium and take in the festival like atmosphere. Every few metres, another stall selling food, merchandise, or even photo opportunities with cardboard cutouts of players!
While the rest stop, shrine and bakery all had many fans, here people were dressed head to toe in Kashima Red. We finally made our way to the seats at the centreline of the stadium.
The Match
By kick off both goal ends had coordinated tifo banners cheering their teams on. Drummers and a chant leader faced their fanbases, leading them on in song. With the match finally set to start, both teams ran out to the pitch and were met with raucous applause and cheering, with team songs being a standing affair.
For the following 90 minutes the singing never ceased. The action on the pitch did not match this intensity. The game was unfortunately the worst one I’d ever witnessed, with both teams seemingly afraid of the ball. If you were simply basing the game by the crowd reactions, it would have seemed like the best game ever.
Match Score- Kashima Antlers 0: Gamba Osaka 0
Effort by both teams- Kashima Antlers 0: Gamba Osaka 0
The post match meal and return
By the end of the game, the sun had set and we were well and truly ready to go home. Naturally that meant we were in for another matchday ritual. About 5 minutes away, we found ourselves waiting for a local diner to open for dinner. Here we were promised the best karaage chicken with beer. Unlike the Antlers performance, this place delivered on being fantastic. The conversation between owner and our table flowed on the dismal performance of the game, as other keenly dressed Kashima fans trickled into the store. Not sure on the address of this one sadly, must be a members secret!
Stomachs full of karaage chicken and heads emptied on a subpar game, we fell asleep in the car ride back to Tokyo. A mere 90 minutes later, we arrived back fulfilling a 14 hour day trip and having walked in the shoes of a true Kashima Antlers fan.
The post on rest stops would also be great. Thanks for a fun read
Have you been to a Japanese baseball game?