Clash Bowl, Flash Bowl

The 10th annual Clash Bowl to determine Japan's eastern collegiate champions was played on Sunday at Ajinomoto Stadium, and the Hosei Tomahawks dominated the Waseda Big Bears 38-11. Hosei led at halftime 21-0, and went up at one point 38-3, before the Big Bears scored late.

The Tomahawks will face Kansai University, winners of the Flash Bowl- the champions of western Japan. The Kaisers- this year's surprise winners of the Kansai league- defeated Meijou of Nagoya (the winner of the Tokai region and subsequent playoff) 42-6 today to become the Western Champion.

The two teams will meet on December 13th in Osaka at the Koshien Bowl to determine a truly national collegiate champion for Japan. Previous Koshien bowls were in the form of an invitational, with the Kansai league champ playing the winner from the Kanto league. But beginning this year, a playoff system was enacted to involve the other geographical areas of Japan, including Tohoku and Hokkaido in the east; and Kyushu, Hokoriku, Choshikoku, and Tokai in the west.

The winner of the Koshien Bowl will then face the top shakaijin team from the X-League on January 3rd, in the Rice Bowl.

November 28th @ Aminovital

Late November means the end of the regular season. Normally, it should mean some of the best games of the year, as games are seeded (based on the previous year's standings), meaning that we will see #1 vs #2, #3 vs #4, and so on in the last game.

While none of the games on Saturday turned out to be close, the final games are important, as the top two finishers in each Division II block will play the bottom two teams in their respective Division I blocks with a chance to move up and take their place.

While KCFA Division II B block teams were squaring off in Kawasaki, the top 6 teams of A block met at Aminovital.

In both divisions, the top ranked teams (Komazawa in A, Kanagawa in B) repeated as champions, with the #3 and #5 teams filling in the next spots.

In B block, Kanagawa finshed their regular season by shutting out Tokyo Gakuin 21-0, and will face the Teikyo Assasins on December 20th. 3rd seed Aoyama Gakuin, whose only loss was a forfeit to Kanagawa on November 14th, defeated the Tsukuba Excaliburs 42-17. They will face the Senshu Green Machine on the replacement/relegation/up-down game.

Meanwhile, in A Block the Obirin (count 'em) Three Nails Crown (4-2-1) scored 21 unanswered points in the 2nd half to defeat the Komazawa Blue Tide 21-6, but Komazawa (5-2) had already clinched the division title, and will play Yokohama Kokuritsu to try to reach the first division. In the middle game, the T.I.T. Buffaloes (5-2) dominated the Self Defense Force Academy Cadets (1-5-1) who dropped to 7th place, 31-0. DT/P/K Daisuke Izumihara continued to impress with booming kicks and a long FG for the Buffaloes, and sophomore QB Tatsuya Tokunaga had an effective day passing, and senior QB Mamoru Saitoh doubled as TB. The Buffaloes' final score came as the result of a Saitoh to Tokunaga throwback pass for a touchdown.

Unfortunately for them, Buffaloes will not make it to the playoff games on December 19th, as the surprising 5th seed Tokyo City U. Helios (5-2) defeated winless Utsunomiya by a 35-6 score. The Helios are scheduled to face Ichinohashi U. for their Division I spot.

Kansai Clash

Fabulous football weekend in Kansai. High school, college, and shakaijin games, and a nice trip to practice and the impressive facilities at Ritsumeikan, including their amazing weight room.

Much more intense, passionate vibe around football down there.

Will flesh out more details later!

New Kansai Champion!

The feel-good story for the 2009 football season has to be the triumph of the Kansai Unversity Kaisers. The Kaisers closed out their season on Saturday, defeating Konan 44-7 before a large crowd of their fans at suburban Kobe's Oji Stadium, to go a perfect 7-0 and win the Kansai League for the first time in 61 years.

The star QB of their 1948 team was Heian Hazama, now the honorary Chairman of the American Football Association's Western Conference, who was positively beaming after the game.

Kansai had finished the 2008 season in 5th place. They shocked the Kansai football world earlier in the season by knocking off perennial powers Ritsumeikan and Kansai Gakuin, by 14-7 and 17-13 scores, respectively.


Much of the credit is given to their head coach an alumnus of former power Kyoto University, who has overseen upgrading of the facilities and the program.

Clash Bowl round 1 notes (November 15th)

The new college football playoff format began Sunday, as Hosei Tomahawks and Waseda Big Bears each won their respective first round games, by nearly identical 57-13 and 59-12 scores respectively over the Otaru Tomahawks, and the Sendai Silver Falcons.

The Hokkaido champion Otaru Tomahawks tied KCFA A Block champion Hosei at 7-all on a 45 yard return by Takumi Sekine of a blocked punt midway through the first quarter. But then the Hosei offense went to work, scoring touchdowns on their next five possessions, and led 41-10 at halftime. On the day they ran the ball 48 times for 419 yards, including 117 yards on 17 carries from Kentaro Katoh (including the first and last TDs of the game), and 98 yards on 11 carries from freshman Tetsuo Ikeda. QB's Yamaguchi and Takajima went 10-12 passing at one point, and combined for 159 yards and 3 TDs. They controlled the ball on a couple of five minute drives in the 4th quarter, and Otaru had little chance.

Otaru's impressive standout was their TE and kicker Tadashi Iwasaki (#81 junior), who boomed kickoffs to the endzone (even after a 5-yard penalty), and kicked a 47-yard field goal at the end of the first half, and then kicked a 52-yarder early in the 3rd. That is unofficially a Clash Bowl record. The junior TE also caught 3 passes for 47 yards.


Not to be outdone, Waseda's Tomokazu Suehiro (RB #30) scored three TD's in the first half, and led 41-6 at half-time as the KCFA B Block surprise champion Big Bears defeated the Tohoku champion Sendai Silver Falcons 59-12. Suehiro finished with 119 yards on 10 carries. Waseda QBs Haga and Hirono only completed 3 passes (on 9 attempts), but finished with 353 yards total offense, double the output of the Silver Falcons offense.

The Big Bears defense was dominant, led by Ryo Takada's 4 tackles and Scott Duffy (#99 jr, from Huntington Beach, CA) at NG, his very conspicuous in his pink tape-wrapped shoes ("they ran out of black", he explained). The second half was fielded mostly by 2nd and 3rd teamers for Waseda.

The standout- literally- for Sendai was their tall (198cm) TE/WR/P/DL (#86) Kohei Okajima. Sendai had some success getting the junior open deep against much shorter defenders, though for some reason, the Silver Falcons kept trying to throw him a lot of Outs. He ended up with 4 catches for 60 yards, in addition to 5 punts for 157 yards (31.4 average). RB Hironobu Marui (#22 sr) impressed the Big Bears, with 66 yards on 10 carries. Junior QB Sasuga Yoshida was 10-20 passing for 96 yards.

The score should have been closer, but the Silver Falcons self-destructed several times in the red zone- giving up penalties and sacks and mistakes after driving to first and goal.


While the teams from the north were obviously not yet prepared for the speed and strength of the Kanto teams, everyone seems agreed that this game and new format is a positive first step to creating more nation-wide interest in football in Japan.

Return of the Single Wing?

Something curious I have noticed in recent weeks has been the rebirth of actual Single Wing formations. No, not talking about the shotgun. And not even Wildcat formations that has become the rage all the way up to the NFL in the States this year. We are talking about honest-to- goodness, old-fashioned tight formations in a single wing or Notre Dame box, just like your (great) grand-daddy used to know and love.

On Halloween the T.I.T. Buffaloes waited till the second halfe to break out the ghosts of the old Spinner Series, and even broke one for a long touchdown in their 23-6 victory over the Obirin Three Nails Crown to seal the lid on their, er, coffin.

The Meiji Griffns used a similar 2TE, Single Wing formation yesterday in the second half as a power formation with some success, when they attempted to drive down and tie the score with Hosei, in the exciting game they finally lost 35-28.

November 7, 8th notes

Ends and beginnings.

The X-League Division I 'Second Stage' got off to a- well, i guess you could call it a start- this weekend, and the KCFA concluded its Division I seasons with a couple of exciting games at the top.

Based on standings through the first 5 games, the top shakaijin division split each conference into top and bottom three teams, and began playing teams in the other conference. This unfortunately still did not necessarily bring about enough in the way of competitiveness, as Fujitsu and Panasonic (among others) now in mid-season form romped to one-sided victories.


Such was not the case in local college football. Hosei scored at the end of the first half to make it 28-14, and the Tomahawks somehow outlasted the power of the Meiji Griffins in Souta Kyoshi's last game, 35-28.

But the real shocker came on Saturday, when the Waseda Big Bears- who in games earlier this season had lost to Division I newcomer Kokushukan Rhinoceros (3-4) and had to go to overtime to beat the Senshu Green Machine (2-5)- knocked off undefeated the Nihon University Phoenix 24-21 to win the KCFA Division I B block with a 6-1 record. It was Nihon's first loss in regular season in several years .

Culture Day: 11/3 report

November 3rd is "Culture Day" in Japan. For me that means football!

Not a lot of scoring on Tuesday at AminoVital Field (with Mt. Fuji in the background on the left in the photo, and football in the foreground on the right).

But nonetheless, there was some some exciting, hard-hitting football for the national holiday. In all, four games (count 'em!). Double,-double the fun! Well, not exactly, as at the lower divisions and the medical leagues, they play with 10-minute quarters.

The first three games were amongst medical university teams. In Japan, students apply for and enter medical and dental schools directly after high school, and undergo a six year education. This, of course means that in addition to never worrying about injuries receiving enough attention at their football games, athletes are a whole given 6 years of eligibility, and play in special leagues.

In the morning game (10 AM Kickoff!), the the Nihon U. Monster Squad were stung for the 3rd time this season, this time by the Tokyo U. Sorpions, 14-0. [OK there's one mascot pun; but at least i promise not to make any cheap doctor jokes[.

Next, in a contest between last year's Medical School A Block co-champions the Teikyo U. Rascals and the Showa University Mad Dogs. The two teams tussled their way to a 3-0 upset victory for the Mad Dogs. Both teams are now 1-2, with two more games to play.

Meanwhile the players and staff of the Jikkei Crickets were looking on, quietly cheering the Mad Dogs as they warmed up for their math against the Roadrunners. The Crickets came out on top of their game 15-7, so they lead the now consolidated Division I with a perfect 3-0 record, with their last two games remaining against those Rascals and Mad Dogs.

The 4th game was an "Area League" (below Division III) contest between the Shibaura Fighting Engineers , and Tokyo Keizi University Falcons. Both teams were unbeaten coming into this game (it was only their second game), and this game was for the top of the division, as the top-seeded Dokkyo Green Monsters have already lost twice.

I was very impressed by how well-coached each time seems to be, and they are undoubtedly on the rise.

The Falcons struck first with a field goal, and the Fighting Engineers tied the game on a FG just before halftime to make it 3-3. The Engineers went ahead late in the 3rd Quarter, 10-3. But the Falcons answered that with a TD of their own early in the 4th Quarter to tie it at 10-10. The Fighting Engineers, dressed in their all white uniforms- just think of Penn State, but rather in green, with a block 'S' on the side of their helmets- then started a sustained drive, and scored with just a few minutes left. Without hesitation, they lined up but faked the extra point conversion, throwing to the flat for two points to make it 18-10. That gamble seemed to put extra pressure on the Falcons, who after moving the ball to midfield, threw an interception, thus sealing the win for Shibaura. The Fighting Engineers are now at the top of their division, which is quite an accomplishment for a team that only started up playing football again last year.

11/1 report: Edogawa Action

While the KCFA (universities) and X-League (for shakaijin) draw the most attention, in the Kanto area of Japan, let's not forget that there are other teams and leagues in the area as well that offer some excitement and opportunities for players and fan as well. These include the Kanto College Football-Club Federation a at the college level; and the Japan Private Football Federation and the Edogawa-ku sponsored Urban Football League now in its 16th season.

I made it a point to catch several UFL games at Oi Stadium (#2!) on a balmy Sunday afternoon that was perfect weather for football.

I especially enjoyed the hard-fought middle game between the Jets and the Razorbacks. The Jets seem to have a small, but loyal following, and they provide a nice 4- page newsletter for the taking which is updated for each game.

The kicking game was the biggest difference- the Razorbacks converted a long FG; while the Jets missed an extra point and had several problems with snaps and getting kicks away in the punting game. Yet they were still in the ball game, trailing only 10-6 after scoring with a few minutes left.

The ensuing onside kick spun violently like a top (or a dreidel if that helps)...but traveled less than two yards. The Razorbacks took over. Surprisingly, they did not sit on the ball, but rather moved into position to try a FG on the final play (something to do with point differential affecting league standing or tie-breakers perhaps?)...which of course was blocked. The Jets picked it up and ran with it, but the ball was tackled before reaching midfield to end the game.

The late game was blowout, but in the first game, the Roebucks came from behind to defeat the Broncos, 14-9.