May 7, 2025
Although these diaries have previously covered Kawasaki Frontale when they played Ulsan Hyundai in the 2023/24 AFC Champions League, and Japan vs Australia in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers, today marks the first J-League 1 game to be reported on by Fatbear !
J. League Background
The J-League was introduced in 1992 and Kashima Antlers have been the most successful side with 8 titles, followed by Yokohama F. Marinos with 5 titles, then Kawasaki Frontale with 4. The current champions are Vissel Kobe, who have won the last two editions of the J. League.
A second division was introduced in 1999, at which point the top division became J-League 1.
This is the last J-League 1 season which will be played in a whole calendar year as next season it will switch to being played from summer to spring, adopt the European calendar of September to May. The 2025 season began on 14th February 2025 and is scheduled to concluded on 6th December and a special tournament will be held during the first half of 2026.
Shonan Bellmare
Shonan Bellmare are based in Hiratsuka in the west of the Kanagawa Prefecture on the Greater Tokyo Area, which has an estimated population of 260,000. Their home stadium is the 15,380 capacity Lemon Gas Stadium, which has a grass pitch but an athletics track.
Shonan refers to a coastal area along Sagami Bay that includes Hiratsuka, and Bellmare is a portmanteau of Italian words “bello” and “mare”, meaning "beautiful sea".
Shonan can trace their history back to 1968 when they were founded as Towa Real Estate, and were accepted into the J-League in 1994, two years after the competition began, as Bellmere Hiratsuka. After a successful first season in which they finished 5th and won the Emperor’s Cup, they struggled and were relegated to J-League 2 at the end of 1999. The change of name to Shonan Bellmare occurred in 2000.
Shonan spend 10 seasons in the second tier before achieving promotion back to J-League 1, but then had a yo-yo existence until winning J-League 2 in 2017, and since then have remained in J-league 1 ever since. However, they have hardly set the league alight, not having a top 10 finish, and last season finished 15th.
The 1994 Emperor’s Cup triumph gave Bellmare entry into the 1995 Asian Cup Winners Cup, which they won, beating Iraqi side Al Talaba 2-1 in the final held in Yokohama, with future Roma, Parma, Fiorentina and Bolton Wanderers midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata ( 77 caps ) scoring the winner. As defending champions, Bellmare were eliminated the following season over two legs in the quarter finals, by South Korean side Ulsan Hyundai.
Shonan Bellmare This Season
Shonan started round 15 in 13th position with a 5-3-6 record, and were 3-1-2 at home.
Shonan began the season with three wins, and followed that with 2 draws, but their form had dropped since then, with 6 losses in their most recent 9 games, and they had lost three of their last 5 matches. Last time out they were thrashed 0-4 at Gamba Osaka.
The three home wins had come against current leaders Kashima Antlers ( 1-0 ), second placed Urawa Red Diamonds ( 2-1 ) and Nagoya Grampus ( 2-1 ).
Shonan’s average attendances so far this season were 11,150 the 18th best of the division, and their home colours were pale green shirts with blue shorts and socks.
Shonan Bellmare Squad
The Shonan starting XI for their last game at Gamba Osaka were all Japanese, none of which had played outside of Japan, although ex-Sporting Club de Portugal and OFI Crete Brazilian forward Luiz Phellype and ex-Hoikkado Consadole Sapporo South Korean centre-back Kim Min-tae were on the bench.
The Shonan squad also included Brazilian midfielder Ze Ricardo, who was on loan from Kawasaki Frontale but was currently out with a knee injury.
Shonan had only scored 10 league goals, the second worst in the division, with captain Akito Suzuki and midfielder Sho Fukuda with three each.
Sanfreece Hiroshima
Sanfreece are based in the city of Hiroshima in the south of Japan, which has an estimated population of 1.2 million. It is infamous for being the first city to bombed by a nuclear weapon.
Their home stadium is the 28,520 capacity Edion Peace Wing Stadium, which has a grass pitch. Sanfreece are also referred to as Viola, after the purple colour of their shirts.
Sanfreece is a portmanteau of “san”, the Japanese word for three, and “freece”, the Italian word for arrows.
Sanfreece can trace their history back to 1938 when they were founded as Toyo Kogyo SC and were founder members of the J-League in 1992, which is when they adopted their current name. They are one of the most successful sides since the formation of the J. League with three titles, in 2012, 2013 and 2015.
Sanfreece have twice been relegated, but won J-League 2 in 2008, and have remained in the top flight ever since. Last season, Sanfreece finished in second place, four points behind Vissel Kobe, which gave them qualification for the 2025/26 AFC Champions League Elite.
Sanfreece Hiroshima This Season
Sanfreece started this round of fixtures in 9th place, having played one game fewer than Shonan. They possessed a 6-2-5 record, but were a poor 1-1-3 away from Hiroshima.
Their season began with a 2-0 triumph over double winners Vissel Kobe in the Super Cup season curtain raiser, which Sanfreece participated in due to being league runners-up the previous year.
They started the league campaign with five wins and two draws in their opening 8 matches, but then lost four in a row, before ending the rot with a 2-1 home win over Avispa Fukuoka thanks to a 98th minute penalty.
Shonan’s average attendances so far this season were 25,630, the 7th best in the division, with Urawa Red Diamonds currently be the best supported side with an average of 36,565.
Sanfreece’s third place in the 2023 J-League 1 gave them entry in the new AFC Champions League Two for 2024/25, where they were drawn in a group with Sydney FC, Eastern from Hong Kong and Philippines side Kaya-Iloilo, and recorded a 5-1-0 record. The only dropped points were a 1-1 draw in the Philippines after qualification to the knock-our rounds had already been assured. Sydney were beaten 2-1 at home and 1-0 away.
In the round of 16, Sanfreece comfortably got past Vietnamese side Nam Dimh, 7-0 on aggregate, but were unexpectedly eliminated in the quarter finals by Lion City from Singapore. Sanfreece had won the first leg 6-1, but had fielded an illegible player, so the result was overturned and Lion City were awarded a 3-0 victory.
Valerie Germain had recently joined from A-League side Macarthur, but should have been serving a three-match suspension in AFC competitions. Sanfreece were unable to recover, and the second leg was a 1-1 draw, not helped by a 51st minute red card to Ryo Germain ( no relation ! ).
Sanfreece Hiroshima Squad
The Sanfreece starting XI for their last game against Avispa Fukuoka were also all Japanese but South Korean keeper Jeong Min-ki was on the bench. Ex Marseille, Montpellier, Monaco and Macarthur French forward Valerie Germain and ex-Hamburg, Besiktas, Fenerbache, Udinese and Melbourne City German midfielder Tolgay Arslan were both missing due to injury. Ex Fluminense winger Marcos Junior was not in the matchday squad.
Keeper Keisuke Osako had 8 caps and was in the most recent national squad, centre-back Tsukasa Shiotani ( 7 caps ) had played for UAE side Al Ain, and fellow defender Hayato Araki had one cap.
Captain Sho Sasaki had 15 caps, midfielder Hayao Kawabe ( 6 caps ) played for Grasshoppers, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Standard Liege, defensive midfielder Satoshi Tanaka had a short loan spell with Belgian side Kortrijk, and winger Noaki Maeda had been on loan at Utrecht.
Sanfreece had scored 12 league goals and Sota Nakamura and Ryo Germain were joint top scorers with two each.
The coach of Sanfreece was veteran German Michael Skibbe, who numbered Greece, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, Eintracht Frankfurt, Hertha BSC, Galatasaray and Grasshoppers amongst his previous coaching assignments.
Matchday Information
The journey from Hiroshima to Hiratsuka is 770 km, which takes over 9 hours by road or 4 hours by train.
The weather at the 19.00 local time ( 11.00 UK ) 20 degrees but it was raining. As the Lemon Gas Stadium has only one small roof, most of the fans attending would be getting wet !
Adult ticket prices ranged from 2,500 to 6,500 Yen ( £13 to £32 )
The match was shown live on the J.League International YouTube channel with an English language commentary. Bet365.com, who also streamed the match live, made Sanfreece 21/20 favourites, with Shonan at 27/10 and the draw 23/10
Sanfreece made on change from the side that beat Avispa Fukuoka with Shuto Nakano replacing Maeda, who was amongst the substitutes. Again their starting XI was all Japanese as was the substitutes bench.
Shonan made four changes to the side that were well beaten by Gamba Osaka, with Kim Min-tae, Tomoya Fujii, Akimi Barada and Ryo Nemoto taking the places of Kazuki Oiwa, Kazunari Ono, Masaki Ikeda and Kosuke Onose. Three Suzuki’s started, more reminiscent of a Moto GP !
Shonan were in their usual green shirts and blue shorts, but Sanfreece were in a change kit of all white. Both sides had the player’s names in Roman script on the back of their shirts in addition to the Japanese.
Match Report
The game got off to a dramatic start as with less than 80 seconds played Sanfreece were awarded a penalty as Junnosuke Suzuki and Kim both pulled back Nakamura as he ran through the middle of the Shonan defence. A yellow card was immediately shown to Junnosuke Suzuki and a VAR check was made to see if the first contact had been outside the Shonan area. After a wait of nearly four minutes the penalty was confirmed but the yellow card was reversed and shown to Kim instead.
The spot-kick was confidently put left-footed down the middle and into the roof of the net by Germain as the keeper dived to his left. 0-1 with 6 minutes on the clock.
Not a lot happened in the opening stages after the early goal, and there was a delay as Junnosuke Suzuki was hit in the face by fierce cross from Nakano.
After 12 minutes Germain wriggled into Bellmare area but was crowded out, and Shonan got a free-kick. Two minutes later Shonan keeper Kamifukumoto miscued when trying to clear, Hiroshima gained possession, and a low cross was put for the first corner of the game. Shonan cleared and launched a swift counter, but ball to far post just ahead of Fujii who couldn’t reach.
In the 17th minute Shonan had a free-kick on the right 10 yards outside area but the delivery was poor and headed away by Araki. Shonan reworked the ball and Fujii’s dangerous cross headed away. Shonan kept up the pressure and another cross from Fujii needed a good header from Nakano to prevent a Shonan attacker having a free header.
Two minutes later a scramble inside Sanfreece area led to a shot being blocked by Sasaki, and the home side forced a corner. Shonan were enjoying a good spell, but Shiotani headed the corner away. Shonan were picking up all the loose balls but this time the ball back into the area by Hata was overhit and the Sanfreece keeper gathered.
After 22 minutes Hata crossed from the left, leading to hesitancy from keeper Osako, but a Sanfreece defender headed away on the 6 yard line.
Sanfreece were showing little as an attacking force and a poor free-kick from Higashi, which was easily claimed by the Bellmare keeper, was all they had to show.
Shonan were enjoying plenty of possession, but the press from Sanfreece mostly kept them in their own half. There was a nice move involving at least 10 first touch passes but the cross from Hata was shocking and sailed yards over the bar.
With 32 minutes gone, Kukuda picked up the ball just inside his own half and headed down the left wing. His inside pass was played wide for Hata to cross to the near post where Akito Suzuki flicked on, but no one was in the centre of the 6 yard box to finish, and Higashi headed away.
Shonan came close to scoring in the 36th minute. A good through ball from Barada released Nemoto, who was forced to turn away from goal by Shiotani, and then the Shonan forward could only put a left footed effort into side netting.
Three minutes later, Higashi couldn’t get a decent headed connection to a dangerous Sanfreece cross from right, and got injured in the process.
A minute before half-time a long ball down the right-hand channel was chest controlled by Fukuda, but his shot from just inside the angle of the penalty area blocked by Shiotani.
Due to the lengthy VAR review and the injuries, 8 added minutes were to be played, and in the 5th extra minute Nakamura won corner for Sanfreece, which hit too long for Araki to get a head to it.
Sanfreece led 1-0 at the interval but had offered little after taking an early lead. Shonan had enjoyed some good spells and had 61% of possession but hadn’t created a single decent chance. It wasn’t a great half of football and the penalty was the only shot on target !
There were no changes at half-time, apart from Hata was now sporting a blue headband rather than the red one worn in the first half.
Sanfreece started the second period brightly and won a corner three minutes into the half, from which Nakamura eventually shot well wide after Nakano had kept the ball in play.
Both sides were now giving the ball away very easily, and in the 52nd minute Shonan passed the ball to Kawabe on the half-way line, who played good ball through the centre of the Bellmare defence, but the keeper was off his line to gather ahead of Germain, who was also being held at bay by Kim shielding the ball.
Sanfreece attacked again shortly after, when a cross was swung in left footed from right by Nakano, and bounced past far post before Kato could get on the end of it.
With 57 minutes played, Shonan countered with Fujii down the right, but after cutting back inside his touch was heavy and a Hiroshima defender got a toe to the ball deflecting it to Barada, but the optimistic long range shot was blocked.
Sanfreece immediately counterattacked and had a 2 versus 2 break. Kato played the ball to Germain on the edge of the Shonan area, who released the on rushing Nakamura, but his shot was weak and drifted gently over the near post.
Luiz Phellype got his first touch in the 62nd minute after coming on as a substitute, running onto ball down right-hand channel but his shot from tight angle was blocked by Araki for a corner, which came to nothing.
Three minutes later, after short through pass from Okuno, Fukuda shot narrowly over bar from the edge of the area.
Shortly after Yuto Suzuki’s cross was met by a glancing header from Luiz Phellype, but it was straight at keeper Osako, who saved at his feet, but the offside flag was raised anyway.
Luiz Phellype was adding a more physical presence up front for Shonan, as Araki could testify after being fouled by a robust challenge. Sasaki then took exception to another rough-house attempt to win the ball, then shortly after Shiotani received an ankle tap well after the ball had been put out for a throw. Hardly silky samba football from the Brazilian !
With 12 minutes remaining, Fujii made a break down the right and his cross was met by Fukuda on the half volley 20 yards out, but it was at keeper Osako, who made a routine save. At least it was a shot on target !
With 83 minutes played, Higashi was carried off on a stretcher after falling awkwardly when competing for a loose ball.
The end of game was scrappy with neither side able to hold on to the ball for long. Kawabe had a good 30-yard strike for Sanfreece, but it was at the keeper who made a good catch. At the other end, Fujii’s cross was headed away before it could reach Ikeda.
Five added minutes were to be played, and Germain ran from close to halfway line into Shonan area, but the shot across goal poor and went well wide. The visitors were ending the game the stronger, and Nakano was found on the right inside the Shonan area, but his shot blocked by Hata.
The game ended shortly after with Shohan unable to lay a glove on Sanfreece. Shonan had some good periods during the match but need to improve upfront as they never looked like getting the equaliser. For Sanfreece it wasn’t a good performance, but more a case of job done, and with the three points moved up to fifth in the table.
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41E2O-UR7ic
Shohan Bellmare : Kamifukumoto – Y. Suzuki, Lim, J. Suzuki – Fujii, Okuno ( Matsumura ), Barada ( Takahashi ), Hata - A. Suzuki ( Ikeda ), Nemoto ( Luiz Phellype ), Fukuda
Sanfreece Hiroshima : Osako – Shiotani, Araki, Sasaki – Nakano, Tanaka ( Matsumoto ), Kawabe, Higashi ( Arai ) – Nakamura ( Maeda ), Germain, Kato
