{"id":98,"date":"2002-06-22T08:55:00","date_gmt":"2002-06-22T07:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2002\/blog\/?p=98"},"modified":"2012-12-13T13:17:56","modified_gmt":"2012-12-13T13:17:56","slug":"japan-in-blue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2002\/blog\/2002\/06\/22\/japan-in-blue\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan in blue"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"sofvm_embed alignnone\"><div class=\"sofvm_video\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"England v Brazil, Shizuoka\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LtnKJf2y9Yg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n<p>The Horror.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sofvm_video_post_link\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2002\/videos\/england-v-brazil-shizuoka\/#respond\">Comment on this video<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<p>Well I woke up this morning,<br \/>\nTo catch a bullet to the game&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width:320px;height:240px\" src=\"https:\/\/theball.tv\/common\/images\/2002\/japan\/tokyo\/shinkansen_logo.jpg\" alt=\"Bullet train logo\" \/><br \/>\nShooting ourselves in the foot(ball)<\/p>\n<p>But the waking wasn&#8217;t worth it,<br \/>\nCoz the football match was lame&#8230;<br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width:320px;height:240px\" src=\"https:\/\/theball.tv\/common\/images\/2002\/japan\/tokyo\/shinkansen_logo_700.jpg\" alt=\"Bullet train logo on train itself\" \/><br \/>\nBullet train logo<\/p>\n<p>Sixty quid each invested in two return tickets to Shizuoka &#8211; no hope of getting in to the game, but high hopes of hooking up with other fans and watching the game on a big screen nearby, which is the next best thing to being inside the stadium&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width:320px;height:240px\" src=\"https:\/\/theball.tv\/common\/images\/2002\/japan\/tokyo\/wrong_platform.jpg\" alt=\"Wrong platform\" \/><br \/>\nWrong platform<\/p>\n<p>We anticipated the bullet train whisking us to Shizuoka at lightning speed, but first had to find the right one &#8211; a more tricky task than I thought&#8230; no-one spoke English, but the usual mixture of gesture and smiles prevailed in the end.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width:320px;height:240px\" src=\"https:\/\/theball.tv\/common\/images\/2002\/japan\/shizuoka\/phil_tv_platf.jpg\" alt=\"The game aleady in progress\" \/><br \/>\nThe game already in progress<\/p>\n<p>Arrival at interchange to the local train found us talking to other England fans, some of whom had tickets, others, like us, here for the atmosphere. The bullet train had been slower than we first thought, and a quick look at the station clock revealed that the game was to start in five minutes. Some kindly Japanese folk lent us their portable TVs so that we didn&#8217;t miss a moment.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width:320px;height:240px\" src=\"https:\/\/theball.tv\/common\/images\/2002\/japan\/shizuoka\/stadium.jpg\" alt=\"As close as we got to the stadium\" \/><br \/>\nAs close as we got to the stadium<\/p>\n<p>Yes, indeed. Unbelievable as it was to us, the stadium was utterly unapproachable, and there seemed to be no sign of a big screen for the crowds of Brazilians, English and Japanese in England or Brazil disguise. A hundred Beckhams with nowhere to go&#8230; except round and round the windswept merchandising plaza. Buy a ticket, buy the shirt, buy the flag and commemorative keyring&#8230; and then piss off out of here.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width:320px;height:240px\" src=\"https:\/\/theball.tv\/common\/images\/2002\/japan\/shizuoka\/england_brazil.jpg\" alt=\"As good as it got\" \/><br \/>\nAs good as it got&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width:320px;height:240px\" src=\"https:\/\/theball.tv\/common\/images\/2002\/japan\/shizuoka\/laptop_tv.jpg\" alt=\"The big screen\" \/><br \/>\n&#8230;in the way of big screen action.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately for us, a Japanese lad had brought along his portable DVD player, and we crowded round the tiny, flickering screen in the shadow of the train station &#8211; until even this small crumb of interaction with the nearby events was also taken from us &#8211; the police deeming our little gathering to be a nuisance, and moving DVD lad along.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width:320px;height:240px\" src=\"https:\/\/theball.tv\/common\/images\/2002\/japan\/shizuoka\/bitter_end.jpg\" alt=\"The bitter end\" \/><br \/>\nThe bitter end<\/p>\n<p>Luckily, a wizened old Japanese woman with a portable TV was nearby, taking no orders from the megaphone-wielding police. She stood stubbornly behind their barriers, watching the final moments of the game&#8230; turning the screen towards me so I could see the spectacle come to a close in the stadium. Final whistle, and back to Tokyo as fast as is possible&#8230; 50,000 fans wanting to get out of there, and not even an extra train laid on.<\/p>\n<p>Back in town, I decided to go watch the Germany v. USA game in an English pub. Nowhere else seemed to be showing the game, and I&#8217;m instantly fleeced for six quid a pint. Miserably, I find a corner of the bar to stand and forget myself in the game in progress. As the second half begins, Phil walks in, just arrived from Shizuoka.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width:320px;height:240px\" src=\"https:\/\/theball.tv\/common\/images\/2002\/japan\/tokyo\/consolation.jpg\" alt=\"Phil plays the blues\" \/><br \/>\nPhil plays the blues<\/p>\n<p>After the game finished, Phil and his harmonica joined the band on stage to play the blues&#8230; an ironic, but perfectly matched accompaniment to a bluer-than-blue day.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sofvm_embed alignnone\"><div class=\"sofvm_video\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Japan in Blue\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PDb03NTcVCA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n<p>After England&#8217;s defeat at the hands (or feet) of Brazil, Phil plays the blues back in Tokyo.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sofvm_video_post_link\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2002\/videos\/japan-in-blue\/#respond\">Comment on this video<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<p><i>Poor England dead and gone,<br \/>\nLeft us here to sing this song,<br \/>\nPretty little boys with their red shirts on,<br \/>\nPoor England dead and gone.<br \/>\nThey&#8217;ve got the running blues,<br \/>\nRunning away,<br \/>\nBack to UK&#8230;<\/i><\/p>\n<p>(with apologies to Mr. Morrison)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Well I woke up this morning,<br \/>\nTo catch a bullet to the game&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width:320px;height:240px\" src=\"https:\/\/theball.tv\/common\/images\/2002\/japan\/tokyo\/shinkansen_logo.jpg\" alt=\"Bullet train logo\" \/><br \/>\nShooting ourselves in the foot(ball)<\/p>\n<p>But the waking wasn&#8217;t worth it,<br \/>\nCoz the football match was lame&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-japan"],"geo":{"latitude":34.74358749999999673718775738961994647979736328125,"longitude":137.970260599999988926356309093534946441650390625,"description":null},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2002\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2002\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2002\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2002\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2002\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2002\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":740,"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2002\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98\/revisions\/740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2002\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2002\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2002\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}