Why Japan stands out in football?

Every World Cup seems to produce one team that the football world cannot stop talking about, not just for what they do on the pitch, but for what they represent off it. In recent tournaments, that team is Japan. Whether it is their performances, their supporters in the stands, or small moments that quickly go viral online, Japan has become a source of fascination far beyond football.

Sometimes the clearest example of that attention is not found in a match highlight but in a street crossing in Tokyo. Following Japan's draw with the Netherlands at the ongoing World Cup, thousands of supporters gathered at Tokyo's Shibuya Crossing. Draped in blue jerseys, waving flags and wearing face paint, they poured onto the intersection to celebrate.

For a brief moment, the scene felt familiar to football fans around the world. The celebration lasted exactly 40 seconds. When the traffic signal clicked red, the crowd calmly cleared the crossing, the celebration paused, and traffic resumed. Videos of the moment quickly spread online, leaving viewers amused and impressed.

This is not new; Japan's ability to capture attention during tournaments extends beyond results. Over the years, images of Japanese supporters staying after matches to clean stadiums have circulated widely on social media. The players themselves have developed a similar reputation, leaving dressing rooms spotless and leaving notes of gratitude for tournament organisers and hosts.

Japan stands out because it refused to be accidental. The country built a century-long plan when it was a footballing nobody and embedded the sport in schools and towns from the ground up.

A generation ago, Japan arrived at its first World Cup with a squad playing only in Japan. Long before the national team became a regular presence on the world stage, football was already being shaped in the imagination of millions through storytelling.

Captain Tsubasa, a manga launched in 1981, sold millions of copies and made an entire generation fall in love with the game. The results of that long-term approach are visible. One of the first Japanese players to succeed in Europe, Hidetoshi Nakata picked it up because he read the comic and wanted to try the overhead kick. The manga was later translated worldwide and inspired legends like Iniesta, Torres, etc.

Today, many of the country's leading players compete week after week in Europe's strongest leagues. Japan now produces players like Kaoru Mitoma, one of the best dribblers who wrote his university thesis on the art of dribbling.

Newer manga like Blue Lock have continued that influence. The Japan Football Association has even partnered with the franchise to help identify and inspire young talents.

Japan’s recent performances against European opposition have further challenged old perceptions of it as merely spirited underdogs. Their rise is not a fluke. It is the result of a patient project arriving as intended.

That balance of emotion and restraint is reflected in the people leading the team as well. Coach Hajime Moriyasu has become a familiar figure, not just for tactics but for visible emotion on the touchline, particularly during moments such as the national anthem. Following Japan's draw with the Netherlands, he thanked Dutch coaches and football figures whose contributions, he noted, played an important role in the growth of Japanese football.

Over time, Moriyasu has also become the subject of internet humour, with fans turning his habit of quietly taking notes during matches into Death Note memes. In recent games, coaching staff using whiteboards with numbers to communicate instructions have fuelled online speculation, with viewers trying to decode the hidden meaning.

The ‘Samurai Blue’ have proven that you do not need to compromise your heritage to succeed on the global stage. Football may have brought the spotlight to Japan, but it is the culture that continues to hold people's attention. The discipline, the stories and the emotion have all been built patiently, brick by brick. And these will not fade anytime soon.