Panasonic Releases Veterans

Per reporting and confirmation by Inside Sport: Japan, roster movement has begun in the X League with the Panasonic Impulse releasing veterans Les Maruo and Tsubasa Brennan under newly implemented X-Premier roster regulations limiting each club to a maximum of four professional contracts.

Maruo, a veteran of both the X League and the Canadian Football League, leaves Panasonic with one of the most accomplished resumes in Japanese American football. He has been a perennial championship contributor in both countries, routinely competing deep into the postseason and playing key roles on title-contending teams.

The Dawn of a New Era- X League Premier

Per our own John Gunning's reporting for the Japan Times, and the X League website, X League Chairman Ken Namikawa, has announced that its new top-tier competition, the X Premier League, will officially kick off on May 3, 2026, with the opening day ceremonies and competition scheduled for the Tokyo Dome. The confirmation came during a January 3 press conference at the same historic baseball venue, prior to the kickoff of the Rice Bowl.

Though the concept of the X-Premier was unveiled last August, this announcement marks the first full outline of how the new season will take shape. The league will begin play in early May and continue through early July, after which the league will take a two-month summer break (the heat is unbearable during that time of the year). The games then resume around late August or early September to complete the regular season. In this inaugural season of X Premiere, 11 teams will compete, with each slated to play 10 games. Additional details, including the opening day matchup, will be released at a later date.

The X League Life- Playing for Beer, Part 4

 

 

The X League Life- Playing for Beer, Part 3

The X League Life- Playing for Beer, Part 2

 

The X League Life- Playing for Beer, Part 1

 

 

The Rising Sun of Football in Japan

An American teacher (to his own surprise) brought the honorable T formation to some collegians in Tokyo ~ By Arthur Myers

"The Japanese have a way with American games that is all too scrutable: they are very good at them. They took over baseball as though it were a colony and they go at American-style football with a zeal that might be considered excessive at Notre Dame. Football is played at 19 Japanese colleges. The players may lack the beef of U.S. collegians but they make up for it in style and—it is the only word—ceremony...."

(Continued on page 99 of this classic SI issue published on November 30, 1964)

"So, You Want To Play Football in Japan?"

Living in Japan as an expatriate is a goal for many who have come here to visit and then fell in love with all Japan is. For some, like the many men who have come here to play professional football in Japan, they have made this land their home. Without being given the opportunity to play the gridiron game here, they may not have achieved their dreams.  

However, with that said, playing and living in Japan is unlike any other country in the Western Hemisphere or English speaking world, to which out co-host, Aaron Ellis can attest. Therefore, if you desire to play here, please give this podcast episode a listen. As it is one devoted to giving guidance to those wishing to play not just in Japan, but really anywhere abroad. Its a must listen!

The Intercontinental Gridiron Cup

"Gridiron Cup" is available
exclusively on Amazon

In another alternate universe, there is a version of Earth where "gridiron" is the true world sport controlled by that world's version of the International Federation of American Football, and "fútbol" is the number two sport that doesn't hold the same worldwide interest or passion as that of the oblong ball variety.  In this world, the gridiron game means as much to the rest of the world, as it does to the American South, and the Soviets have made it their mission to dominate not only the world, but also America's favorite sport.  

Fortunately, there is a way to travel to such a world, and that is through author Keegan Dresow's underground sports classic, in which it is a combination of the Cold War and the accidental genius of NFL Commissioner Bert Bell that push the all-American sport to the forefront of the frozen conflict and uneasy peace between the USSR and USA.  For anyone who loves sports fiction, his book is a must read, and caught in between the Superpowers in this 60 minute sports conflict, is the rest of the world in a competition for the world's biggest prize in sport, the "Gridiron Cup."  

The Gridiron Game in Japan, a Football Odyssey

"American Football in Japan may sound like a novelty, but in reality, the gridiron game has been played in the Land of the Rising Sun since the 1930s. Against the backdrop of World War II, and through many international games against American opponents, the sport developed and created a niche following for itself, entering another chapter in The Football Odyssey." `~ Aron Harris of The Football Odyssey podcast

How to Watch Football in Japan

In Japan, the only place to watch
football is via the magic of the Internet!

One of the first thing my fellow Navy friends ask me when they are traveling here to Japan for a tour of duty, be it a long term stay or a two week free vacation junket, is this- "Dude, how do I watch the Bears?" Well, let me tell you shipmates, and fellow readers, accessing the NFL, CFL and even college football is a course learned the hard way ever since I moved here in 2022.

Now, to start off, if you are relying on your Google TV Sunday Ticket or your cable provider's streaming service, you are gonna need to invest in a VPN, and the one I HIGHLY recommended is ExpressVPN! If you have ESPN Plus like I do, you are definitely going to need ExpressVPN, as it is the only VPN I have experimented with that works with it. 

Symbiosis

Why do we love football (not soccer)? Because football represents something, and for every fan we all love it for both the same reasons and also for different reasons and come to fandom in different ways. For me, it was Bob Griese in 1977 and his glasses, which to this then ten year old, in seeing the same glasses on him that I had recently gotten, and thus my hero worship was born. I will expound on that in a future post.  Quite simply, for this writer, the game brings out the 10 year old bespectacled kid in me...

Image by Freepik