However, it was not until 15 years later, 1888, that Japan saw its first competitive game as Kobe Regatta and Athletic Club took on the Yokohama Country and Athletic Club, a rivalry that continues to the present day.

As football reaches the public, the Japan Football Association was formed in 1921. Their first impact on the world stage was at the Berlin Olympics where a group of college students represented Japan to mark their entry into world football.

In the 1960s football became more popular and better organised. Tokyo hosted the 1964 Olympics and again Japan entered a team. This time they progressed to the last eight, where they were beaten by Argentina.

The success saw the birth of the Japan Soccer League (JSL) in 1965 with eight teams representing 5 regions in Japan. All the teams and players were still amateur and were backed by corporate teams such as Hitachi, Mitsubishi and Toyota.

Japan's best moments were to come in the 1968 Mexico Olympics where they won a bronze medal. They were also about to witness one of the best Japanese players ever, Kamamoto Kunishige, who scored a record 202 goals in his 16 year career beteeen 1969 and 1985. However, Japanese football still could not command the interest of the fans and the national teams could not make the break-through to the major FIFA events.

It was not until 1993 that a new era dawn on Japanese football. The J-league was born on 15 May 1993 with ten teams. Stars such as Zico, Gary Lineker, Dunga, Pierre Littbarski were all brought in to this new league. It was hoped that this new league with all its stars will bring a gigantic leap forward for Japanese football.

Indeed, it was to be. In 1998, Japan qualified for its first ever FIFA World Cup. A year later, its youth team, led by the mercurial Shinji Ono finished runners-up in the FIFA World Youth Championship. On the Asian stage, Japan began to conquer, starting with the Asian Cup of Nations Championship in 2000 and then repeating it again in 2004. Their historic second round appearance in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan was another feather in the cap.

Individually, Japan is exporting more and more stars abroad. Hidetoshi Nakata's brilliance in Italy with Perugia had encouraged others to move including Shoji Jo, Akihiro Nishizawa and Hiroshi Nanami who have all had stints in Spain and Italy. Currently, Shinji Ono remains a crucial player for Feyenoord in the Dutch league while Shunsuke Nakamura is having similar impact in the Serie A with Reggina FC.