FOODPICKS – what is your favourite Japanese cuisine on a matchday?

#001: The National Stadium in Tokyo

Football fans are hungry on a matchday. It is the same in England, Spain, France, Portugal, Germany, Brazil, Japan, and all.

Then, what are the equivalents to meat pies, bocadillo (Spanish baguette), galette-saucisse (French sausage sandwich), bifanas (Portuguese pork sandwich), bratwurst (German sausage), tambaqui con fritas (Brazilian fish and chips) in and around football stadiums in Japan?

The answer is diverse as we see many different kinds of food trucks on a matchday like any other event in this country. The food in and around the football stadiums in Japan is called “Sta-Guru” (omitted Stadium Gourmet in Japanese) and a lot of fans enjoy them.

Let’s find out what Japanese food culture offers for football fans.

On 2nd December, we went to the National Stadium in Tokyo to cover the promotion play-offs final between the J2 sides, Tokyo Verdy and Shimizu S-Pulse.

With bright winter sunshine, a lot of fans in green and orange respectively gathered around the stadium well ahead of kickoff time, making long queues in front of each food truck.

There were the usual suspects – kara-age (deep-fried chicken), yakisoba (fried noodle), gyu-don (beef bowl) – as well as international football snacks – beef pie, hot dog, churro, barbecue-styled-meat. All of them looked yummy but we also found a very Japanese one, serving seafood, and decided to line up there.

After 15 minutes or so, we ordered zuwaigani-don (snow crab bowl) and hotate-no-kushiyaki (grilled scallop). The former cost ¥1,000 (approximately US$6.7) and the latter ¥800 (approximately US$5.4). We held back from asking for a beer because it would be awkward to show a red face in a press room in Japan – maybe it’s different in Germany, where our colleague has been offered beer in a press lounge.

With a bottle of green tea instead, we sat on a bench to eat them. The bowl was made up of snow crab meat (from Tottori prefecture, which boasts the biggest catch quantity of the crab in Japan), sesame seeds, and spring onions on top of steamed rice. As this might sound delicious, it was very tasty. And two pieces of simple grilled scallops were appetising as well. The combination of the bawl and the shellfishes, smelling and feeling sea breezes, reminded us of a summer beach house, as we were holding an imaginary cup of beer and hearing the sound of waves. Ah well, it was a winter day but we felt such happiness.

After saying gochiso-sama (showing respect for food and people who made it), we talked to the man in the food truck. He said this truck is not a regular on matchdays near the National Stadium so we might not see them again. It is unfortunate but this is like an unforgettable goal which you might happen to encounter.

We will keep exploring to find nice football cuisine in Japan as well as the beautiful game itself.