#12 - Japan

Saturday 20 June 12.30pm Bincho, a stylish yakitori restaurant (that’s a charcoal grill, I now know – check out the learning!) is the newspapers’ tip for Japan. The game is shown on a single screen in a downstairs room – visibility isn’t great, but it’s packed with Japanese fans and the atmosphere is excellent. Ten minutes of this game is more enjoyable than ninety of England’s abysmal showing the night before and there’s a real sense of fun, with particular laughter at a replay of one Japanese player hauling a Dutchman to the ground. The noise of the crowd is noticeably higher pitched than your average bellowing European crowd, but despite the excitement it takes a member of staff – popping down from the restaurant upstairs – to start a chant of “Nipp-on! Nipp-on!”

My first ‘victim’ is Megumi from Osaka. She’s been in the UK for five years but is thinking of heading back soon: visa issues limit her job options in the UK, so despite her experience as a graphic designer, she’s working in the restaurant. She’s shy about having her picture taken, so I take a shot of the rows of rice wine on the shelves above the bar. Bincho is giving out free sake every time Japan score for the duration of the tournament. I love this idea, apart from the fact that Japan are beaten 2-0 today. Seeing as it’s only lunchtime, I forego the sake and stick to the Asahi. (If you visit, just note that the bottled stuff is much better than the draught, disappointingly.)

Shortly before half time I get talking to a man who's obviously Western but is wearing a Japanese shirt. Why? Matt tells me that he travelled for a month in Japan a couple of years ago and fell in love with the place. “I’ve never felt so welcome anywhere in my entire life”, he say - which doesn’t reflect so well on Galway where he lived for a couple of years! He’s adopted Japan as his second team and, since “watching any sport with the Japanese is more fun”, he’s down at Bincho for the second time. He also tips me off about a Bermondsey pub which he promises me will be good for the Korean games - we swap details and agree to stay in touch.