Half! 1-0, #SanfrecceHiroshima with the lead. And they deserve it — and maybe more; the sheer number of chances they've had boggles the mind. #Sanfrecce #Urawa

Jonathan and I holding a sign that says “サンフランシスコ❤️サンフレッチェ”

Please enjoy our sign! #Sanfrecce

Selfie w/ friend-of-the-account Jonathan.

Walking to Peace Wing stadium for #SanfrecceHiroshima vs. #UrawaReds! It's a wet one!

A little stuffed Pikachu with a Sanfrecce scarf and flag.

Huge, huge game for #SanfrecceHiroshima tonight. I will be sleeping right through it, but: up the three arrows!

(No, I have no idea if that's an actual thing they say. Still!)

Yokohama’s supporters section, flags aloft.

Playing under spotlights in National Stadium.

Post-game, the Yokohama supporters raise their umbrellas in unison.

One year ago today. #MachidaZelvia #FMarinos #JLeague #film #photography

Holding a cup of coffee in Weekenders’ lovely (but crowded) courtyard.

Drip coffee at Weekenders before flying home. #film photos to come! #JLeague

I've seen four games across J1, J2, and J3 this week. #GiravanzKitakyushu put in by far the most effort — winning the ball by throwing their bodies into it, moving together in attack, creating chance after chance.

Heartbreaking for them to go out this way.

It says “CHANCE”

Personally obsessed with this graphic that appears for every #GiravanzKitakyushu corner kick.

Man. I cannot describe the number of chances #GiravanzKitakyushu is getting. It's a credit to the coach — this team uses the ball *very* well.

They're a killer striker away from being a mid-tier (or better) J2 team.

Lots has happened! #YokohamaFC got a second, then #GiravanzKitakyushu pulled one back with a penalty. They're still in it!

And I got some (hopefully great) photos from deep within the Giravanz supporters section.

#GiravanzKitakyushu are moving the ball so well! I have a hunch this is a #YokohamaFC B-squad, just based on the jersey numbers out there — but I'm still impressed!

#GiravanzKitakyushu went down one, pretty quickly — but they've looked good since! (They're playing J1 side #YokohamaFC, two divisions above them.)

View of sunset from just inside the stadium.

Mikuni World Stadium has an incredible backdrop: the bay, and mountains beyond.

Pano of the stadium during warm-ups.

Annnd it's *gorgeous.* #GiravanzKitakyushu

Signage to the stadium!

Giravanz banners hanging above!

More banners!

At last: the stadium!

Found our way to the stadium! #GiravanzKitakyushu

Is it that they don’t want to have to maintain the track? (I saw this somewhere — that’s reasonable, but it feels like Nagasaki could split the bill!)

(By the way: I don't know which politicians' palms need greasing to get a straight-shot Shinkansen down to Nagasaki, but all these transfers are a bummer!)

The nightly light show at Peace Stadium.

Taking a few final photos of Peace Stadium in the morning.

Vivi-kun on a manhole cover!

POV from my seat on the Kamome Relay train.

Said goodbye to Nagasaki today! We did everything there is to do there — zip lined over the stadium, tried all the local beer, saw the sights — and I can't say enough good things about it.

Now: north, for one more game. #GiravanzKitakyushu, see you soon!

…it’s an infinity pool overlooking the stadium.

Found an even better place to watch the second half. #VVarenNagasaki #JLeague

GOOD GOD. #VVarenNagasaki scored the sickest bicycle kick goal imaginable… except the ref had blown the whistle a half second before, for a very questionable foul on #SaganTosu's keeper.

Really, really think Nagasaki were robbed here!

Mascots in the hotel lobby!

In line at the store.

Sushi on our balcony, overlooking the field.

The V-Varen supporters unfurl a tifo just before kickoff.

Checked in, grabbed sushi from the grocery store attached to the stadium (?), watched opening ceremonies involving dragons…

And we're off! #VVarenNagasaki #SaganTosu #JLeague

My. God.

I did not realize how cool this would be! Soccer fans: if you’re ever in Nagasaki, you’ve got to book a room at their soccer-stadium-slash-hotel. #JLeague

Looking out across the stadium.

So: this is the view from the hotel lobby. #VVarenNagasaki #JLeague

My camera and coffee, on the Shinkansen.

Out the window of the Shinkansen. It’s gloomy!

On the road again! Er, tracks, really.

Today I'm headed down to Nagasaki, to see #VVaren at their new stadium — which has a hotel attached. (Yes, I'm staying at the hotel.) #JLeague

Hiroshima is a gorgeous, vibrant, imminently-approachable city.

If your mental image of it is the Peace Memorial Park, or “ground zero,” or whatever: update it! It’s a real, live, bustling place, not some monument to your grandfathers’ guilt.

*Explosion* of relief from the #FagianoOkayama supporters at the final whistle. They held on!

Save of the match day, surely! #FagianoOkayama's keeper keeps #SanfrecceHiroshima off the board with an absurd showing of sheer reflexes.

Okayama supporters after the goal!

#FagianoOkayama finally break through! That one's been coming.

40 minutes in: #FagianoOkayama have really had the better of it! Hiroshima are basically trapped in their own half, and the few counters they've managed to spring haven't looked terribly dangerous. #JLeague

Pano of the stadium, supporters groups on either end.

Right, well: this is unreal. The atmosphere is *incredible.* #SanfrecceHiroshima #FagianoOkayama #JLeague

Cherry blossoms along the way.

A riverboat with Sanfrecce flags.

The bridge to Peacewing stadium!

The stadium again.

The walk to Peacewing stadium is gorgeous — we went up along the river, saw lingering sakura and a boat with #SanfrecceHiroshima flags.