見出し画像

To the Stadium of Fever — One Step Ahead

上田丈晴スポーツ文化研究所

On May 15th — the anniversary of the J.League's founding — the Japan national team squad was announced.

My junior colleague Kaoru Mitoma, whose inclusion I had been looking forward to, was not on the list. Disappointing, yes — but that too is part of the game, and part of life. Still, I share that feeling of barely being able to wait for what's coming.

So I decided to let AI take me there first — to that arena of fever that awaits us all.

First, please listen.

*This track is available for a limited time until May 23rd.

The moment Japanese wadaiko drums and shamisen rang out, fusing with a Dutch church organ, memories of visiting the Netherlands came flooding back. It seems music, like taste, has the power to connect with memory.

It happened at what was then called the Amsterdam ArenA — now the Johan Cruyff ArenA. I remember the sheer volume of trash around the stadium after the match — remnants of food and drink consumed inside and out. Not even bagged up. Just eaten, drunk, and discarded as-is. I don't know if it's still like that, but watching people toss things away so casually was a huge culture shock. That was nearly ten years ago.

Right next to the stadium sits the facility called De Toekomst — meaning "The Future" — Ajax's training ground. I recall there being more than ten pitches of various sizes. We were shown rooms named after legendary players, and the moment we saw those names, my colleagues and I looked at each other and smiled with excitement.

It no longer exists, but back then there was a pure white air dome — a dreamlike indoor environment housing a full-size pitch.

Even Ajax's second team, commonly known as "Jong Ajax," displayed an extraordinary level of quality. The explosive power in their sprints was breathtaking — followed by pinpoint crosses. A beautiful fusion of strength and technique. Back then, I never could have imagined that two Japanese international players would one day be part of this club. Ko Itakura and Takehiro Tomiyasu — truly remarkable.

Postscript: I'd also like to note that Gamba Osaka, who won the ACL TWO, have a strategic partnership with Ajax that includes youth development. Congratulations to everyone at Gamba Osaka — and especially to President Mizutani!

Of course, there are other Japanese players in the Netherlands too: Ayase Ueda and Go Watanabe (both at Feyenoord), and Koki Ogawa (NEC Nijmegen).

The interplay between instruments from both the Netherlands and Japan evoked the very flow of a match. It's a shame there's no deciding a winner here — but this session, this sense of melting together, this harmony, reminded me that fusion is exactly what we've always sought on the pitch.

I wanted to share this feeling with you first.

The truth is, all 72 tracks are already finished. I haven't slept in three days, squeezing this in between my main work. But it was a blast!

Honestly, having produced them all in one go, I haven't even listened to every single track myself. But as I touched the culture of each country through its instruments while simultaneously encountering another country's culture, I had a premonition: this could become a new space for thought experiments.

What happens when two nations vying for the top fuse together musically? Predicting what will happen on the pitch may be difficult — but anyone can let their imagination run wild while listening.

Why not try it yourself? Expand your imagination through the fused music of both nations before you cheer them on. I'm sure it will be a deeply enriching experience.

I plan to share my impressions of each track, along with background on each country and track data, in due course.

*If there's a particular matchup you're curious about, please let me know in the comments. I'll prioritize posting those.

Track Data

Takeharu Ueda

いいなと思ったら応援しよう！