When Football Meets Japanese Culture
Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of discovering a new country: Japan.
I’ve just returned with a suitcase full of experiences and new knowledge from a truly wonderful place.
Maybe I overuse the word wonderful for every country I’ve lived in—but it’s the truth. I simply can’t think of another word for South Africa, Canada, China, Brazil, Finland… The experiences I’ve had in each of them have gifted me learning, growth, and countless smiles.
When we speak about a country, we often describe it based on the experiences we’ve had there. And in many cases, a single negative moment can shape a negative opinion of the entire place. Depending on who you ask about Spain, Brazil, China, Japan… you might hear either glowing praise or strong criticism, all based on what that person lived.
In this case, Japan means delicacy, perfection, respect, and learning.
Delicacy in everything they do—not just in football, but in the most ordinary aspects of life: breakfast, gardens, interior design…
Perfection in every action. These might be some of the most technically skilled players I’ve ever seen.
I was going to say they had the highest technical capacity, but that might belong to other countries where athletic development and evolution have gone further than in Japan. But skill is something that can be trained—and that’s what young Japanese players do. They seek perfection in every technical gesture, often outperforming countries like Brazil, where there’s a natural ginga, or Spain, Portugal, Argentina…
But this perfection isn’t limited to football. It applies across the board—whether it’s the arts, food, gardening…
Every morning, I had breakfast at the hotel where two elderly people prepared small, simple meals for the guests. Each tiny dish on the tray was delicate and perfect.
Respect—for elders, for the environment, for institutions…
At one of the sports centers I visited, teams from various disciplines were staying there, preparing for competition. As soon as you enter, everyone removes their shoes and stores them neatly in lockers.
When teams face each other, they bow solemnly before and after the match.
As they leave the facility, they express thanks to the staff—first the athletes, then the coaches, who offer a few words before bowing in the traditional Japanese greeting (saikeirei).
Learning might be tied to perfection, but I separate it here for one simple reason:
Learning begins with a willingness to learn—something that’s not always easy to find in our sport.
In many of the coaching courses I’ve taught or attended at the Spanish Football Federation, the comments often sound like:
“What’s this guy going to teach me?”
“I know more than the instructor.”
“Everything they’re saying, I already know.”
The ego of football often prevents us from wanting to learn.
But in Japan, I encountered a very different mindset. I found people genuinely willing to learn—open to listening and absorbing ideas from those who arrived with different cultures and perspectives.
And learning, of course, goes both ways.
I found a football culture that was different—players with unique needs, who approached the game in ways I wasn’t used to.
They need stimuli that challenge decision-making, situations that help them understand what to do and how to respond based on their technical skill. That changed the way I designed my training sessions. I dropped tasks that focused solely on execution and began emphasizing decision-making.
In a future article, I’ll share one of the drills we used with a group of players I had the pleasure of working with for a few days.
Japan was a new chapter in my career.
A short one—but intense.
And I truly hope it’s a chapter I get to revisit in the future.
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