Kyushu

Japan is big on sport. The most popular team sports are football (soccer), baseball, basketball, and rugby. Of course, there’s also sumo wrestling as well as golf and tennis. It’s always fun when you have a local team to root for, especially when you move to a new area. This helps you feel like part of the community — and gives you the chance to feel the excitement of attending a live game. Since Kumamoto is only a small city, it doesn’t have a large number of professional teams. However, if you like football (soccer for our North American readers) and basketball, you’re in luck. Roasso Kumamoto Founded in 1969, Roasso Kumamoto (Japanese link) was originally Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation (NTT) Soccer Club. It received its current name in 1985 when NTT was privatized. The name combines the Italian word “rosso” (meaning red) with “asso” (meaning ace). The club joined the Kyushu Soccer League in 1983 — a league that has teams from all eight prefectures in Kyushu. It is one of the Japanese Regional leagues, which are the fifth and sixth tiers of league football (Kyushu is one of the fifth tiers) — the system just below…