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Japan - V.League V1 (Division 1, Women) 2020-2021

    Saitama is both the prefecture as well as the city. So if they are spreading out across the prefecture it makes sense. Ageo itself is just north of Saitama city.


    NEC is really on both sides of the Tama River. Ota City (ward in the old days) is right across the river from Kawasaki.


    Hitachi is also playing in Mito, which is in the same prefecture as Hitachinaka.


    Toyota and Denso are both in the Nagoya area, Yokkaichi is just west/south of Nagoya. The Denso games in Sapporo will probably be pared with Voreas Hokkaido men's V2 team.

    i would like yo know how hisamitsu will play this league after the really bad that they played last season

    This time they lost shinnabe

    Quote from Jules

    i would like yo know how hisamitsu will play this league after the really bad that they played last season

    This time they lost shinnabe

    It depends a bit on whether Foluke comes back. That will help. But they're still a good team either way. Imamura will be back. Fabiana is gone. Mana Toe is new Captain (wasn't Yuki's best work). Last season was just a bad dream.

    Quote from sitenoise

    Someone is adding men's arenas over at volleybox I'm looking at, and yeah, many of them are dinky.


    I'm looking at ja.wikipedia pages for arenas and I don't really know who uses the "sub" arenas and whatnot, or if I should take the fixed seats and add the standing or moveable to that. But they aren't as big as I thought they were. SAGA Sunrise is less than 3,000, as is Himeji's Wink. Okayama and Kurobe got it covered.

    Normally no one uses the sub arena. Generally speaking, the sub arenas don't have fixed seats.

    Quote from brahmin

    Hitachi is also playing in Mito, which is in the same prefecture as Hitachinaka.

    I missed that. Yes, at Adastria Mito Arena. Opening night! That's flagged as my only Favorite Arena at volleybox. Has good lighting and camera people.


    I'm still working on the schedule and (for my own edification) am adding Arenas to the match days. I'll reign in my "fake" home comments if I can :)

    Quote from Jeniawithlove

    JVA just announced that internal game within National Team representatives will be held on 2nd Aug. You can pay for the live streaming as it will be a remote game which means no spectators.


    It's unknown that if the game support foreign IP.

    I didn't know about this. Thanks for the heads up.


    Even if the broadcast supports foreign IP it may be difficult to pay for it. Often need a 7 digit zip code and a CC from a Japanese bank, but I'm gonna try :)

    Kind of fun and enlightening for me. I added Arenas to the schedule. And here's a map


    There's lots of fakery going on. Some takeaways:

    • Not every team has eight real home games. Every match has a 'designated' home team but that's not even fake. It's empty.
    • Only Okayama and Himeji (the V.League's only real teams) have eight Home Games on Home Turf. I thought Kurobe had eight as well but I was seeing double
    • I'm counting NEC as real and having eight as well, even though brahmin will continue to point out to me that Kawasaki is across the river in a different Prefecture, it's all Tokyo to me :) and they are both resource rich arenas with disco balls
    • SAGA's Fukuoka matches are fake
    • JT is missing out on the fun
    • Doesn't matter that Denso has only six 'home' matches, two of which are fake, because they travel with a circus and can out party anybody any where

    I may have gotten something wrong. I can't read Japanese after all. If anyone sees an error, let me know


    Home games


    Denso Airybees

    2 Nishio City, Aichi Prefecture ( Nishio City Gymnasium )

    2 Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture ( Koriyama Gymnasium )

    2 Sapporo City, Hokkaido ( Kitagas Arena ) (fake)


    Himeji Victorina

    8 Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture ( Wink Gymnasium )


    SAGA Hisamitsu Springs

    4 Tosu City, Saga Prefecture ( Saga Sunrise Park Gymnasium )

    2 Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture ( Green Arena Kobe )

    2 Fukuoka City Fukuoka ( Fukuoka City Civic Gymnasium ) (fake)


    Hitachi Rivale

    2 Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture ( Hitachinaka City Sports Park Gymnasium )

    2 Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture ( Adastria Mito Arena )

    2 Akita City, Akita Prefecture ( CNA Arena Akita ) (fake)


    JT Marvelous

    2 Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture ( Ookini Arena Maishima )

    2 Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture ( Baycom Gymnasium, Amagasaki City Hyōgo )

    2 Kakogawa City, Hyogo Prefecture ( Kakogawa Municipal Gymnasium )


    Kurobe Aqua Fairies

    4 Kurobe City, Toyama Prefecture ( Kurobe General Sports Center )


    NEC Red Rockets

    6 Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture ( Todoroki Arena )

    2 Ota Ward, Tokyo ( Ota Ward Gymnasium )


    Okayama Seagulls

    8 Okayama Prefecture ( Zip Arena ) They're real, and they are spectacular!


    PFU Blue Cats

    2 Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture ( Sun Arena )

    2 Hakusan City Ishikawa ( Matsuto Sports Park Gymnasium )

    2 Goshogawara City, Aomori Prefecture ( Goshogawara Citizen Gymnasium )


    Saitama Ageo Medics

    0 Ageo City, Saitama Prefecture

    2 Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture ( Shimadzu Arena Kyoto )

    2 Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture ( Saitama City Memorial Gymnasium )

    2 Kuki City, Saitama Prefecture ( Mainichi Kogyo Arena Kuki City )


    Toray Arrows

    5 Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture ( Shiga Gymnasium ) oddballs

    0 Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture


    Toyota Body Queens

    2 Kariya city, Aichi prefecture ( Wing Arena Kariya )

    2 Toyota city, Aichi prefecture ( Sky Hall Toyota )

    Very nice two minutes of NEC ( v the NoSmilers) with a little slo-mo love. YOLO is a jumper. #5 in Red. Nice angles for 173cm. Yuka Sawada, Setter, #10, defensive specialist.


    Quote from brahmin

    Hitachinaka and Mito are exactly the same as NEC with Kawasaki and Tokyo. Right across the River.

    I went back and forth with Hitachinaka and Mito and rated Mito "semi fake" only because the Hitachinaka and Mito pair doesn't have the same gravitas as Kawasaki and Tokyo :). I will remove the demerit and consider Mito a real Home Game.


    I gave Saitama Real Home Game status for Kuki. They're trying!


    It's interesting to me that it's the big corporate dual citizenship teams (Denso, JT, SAGA, Toray, Toyota) that can't seem to get the Home Game thing together

    YOLO is my hero again. I'm going out on a limb, like I do every year, and mark NEC as title contenders. Their propaganda is working. They've been the best at Fan Service during this pandemic. They're running a series of articles/interviews recently I've found interesting.


    The first one is with the GM and TD. My takeaway from that one is that the new TD is pushing community outreach big time. A tough task during these times of Social Distancing but he thinks the "pinch is an opportunity". Specifically, he wants to push Sarina Koga, thrust her out in public, make her talk, make her engage, make her grow as a human being. It will help her game :thumbup:


    The second one is with the three NT players: YOLO, Yamada, and Koga. It's where the above video is linked from, but it's a little stargazing from the youngsters toward Sarina. They say they look to her for guidance on what the opposing team's vulnerabilities are. YOLO said she likes to exploit other people's weaknesses :box: <3


    The third, and best one so far, is with the liberos: Mio Satō and Manami Kojima. The whole thing is a takeaway even as google-translated word salad. Mio recalls receiving a Zhu Ting spike that bruised her arm :P. They talk about how to respond to mistakes, how they perceive international players compared to their Japanese comrades and how they respond to mistakes (individually or as a team).


    Quote

    "The only existence that can save a person who makes a mistake is Libero even if they do not score."

    Maybe true, maybe not, but I applaud the kahunas :heart:


    I love this one from Kojima:

    Quote

    From a Libero perspective, I would like you to see the movement of a person who is not touching the ball. I think the movement of the ball tends to go by all means, but not only that, how the other players are following the block when hitting the spike, what kind of approach around the reception player are you doing? I think volleyball is interesting if you can see the movements of people who are not touching the ball.

    The LDP, Japan’s governing party, is asking for foreigners that play in Japan’s basketball or volleyball leagues to be allowed into Japan per a report from Kyodo News Service (Japanese only on Twitter).

    This also includes coaching staff.

    I would say that if players are wanting to get to Japan, it needs to be sooner than later. Given that you have a 14 day quarantine after arriving and cannot take public transportation (trains, buses, etc.) after arriving. Teams will have to pick up the players and drive them to their home.

    In a weird one, Ayaka Matsumoto has signed with Toyota

    My picks for this year's semi-finals: NEC, Hitachi, Okayama, SAGA, but somehow JT will win the title :rolll: