[X-League]Fujitsu Rice Bowl winner Arrilwan Adyami talks about transforming the Japanese football world | SPREAD

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2023.01.04

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determine the pinnacle of national American footballBowl of ricewas held at the Tokyo Dome on January 3,Fujitsu FrontiersAfter a thrilling good game rarely seen in recent years,panasonic impulsedefeated 29-21.

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■ Japanese American football world top rice bowl transition

Fujitsu, who won a rematch of last year’s tournament, has now claimed his second consecutive victory. In total, it was the seventh crown of the throne, which is the second largest in history.

American football is not very popular in Japan and is not often featured in the media on a daily basis. However, on the other hand, the Rice Bowl is actually one of the most historic games in Japan, being the 76th this year.

The changes in history are also interesting because you don’t see them often in other sports. The first Rice Bowl was held in 1948, not long after the end of the Pacific War, but at the time it was a competition between east and west varsity all-star teams, and this format continued until the 36th tournament in 1983 From 1984 it was changed to a match between the student champion and the adult champion.

Japan in the 70s and 80sNFLA boom in American football includedKyoto University gangstersorNihon University PhoenixThere was also the prosperity of student teams such as this, and the National Stadium, which was the venue at the time, attracted 30,000 to 40,000 spectators (however, this seems to have been included).

Since 1992, constantlyTokyo domeHowever, in the 2000s, workers (since 1997x-leagueThe team has started to hire authentic American players and the students are no longer able to compete and as of the 75th tournament (2022) the format has been changed to a decide battle for the adult team (Student Japan Final match will be held in end of DecemberKoshien bowlthey became).

From the 2022 season, the top 8 teams of the top division X1 Super”rice bowl tournamentwas held, giving more teams a chance to advance to the Rice Bowl.

The fact that the Rice Bowl became a game between adult teams is historic considering this game was originally a game between only student teams and college teams have continued to dominate in popularity and skill.

I mentioned above that there was a difference in ability between working adults and students, but why did this situation arise?

It’s definitely in the rise of American players. With the influx of authentic players of great stature and excellent athletic ability, the level of the league has definitely risen. Since the 2010s, every team has started adopting quarterbacks (QB), who are the stars of American football and the absolute center of the team, one after another.

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Fujitsu defender Arrilwan Adyami Photo: Kazushi Nagatsuka

Most foreign players who come to the X League dream of joining the NFL and have been invited to training camps, etc., but have failed to reach it.

However, there are some players who have come to Japan and stayed there for a long time, winning championships and individual titles and finding success in their lives.

Fujitsu, who won the Rice Bowl this time,Arrilwan Adyamihe is one of the people who helped raise the level of American football in this country by admiringly adapting to life and football in a foreign country.

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