Barcelona Frenzy hits Japan.


Japan is the foreign country with the most Barca fans, and a huge number was on hand to welcome the Catalan giants to a place Barca are greatly loved and cherished. On hand to welcome Barca was also Leo Miyagata, a hitherto unknown youngster who shot to media attention when his tears spotted him out after FC Barcelona were defeated 1-0 by Porto Alegre in the 2004 World Cup for Clubs held in Japan.
After a journey of three and a half hours and 3,000 kilometres, the Barça expedition berthed in Japan from China arriving Tokyo in grand style. Large groups of supporters turned out to see them off from China and again to welcome them to the land of the rising sun, where some of the fans chanted the names of some of the players. The team will be based in the second largest city in the country, Yokohama, which has a population of 3.5 million.


Tokyo and Yokohama are both known for active football followership and also hosted the World Cup Finals in 2002. Frank Rijkaard’s side has just one game in Japan, against Yokohama Marinos, a side that was created several years ago following a merger with Flugels. This will be the third meeting between the teams in recent years, and will be played at the Yokohama International Stadium, also known as the Nissan Stadium, where Ronaldinho and Belletti were in the Brazil side that became world champions for a record fifth time.

True to club philosophies, Barcelona players and officials will also take out time to visit victims of the recent earthquake in Japan.