“IT’S CHERRY VERSUS LEG – AND IT’S LIVE!”

The J. League is back with its array of wacky monikers. Commentator Olly Hogben explains what they mean...

YOKOHAMA F MARINOS

Despite winning the Emperor’s Cup, the Yokohama Flugels went bust in 1998 and merged with seaside rivals Yokohama Marinos ( that’s ‘ marine’ in, er, Spanish). Trouble is, it wasn’t really a merger at all – the ‘ new’ team had the Marinos’ badge and kit, and only three Flugels players. A solitary F is all that remains – and unsurprisingly, the merger was as well received in Yokohama as a team called Tottenham A Hotspur would be in north London, playing in white and blue with Hector Bellerin at the back. Instead, furious Flugels formed Yokohama FC.

KASHIMA ANTLERS

In the late 1980s, the small industrial town near Tokyo was famous only for two things: its gambling parlours and the deer which roamed the city. That was until citizens formed the ‘ Make Kashima More Fun Discussion Group’ – because nothing screams ‘ fun’ more than a local parish council meeting, as Jackie Weaver can confirm. Their recommendation? Create a new team. Faced with a choice, residents decided to immortalise deer over the town’s beloved arcades – cruelly denying the world FC Bingo Kashima.

TOKUSHIMA VORTIS

Vortis have recently begun their second ever campaign in the top flight, having finished bottom in 2014. Playing at the beautifully named Pocari Sweat Stadium, they’re based on the southern island of Shikoku, separated from Japan’s main island by a turbulent body of water called the Naruto Strait. Its whirlpools and vortices have troubled sailors and inspired artists for hundreds of years – but will Vortis be sucked back into the second tier, disappearing once more?

HOKKAIDO CONSADOLE SAPPORO

The league’s northernmost club is the only top- flight outfit on the island of Hokkaido, playing in its capital Sapporo. That explains two- thirds of the name; the rest is less straightforward. Local folk are nicknamed ‘ dosanko’ after a local breed of horse – reverse that and you get ‘ co- n- sa- do’, with an ‘ olé’ stuck on the end just for the hell of it. Officially it’s another Spanish homage – a snowy, northern Japanese city does make you think about the Costa Brava, after all – although maybe they were massive fans of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. ‘ Hokkaido Consad- and- solskjaer- haswon- it Sapporo’ probably would have made it too obvious.

SANFRECCE HIROSHIMA

‘ San’ is the number three in Japanese, and ‘ frecce’ is Italian for arrows: a reference to a lesson given by a 16th century feudal lord. It’s said that Mori Motonari took three arrows from his quiver and showed that while one could be snapped in half easily on its own, they were unbreakable when united. The message is bittersweet: few cities know what it’s like to be broken and rebuilt like Hiroshima.

CEREZO OSAKA & GAMBA OSAKA

One of football’s more unusual derbies comes in Osaka, because Cerezo and

Gamba began as the same team. The Yanmar Diesel company disbanded its reserves in 1980, and the players went off to join a rival electrical firm. Over a decade later, Yanmar morphed into Cerezo Osaka and its discarded ressies became the more successful Gamba. ‘ Cerezo’, which is Spanish for ‘ cherry’, pays homage to pink cherry blossom trees that are all over the city. ‘ Gamba’ sounds similar to the phrase ‘ keep fighting’ in local dialect, and is also Italian for ‘ leg’. Cherry against leg, eh? Er... tasty.

VEGALTA SENDAI

Victims of a devastating tsunami in 2011, Sendai was previously famed for its Tanabata star festival, in honour of celestial lovers Vega and Altair. Separated by the Milky Way, the two deities get to meet up only once a year. Having been named after a celebration that dates back to 755, the Honshu club might just boast football’s most romantic team name. It’s slightly more soulful than their original title: Tohoku Electric Power Company Incorporated Soccer Club...