Gridiron Japan: Rice Bowl 2011

On Monday, I got out to the Rice Bowl - the final match in Japan's American Football season.  It's a pretty odd setup, pitting the champions of the professional, company-sponsored X-League (Japanese) against the collegiate champions.  This year, the Obic Seagulls won the X-Bowl, and with it the right to face off against the Ritsumeikan University Panthers.  Despite this weird setup, the Rice Bowl is referred to as the Japanese national championship in American Football.



The history of American football (Japanese) in Japan is surprisingly long, going back to the 1936 founding of three university teams.  The game is now amazingly vital at the university level here, with particular strength at the most elite universities, including Tokyo, Meiji, and Waseda Universities.  I can't really speak for the country as a whole, but Tokyo has quite a few sports bars that broadcast NFL games (though on delay), and various clubs and groups, including alums of American Universities, that get together to watch games.  Supposedly, the Superbowl is broadcast live, which I'm looking forward to.