By Fred Varcoe

Sports Apr. 29, 2008 - 06:18AM JST ( 9 )

TOKYO —

The scarves are held aloft, the fans are on their feet belting out the British soccer anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” the stadium carries a distinct aroma of fish and chips, and Bass Pale Ale is on tap to keep those cheering throats lubricated. The teams emerge to an enormous roar — and it is around this time that you start to think, “What am I doing in Chofu?”

The answer is: taking in a game at Ajinomoto Stadium on UK Day, FC Tokyo’s celebration of English soccer. Under the theme “Football’s Coming Home” (the title of another English soccer anthem), FC Tokyo will once again be featuring all things British on May 10 when the team will face Kashiwa Reysol at Ajinomoto Stadium.

“We want to make the atmosphere… like it is in the Premier League,” FC Tokyo spokesperson Shu Namba says. “England is the mother of football, so we have a lot of respect for English football. That’s why we sing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone.’”

Staff from the British Embassy will be on hand to make a pre-match presentation to the players, while the day’s events will be accompanied by the bagpipes of Gerald Muirhead, a former piper with the storied Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. And yes, fish and chips will be on sale, along with Bass.

Namba’s claim that FC Tokyo’s playing style “is as exciting as the Premier League” might take a bit of digesting, but since being promoted to the J. League’s top division in 2000, the “Gasmen” (the team was formerly sponsored by Tokyo Gas) have aimed at fast and furious football, along the lines of England’s elite league. And, Namba says, the players are all big fans of British soccer.

Defenseman Yuhei Tokunaga’s most cherished memory is Manchester United’s 7-1 demolition of Roma in last year’s Champions League. “It was incredible,” Tokunaga tells Metropolis. The defender says he loves the English game because of the quick transition from defense to attack, and he’s also a big fan of Christian Ronaldo (“He has a cool face.”)

Waseda University graduate Tokunaga is one of FC Tokyo’s young stars and has been knocking on the door of the national team. Two players who are already on the Japan squad are highly respected defensive midfielder Yasuyuki Konno and former JEF United attacking midfielder Naotake Hanyu. In addition, Sota Hirayama, Yohei Kajiyama and Yuto Nagatomo are on the Olympic team, while the foreign legion consists of three Brazilians: midfielder Emerson, striker (and former Korean League star) Cabore and defender Bruno Quadros.

FC Tokyo is now under the stewardship of former Japan Under-17 coach Hiroshi Jofuku, whose style, according to Namba, is “pass pass pass, move move move.” FC Tokyo’s buzzword this year is “Moving Football,” and the team will be hoping to move up from the doldrums of Division One, where they finished in 12th place last year.

One of FC Tokyo’s “Basic Principles,” which you can find on their website, is “to become a fitting symbol of the capital city.” Well, they’ve certainly got the name. If they can provide the soccer as well, they could achieve their ambition of filling the stadium for their home games and carrying the torch for soccer in Tokyo.

British adults turning up for the game can get in for a mere 500 yen, while those aged 12 and under get in for free; make sure to bring an alien registration card or passport to prove your nationality. Tickets must be obtained from the UK Day tent at the entrance to Ajinomoto Stadium, which is a five-minute walk from Tobitakyu station on the Keio line out of Shinjuku. (Most express and semi-express trains stop there on match days.) Ajinomoto holds 50,000 people, so there should be enough room for all the Brits who turn up.

This story originally appeared in Metropolis magazine (www.metropolis.co.jp).