Philippe Troussier, Japan's national team coach, had tears at the press conference after his team lost to Turkey, 1-0, in Miyagi.
''It's the end of an adventure,'' said the Frenchman after the second-round game, ''but we finished with a Japanese team which has a lot of spirit for the future.''
It's now Japanese soccer's mission to fill the void after the World Cup hype.
The TV rating for the Japan-Russia game was 66.1 percent, setting a record for the highest rating for a soccer game. More than 16,000 fans jumped into the Doutonbori River in downtown Osaka after Japan clinched a spot in the second round. Japanese have a reputation for being reserved, and they had never expressed their joy with these kinds of wild celebrations before.
The next four years will be most critical for Japanese soccer. The J-League resumed July 13 after a two-month break for the World Cup. Saitama Stadium, site of the semifinal between Brazil and Turkey, is one of the home stadiums of popular J-League club Urawa Red Diamonds. Two days before its game with Jubilo Iwata, 60,000 tickets were sold although no Reds players made the Japanese national team.
''I guess many wonderful matches took place at Saitama Stadium,'' Sinji Suto, the Reds' press officer, said, ''so some people just want to come to the stadium.''
Japan built 10 stadiums for the World Cup, but only four will be used regularly for J-League games: the Sapporo Dome, Ibaraki's New Kashima Soccer Stadium, Yokohama's International Stadium and Kobe's Wing Stadium (after seats are taken out to reduce the capacity).
STADIUMS. Saitama is situated 25 miles northeast of Tokyo. The Saitama Stadium was constructed at cost of $700 millions by Saitama prefecture, but the Reds will use it for only five of 15 league games.
One reason is transportation problems; another is politics.
Local fans need more than 30 minutes to get to the Saitama Stadium by shuttle bus from nearest train station.
The Reds are restricted to playing games only on Saturday nights at Saitama Stadium as part of its policy to limit the number of games to 20 a year to keep the grass from being damaged and to allow for youth tournaments. Moreover, the rental fee for Saitama Stadium is high by J-League standards: $150,000.
Complicating matters is the fact that the Reds' other home, Komaba Stadium, was renovated after the J-League was launched in 1993. The renovations were underwritten by the city of Urawa, which is one of the Reds' investors and wants to get as much use out of its stadium as possible.
The viability of the other World Cup stadiums varies. The Sapporo Dome, which hosted the England-Argentina game in the first round, should turn a profit. Besides soccer, the domed stadium hosts professional baseball games and pop concerts.
All 10 World Cup venues have J-League teams, but two venues, Oita and Niigata, only have teams in J2, the Second Division, where average attendance is only 5,037.
JFA. The Japanese Football Association (JFA) hopes to keep World Cup enthusiasm alive by offering Brazilian Zico Troussier's job as national team coach. The 49-year-old Brazilian legend played in the J-League for Kashima Antlers when the league began in 1993 and has been called ''God of Soccer'' in Japan. Since his retirement in 1994, Zico has served as technical adviser to his former team, guiding it to four J-League championships.
Saburo Kawabuchi, 58, has been the chairman of the J-League since its launch and is on the verge of becoming the new president of JFA. The move could improve relations between the J-League and JFA. Kawabuchi and Troussier were often at odds over the release of national team players.
Japan reached the final 16, although its performance was overshadowed by the semifinal success of co-host South Korea. Much has been written about the bad blood between Japan and Korea, its former colony, but the co-hosts are forming close soccer ties. They are establishing the new East Asia Football Federation to promote Asian soccer, including China and other nearby countries in the alliance to counter Asia's Middle East bloc. The first regional tournament will take place in Japan in 2003.
PLAYERS. Japan's young players are eager to move abroad, following in the footsteps of Hidetoshi Nakata (Perugia, Roma and Parma) and Shinji Ono (Feyenoord). Shunsuke Nakamura, 24, was controversially cut from the national team at the last moment but has signed with Reggina of Italy's Serie A. Midfielder Junichi Inamoto, 24, scored against Belgium and Russia. He has transferred to Fulham from London rival Arsenal. Japan's 25-year-old captain, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, who wore the ''Batman Mask,'' and Brazilian-born Alessandro Santos, 24, are seeking to join European clubs.
FANS. For the final in Yokohama, the JFA invited local soccer kids to sit in seats that couldn't be sold because of obstructed sightlines. One of the schoolchildren asked with excitement, ''Which team are you rooting for? I am a fan of Germany because I like [goalie Oliver] Kahn.''
Perhaps the greatest legacy of the World Cup is that Japanese men and women of all ages who never paid attention to soccer before enjoyed the World Cup each in his or her own way. Now, a new soccer adventure is beginning in Japan as it looks ahead to Germany 2006.
by Soccer America's Hijiri Kono