The Ōu Honsen (奥羽本戦, ''Main battle of Ōu'', a pun on the

Ou Line OU or Ou or ou may stand for: Universities United States * Oakland University in Oakland County, Michigan * Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama * Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia * Ohio University in Athens, Ohio * Olivet Universi ...

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

traversing the prefectures) is a footballing

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

played between

Blaublitz Akita is a Japanese professional association football team based in Akita (city), Akita, capital of Akita Prefecture. The club currently play in the J2 League, Japanese second tier of professional football league. Due to the club's former ownership b ...

and

Montedio Yamagata is a Japanese people, Japanese professional association football club based in Tendo, Yamagata. The club currently playing in J2 League, the Japanese second tier of professional football. Name origin Montedio is a coined word combining the I ...

, both professional

J.League The , commonly a.k.a. shortened to the , and officially known as the for sponsorship with Meiji Yasuda Life, is the men's association football league in Japan. It is responsible for organizing Japan's major professional football tournaments, in ...

teams from the cities in the former

Dewa Province was a province of Japan comprising modern-day Yamagata Prefecture and Akita Prefecture, except for the city of Kazuno and the town of Kosaka. Dewa bordered on Mutsu and Echigō Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . History Early per ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It is also known as the Dewa derby or Chokaisan derby, and named after

Japan Railways The Japan Railways Group, commonly known as the or simply JR, is a network of railway companies in Japan formed after the division and privatization of the government-owned Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987. The group comprise ...

Ōu Main Line The is a railway line in Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Fukushima Station (Fukushima), Fukushima Station through Akita Station to Aomori Station. Since the opening of the Yamagata Shinkansen on July 1, 1 ...

which connects Akita City and Tendo, Yamagata. Series winners can wear home kits at the opponent's stadium next season. This matchup is a part of

Tohoku derby Tohoku derby (東北ダービー) refers to matches played between professional association football, football clubs of Tohoku region, Japan. This area consists of six Prefectures of Japan, prefectures and such clubs include Vanraure Hachinohe, I ...

Stadiums

The game is usually hosted at

Soyu Stadium Soyu Stadium, formerly a.k.a. , is an athletic stadium in Akita, Akita, Japan. Located approximately 3 kilometers from the city center, the Akita Yabase Stadium is a multi-use facility opened in September 1941. It has been renovated several times, ...

and ND Soft Stadium Yamagata. The two stadiums are approximately 156 km (97 miles) apart.

Past results

Statistics as of 21 May 2023

Tohoku Soccer League

TDK were relegated into the regional league ahead of the 1987 season. The derby was first contested in 1990 when

Tsuruoka is a Cities of Japan, city in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 125,389 in 49,024 households, and a population density of 95.74 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Tsuruoka is the biggest city in ...

club was promoted to

Tohoku Soccer League is the Japanese fifth tier of league football, which is part of the Japanese Regional Leagues. History It covers most of the Tōhoku region and the 6 prefectures of Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi and Yamagata. It is one of the nin ...

. Yamagata won the Ōu League four times in a row between 1990 and 1993 before being accepted into the

Japan Football League The , also known as simply the JFL, is the 4th tier of the Japanese association football league system, positioned beneath the three divisions of the J.League. The league features fully professional teams that hold J.League 100 Year Plan club sta ...

ahead of the 1994 season. The two teams did not play each other in the league again until the 2021 J2 League season after Akita's promotion as J3 champions.

Emperor's Cup

The derby was also played twice in the Emperor's Cup.

J2 League

The clubs met again in the

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yasud ...

, after Akita got promoted by winning the

J3 League or simply J3 is the third division of . It was established in 2013 as the third-tier professional association football league in Japan under the organization of J.League. The league is known as the for sponsorship reasons. The third-tier nation ...

. Their first league meeting in 28 years resulted in a scoreless draw at

Friendlies

They have competed more than 27 practice games together.

Players who have played for both clubs

* Yoshimasa Fujita (Y: 2002–2003, A: 2004) * Keita Hidaka (Y: 2012–2015, A: 2016–2018) * Kohei Higa (A: 2011, Y: 2012–2016) * Han Ho-gang (Y: 2016, A: 2016–2020) * Yuki Inoue (Y: 2002–2004, A: 2009–2010) *

Kenichi Kaga is a Japanese footballer who plays as a defender for J2 League club Blaublitz Akita. Playing career Kaga was born in Futada, Tennō, Akita on 30 September 1983. After graduating from high school, he joined J1 League club Júbilo Iwata in ...

(Y: 2017–2019, A: 2020–) * Hideki Matsuda (Y: 2000–2002, A: 2004–2005, 2008) * Masatoshi Matsuda (Y: 2003–2004, A: 2007, 2009–2013) * Yuki Takabayashi (Y: 2006, A: 2007–2008) * Tetsu Takahashi (Y: 1998–1999, A: 2000–2002) * Keita Yoshioka (Y: 2022–, A: 2024–)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ōu Honsen Dewa Province Blaublitz Akita Montedio Yamagata Football derbies in Japan Ōu Main Line Nicknamed sporting events Y. Sasaki

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

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