Have you ever wondered why the uniform or jersey of the Japan national team is blue? Many people have this question because there is no blue color in the flag of Japan or in anything that represents the country. So why does the Japan football team wear blue in their uniform? Is it superstition? Is there some ancient or traditional reason?
Could it be that the fact that the flag of Japan is white and red influenced the choice of blue? In reality, several countries use colors in their uniforms that do not represent the country’s flag; Holland, for instance, uses orange, Italy also uses blue, and the main reasons are related to the royal family of those countries.
For those who are unaware, Japan also has a yellow uniform that signifies honesty and another uniform with red details that represents the rays of the rising sun.
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Why does the Japan football team have a Blue uniform?
The main reason Japan has a blue uniform is that blue is one of the main colors of the Japan Football Association (FJF or JFA). This is what many websites and people claim, but upon researching, it may be that the JFA simply adapted to the blue uniform color of Japan.
A common belief is that the uniform color “represents the blue sky and the ocean symbolizing the national territory of Japan,” but this meaning was attributed later.
Other research states that when Japan participated in the World Cup qualifiers for the first time in 1954, there were few football players and there were not even professional leagues. Thus, the football team of Tokyo University formed the national team and used the blue uniform, which was the same color as Tokyo University.
This theory became popular mainly due to the international success of the University team representing Japan in the ninth Far East Championship in 1930. The real origin of the blue team color is undocumented and unknown. Some even relate it to the fact that Japanese teams wear dark colors in away matches.
Others claim that the main reason Japan still uses blue is because of the luck they had at the Berlin Olympics in 1936, where Japan won 3-2 against Sweden. Because of this epic game, the Japanese earned the nickname Blue Samurai. Now, who can state the true reason why Japan adopted blue as its main color?
Why are the Japanese called Blue Samurai?
Certainly, the game in 1936 influenced the choice of blue and the nickname Blue Samurai. The truth is that blue has nothing to do with samurai, so everything remained this way due to popularity and crowd influence. Not to mention that blue is a popular and attractive color that catches the attention of football fans.
The only time the Japan national team stopped using the blue uniform was between 1988 and 1991 when coach Kenzo Yokoyama discreetly wanted to showcase red as a marketing strategy for Mitsubishi Motors. The results during those years were terrible, which led the team to return to blue.
We believe that the nickname Blue Samurai comes from the simple fact that Japan is the land of samurai and the uniform is blue. The main technique that stands out in the Japan football team is its defense. It may be strongly related to the battles that took place in ancient Japan. I don’t believe it has a total connection with a game from 1936.
It is worth mentioning the Japanese women’s football team called Nadeshiko [撫子], a pink garden flower. The pink uniform well represents the nickname, but it was their style of play, full of excellent, elegant, and artistic passes, that earned the women’s team the nickname of Barcelona. Basically, it is the population that nicknames the teams! This is quite obvious!
The legend of the three-legged crow related to the Blue Uniform
Have you ever wondered why the official logo of Japan is a three-legged crow? Some say this is strongly related to the blue color of the Japanese team. According to legends, this three-legged crow was the guide of Emperor Jimmu when visiting the Kumano region.
The Crow is the messenger of the deity Kumano Gongen who leads pure-hearted people to luck and prosperity. The fact that the JFA used the blue color conveys what we call semiotics and creates a symbolism of luck. Now it remains to be seen which came first, the blue uniform or the color of the JFA.
The important thing is that reports indicate that blue has been used since 1917, so it is really difficult to know the true origin of the blue uniform, but the meaning is simple; it all involves superstitions, luck, and prosperity.
Did you have any idea about these facts related to the colors of Japanese uniforms? Do you know other theories related to the blue uniform of the Japanese national team? I hope you enjoyed the article and we eagerly await your sharing and comments.
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