Directions to Panasonic Suita Stadium

As soon as I planned to go to Osaka, where there are two famous football teams, Gamba Osaka and Cerezo Osaka, my first task was to find out if there was any football match of either team. On the J.League 1 schedule for 2023, when I went to Osaka, there was a match between Gamba Osaka and Kashima Antlers in round 18.

Tickets cost 4,100 yen (about 700,000 VND) with an electronic ticket with a QR code, enough to sit from the middle of the B stand, although not too close to the touchline. To get my paper ticket, the person who bought my ticket went to a 7-Eleven store in Kobe to print it. It cost me 220 yen more (the system fee was 110 yen plus the issuance fee of 110 yen) and I got a paper ticket to enter the stadium and something to keep as a souvenir. It was also a clear link between J.League 1 and the 7-Eleven convenience store chain across Japan, which has been in place for many years.

The author (far left) and Vietnamese friends travel and study in Japan in front of Panasonic Suita Stadium.

Panasonic Suita Stadium, home to Gamba Osaka since 2016, is located in Suita City, Osaka Prefecture. Panasonic, headquartered in nearby Kadoma City, acquired the naming rights to the stadium, which was renamed Panasonic Suita on January 1, 2018.

The stadium is about 22km from the center of Osaka and there are many ways to get here, from bus, train to taxi. We chose the train with a travel time of 45 minutes, including moving from Osaka station to Minami Ibaraki station. Then, we transferred to Bampaku Kinenkoen station, the train station near Panasonic Suita Stadium. Upon arriving at Minami Ibaraki station, we easily felt the atmosphere of the weekend football festival when thousands of fans wearing Gamba Osaka jerseys (currently priced at 27,500 yen each - equivalent to more than 4.6 million VND) "landed" here, then continued to move to the train line leading to Bampaku Kinenkoen station.

At Bampaku Kinenkoen, Gamba Osaka FC placed a long row of flags at the train station, each with a picture of a player playing for the team, such as striker Takashi Usamai or goalkeeper Masaaki Higashiguchi. It is a way to honor the players, a way for fans to get closer to the team's players, and an ideal check-in spot for fans and tourists.

Spectators on their way from Bampaku Kinenkoen Station to Panasonic Suita Stadium.

From Bampaku Kinenkoen Station to Panasonic Suita Stadium is about 1.3km, viewers can only walk to the stadium. In the Land of the Rising Sun, such a distance is normal for Japanese people who are used to walking. The road to the stadium is really not easy for those who come here for the first time. However, we were lucky to have 2 high school students in Osaka who also came to watch this match, leading us to the right place.

On the way to the stadium, a student named Tanaka Kazuki was very excited when he knew we were Vietnamese. He is a big fan of Cerezo Osaka, he opened his phone with a picture of goalkeeper Dang Van Lam, who played for Cerezo Osaka last season, to ask us if we knew this goalkeeper. It was great that goalkeeper Dang Van Lam, despite playing in Vietnam, was still remembered by Cerezo Osaka fans.

Meticulous, convenient, passionate

We arrived at the Panasonic Suita Stadium stands just as the match was about to begin. At this time, the pre-match ceremony was carried out solemnly and grandly with large flags that required more than ten people to support from both Gamba Osaka and Kashima Antlers displayed behind the main lineups of the two teams.

In the stands, fans of both teams stood up, sang their team's traditional song and held up handkerchiefs with the club's name printed on them. This scene is truly a dream for football teams and football fields in Vietnam; one of many things worth thinking about about the V-League or football fields in general in Vietnam. For example, behind each seat in the stands, there is a place to put water bottles for the audience sitting behind. This is less messy and saves space instead of placing them horizontally like in cinemas and conference centers in Vietnam, and also brings convenience to the audience.

Also in J.League 1, spectators are free to bring food into the stadium, including eating noodles and sashimi right in the stands. Importantly, after eating, fans put their food in trash bags and take them outside the stadium, where there are sanitation workers waiting with larger trash bags.

Gamba Osaka cheerleaders during a match, within the framework of J.League 1.

It should also be mentioned that Panasonic Suita Stadium is designed quite conveniently for football fans when there is no piste. Thanks to that, the audience can enjoy the match more easily and see the players clearly. The lighting of the stadium with a series of lights running across the two main stands is designed to ensure that the entire field receives enough light instead of one place being brighter and another being darker. Notably, the power source for the stadium's lighting comes from solar panels installed on the stands. In Japan, all stadium stands have roofs to minimize the chance of fans getting wet from the rain.

The screen on the field is split in half, serving the maximum enjoyment needs of the audience.

Meanwhile, the two screens placed at the two corners of the field are truly a dream when watching football. There, the screen can be split in half during a free kick situation so that the audience can watch both the player about to take the free kick as well as the players marking each other in the penalty area. When Gamba Osaka scored, a few seconds later, the electronic screen showed information and images of the player. This is truly a thoughtful way to serve the audience, as well as convey to the audience about taking advantage of technological achievements.

Between the two halves of the match, Gamba Osaka Club members and staff of different ages walked around the field to thank and express gratitude to the audience and at the same time send a message about the “Gamba Osaka family”, while the cheerleaders also entertained the audience with lively dances. At the two doors under the stands of Gamba Osaka’s home stadium, there was always a team of female cheerleaders dancing throughout the match.

Speaking more about Panasonic Suita Stadium, we have to mention the restrooms in the stadium. There, the restrooms are really neat and clean with a toilet system that can serve dozens of people at the same time. Not only the home stadium of Gamba Osaka, but also many public restrooms in Japan are clean and modern with automatic toilet systems. That is also a characteristic, clearly showing the culture of the Japanese people when they always pay maximum attention to convenience and friendliness.

Gamba Osaka fans celebrate their team's victory.

All of this shows other admirable things about the Japanese. And to see that the value of watching a football match in the J.League 1 framework in Japan does not stop at the football action on the field but also has many other things worth pondering, which can be applied and implemented in Vietnam.

At the stadium, we also met a group of Vietnamese people coming to the stadium, including Mr. Nguyen Dinh Hung (Lac Trung Street, Hai Ba Trung). He and his wife were visiting their son, who is a student at Ritsumeikan University, and on this occasion, both father and son, along with the son's friend - also a student at Hyogo University (Kobe), decided to choose a J.League 1 match as an experience not to be missed in Japan. Mr. Hung said that a few years ago, his friend went to Hang Day Stadium to watch a football match and when he wanted to go to the toilet, he shook his head at the dim lighting and the dilapidated toilet. His friend accepted to "hold it in"... Therefore, every time he goes to a football stadium, Mr. Hung always goes to the toilet because that is where fans can clearly evaluate/feel the investment and care for the audience of the match organizers.

After “experiencing” the toilets at Panasonic Suita Stadium, Mr. Hung was really satisfied: “There is nothing to complain about, extremely clean and modern. That is probably also the reason why I can come to another J.League 1 match when I return to Japan in the future.”

The game is not over yet

That day, Gamba Osaka won 2-1 to move away from the bottom of the table, so the atmosphere was even more joyful and exciting.

But if you leave after the final whistle, it will be a waste. Firstly, most of the spectators still stay at the stadium for a long time to share both joy and sadness with the players, and do not rush to leave immediately because they are afraid of traffic jams or why stay after the match. Staying is reasonable because after the match, the home team as well as the away team come to greet the fans respectfully and gratefully.

Second, I don’t know about other stadiums, but at Panasonic Suitan Stadium, there was an impressive greeting that I have never seen at any stadium in Vietnam. There, when the team members came to greet and thank their “loyal” fans in the stands behind the goal, the lights on the field were almost turned off, only focusing on the team members. In the stands, there were green halos emitted from bracelets and light bulbs held up by the fans. All of this created a truly eye-catching, solemn and warm scene, clearly showing the connection between the team and the fans.

Gamba Osaka players thanked the audience in blue - the club's traditional shirt color, from bracelets and glowing blocks of fans.  

The way back from Panasonic Suita Stadium to the train station that day was not as far as it felt when we arrived, when beside us were thousands of fans leaving in an orderly manner. When we reached the road leading to Bampaku Kinenkoen Station, the crowd suddenly stopped. A hundred meters ahead of us were long lines of people standing patiently there. Behind us, it was the same. However, there was no commotion or questioning because they were probably used to this scene.

It turned out that, in order to limit the number of people entering the station and ensure that there were just enough people on the train, the station staff had temporarily stopped the group. There was no need for whistles, batons, pointing, or harsh words, just two staff members in their 60s holding one end of a rope (the other end was tied to the railing of the ramp) and walking in the middle of the road was enough to signal the group to stop. It took us two more stops, about 15 minutes before entering the train station, but like everyone around us, we waited patiently, not following the pattern of each person going their own way. When we arrived at the train station, the station also had staff holding signs to guide passengers to the right train line with a cheerful, friendly attitude. "Such detail and meticulousness!", Mr. Hung walking next to me exclaimed.

MINH QUANG

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