The country of "the All Whites"? It's New Zealand.

Hello. Here is Ken.


We came to the country of "the All Whites" New Zealand.


The national rugby union team of New Zealand is known as "the All Blacks" as they wear all black. The national soccer team, on the other hands, wear all white. So they're called "the All Whites".


This is the largest city of New Zealand, Oakland. 

Contrary to rainy Sydney, it's perfect weather!

But it's cold. You need a jacket at night.


Oakland is said to be the largest city in this country. 
But it's with a population of just 430,000.


For reference, the overall population of NZ is 4,320,000.
It's so small, although its land area is nearly as same as that of Japan (75%).


By the way, there are 34,000,000 sheep in this country!
It follows that about 8 sheep are owned by per person.


Actually, this is the 18th stop of our round-the-world journey.
We completed 56.3% of 32 countries participating in 2010 FIFA world Cup!!
What do you say about it? Still half to go? Finally half completed?

The hotel room we stayed last night was so comfy that I woke up at 1:30 pm today. Oh my goodness. I slept for more than 12 hours. 

Then we got out for lunch and found an elegant-looking Japanese restaurant.

We got in there.

The restaurant is run by a Japanese couple.

Then I ordered a Japanese-style curry.

This is festive red rice. 
It's so rare to see it in overseas.

There are many Japanese restaurants in overseas. 
But it's rare to encounter the traditional Japanese curry.
I was really happy about that.


The curry cost NZ＄11.
NZ is more expensive than Australia.

The below is NZ bill. The upper one is AU's.

By the way, they are vinyl-coated paper.
They are water proofed and hard to be ripped by hand.


One of my Aussie friends said to me, "You can jump into the water with this."
I will never do that.


I think the exchange fee for old bills is quite cheap.


Anyway, Oakland is located in the most eastern part of the world.
This indicates that they become the first to see the old year out.


One of our aims is to become one of those and join the countdown event.


But a local person told me, 


"The venue has been under construction throughout this year. So I don't think the countdown is on this year. Also, Christmas is the biggest event in NZ. The New Year is not a big deal."


Oh, my goodness.


But I heard there is a fireworks at a casino, which is close to the hotel.
Then we decided to go for the broke now!!


It's a BETTER OFF DEAD !!


I will bet on black when playing a roulette game, following "the all BLACKs"




The World Cup year is just around the corner!
If I won this gambling, the Japanese national soccer team would win, too!


Happy New Year!!








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The rise of African soccer

Bonjour, guys. This is Atushi.


Now we're in Cameroon and staying at Eboｌawa city, which is about 2 hours away from the capital Younde. 


We came here to see one of our friends Shihoto, who is a member of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV). He is also one of the greatest soccer fan among JOCV.


In the evening, a lot of people come together in the park to play soccer. Neighbors, workers, students... many many people there.
 Some of them are 10's, others are 20's.

The guy standing third to the left is Shihoto.

 Three of us all wearing Japanese blue jersey.

We split into two teams having 9 players in each and the half are naked.
The field is about half of the regular size.

Look at their six-pack stomachs ! 

 African are so tough guys.

After about one hour, the game ended in draw 0-0.


Then, when it's dawn, the people stop playing and beginning to go home.


Anyway, you know what. There is a reason for the scoreless game.

The length of the goal is maybe less than 1 meter. 

I saw this tiny goal everywhere in Africa. Some of them are normal size goals made up with trunks.
But, generally speaking, they are all tiny. 


Even if they don't have anything to build up with, they make a goal by putting together some stuffs. I don't know why they make it so small.


What if a person is lying down in front of the goal? 
Don't worry. No ones are willing to do so. 
Of course, it's unfair to have a goalkeeper.


Look, if you play sluggish, you'll be enclosed like below.

We couldn't score today. 
But, according to Shioto, they normally get golas even with this small goals.
I guess they are sharpshooting.


I wonder how they manage normal size game if you get used to this, though.


I doubt they hit long distance shot. Oh yes, I remember they shot wide as I saw a local soccer game last time.


My guess is that African soccer players are not good at long distance shots.


Somehow I think all African people play in the same way.


That is, they like passing each other! Their passing skill is so great.


They don't care if the field is rough or not.


Their ball controlling technique is just fantastic !!
They play like FC Barcelona!!


If they are stack in short passing, they posses the ball and sometimes make a great switching pass!!

Sometimes, the ball are over the wall.

It's natural that the trained players have good passing skills. 
They might have a coach who puts an emphasis on passing skills.


But how could these untrained people become so skillful enough to do short accurate passings instead of making wild kicks.


 Everyone plays fantastically like Ronaldinho or Christiano Ronaldo !! 


Who could help them to do so? This is middle of nowhere!




My first impression about African soccer was that African players are physically tough and have individual skills. They emphasize a individual tactics rather than team operation.


But it has been changed.


I guess Samuel Etho, who was playing for FC Barcelona, had a big influence on Cameroon. 


Young people seem to copy FC Barcelona's style.


It's nonsense to generalize it just based on my sole experience, but, somehow I can tell the African soccer is on the rise.


Most of all, African grass-root level of soccer is definitely on the right track, although the infrastructure needs further improvement, I mean "soccer field".


If they are improved in terms of good coach, good facilities, African soccer has a great potential.]


I wonder if you see it in 2010 FIFA World Cup.

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Thank god the suicide attempt prevented.

Bonｊuor! This is Atushi.


Aiming at traveling 32 countries in the world cup, the most difficult country to visit is Nigeria.


We've already got visas and booked flight tickets for Nigeria. But we're hesitating to enter the our credit cards numbers to purchase the tickets.

Everything is ready to visit there.

But we Libero are being chickens.


Since we have visited Johannesburg known as a the world-most insecure country several times, we've become familiar with this city.


But when it comes to Nigeria, it's another story.


The rumors are that;


1. 700 people died in the collusion between security authority and armed group.


2. According to the Japanese ministry of foreign affairs, the kidnappings of foreigners have increased recently. 16 incidences (41 people) in 2008. 14 incidences (53 people) from January to June in 2009.


3. My acquaintance, who is an expatriate staff in Nigeria, told me that 857 armed people were shot by the police. He hires bodyguards in his duty.


4. Police officers are occasionally corrupt by armed groups.


5. In response to my question to a travel agent, " How much it the flight ticket for Nigeria?". He replied, "Are you insane?"


6. All the black guys we met during our trip advised us that Nigeria is the last country to visit.


Why was U17 World Cup held in such a dangerous country?


In fact, we stopped at Lagos on our way to Ghana.

In that sense, do you mind if I say "I've ALREADY been there."?

We are eager to complete 32 countries as we've set up the goal.
However, we have families and friends. But we have already got visas and booked flight tickets. But I don't wanna die. But but but.. go round and round.


At last, we've come to the conclusion that we can't make a decision on our own.


Then,


I would like you to choose the way we should take.


Do you think we should still go to Nigeria or not?


I want you to vote for it on the vote form placed on the side of this blog. 
The due day for the voting is on 15th December 2009.


(The voting period ended) (16/12/09)


246 people voted as shown in the below.

No, you should not.

Yes, you should.

As a result, we decided not to go to Nigeria!!


Then I cancelled our flight and extended our staying in Cameroon to check the first country we're playing in the world cup!


Thank you for helping our ass.








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Invited to a court in Court D'lvoire.

Bon soir. This is Ken.

Bon soir means “Good evening” in French.

It’s used as “Hello” in here Cote d’lvoire.

It took 14 hours by bus to Abidjan, the largest city in Cote d’lvoire.

Led by a Japanese Natsuno who lives there, we went to a village apart from Abidjan.

The size of the village might be less than what we call “a town.”

Why did normal tourists like us find out a way to get to the community, which is an hour’s driving from the centre of Abidjan?

Actually, it was achieved by a wonderful encounter with people.

Through the internet, we met a Japanese woman Natsuno (the left one in the photo) who is giving information about Cote d’lvoire on her blog.

When planning to travel Cote d’lvoire, we contacted her.

Natsuno and Awa chan (the right) have known each other since their college days.

Awa chan is a Niger Parisian. She speaks Japanese a little because she’s studied abroad in Japan a few years ago. Now she’s in Cote d’lvoire for her current job.

Awa chan happened to know Shaka (the middle) at a book shop in Paris. The Abidjan native Shaka has lived in Paris.

Wow, lots of coincidence led us to here!

The villagers treated us very kindly, including Shaka.

I was really really happy.

I captured our visiting on a film. Have a look at it.

Some more photos posted for those who can’t see the movie.

This is an authentic Jungle Cruise!

Disney Land? They’re not even in this league!

We’re really surprised by the inexperienced adventure.

This is the main stadium of the village.

Football Unites the World!

Backfliping! He scored!!

As you can see in the movie above, the normal children backfliped so easily.

I just wondered, “How could African people become so talented physically?”

What a lovely scene.

They’re playing a game.

Personally, I like the above photo the best.

They must have a lot in their minds such as distress or worrying caused by the destitute condition. But I couldn’t sense it from this peaceful photo.

On the contrary, I bumped into a reality when I visited the house of the village head.

They were in the middle of trial.

We were told to join them.

The situation was that the village head was about to make a judgment to a villager who’s in behind in his rent. There were also lawyers, audiences and juries at the place.

I don’t know why we’re invited.

It looks informal.

But they told me that this trial is a part of the government-administered procedure.

This is the first trial and the ultimate judge is made on next Thursday.

At last, we were introduced to the crowd.

A memorial photo for WHAT?

By the way, the people in Cote d’lvoire like photos.

This was quite a valuable experience for us!






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What a surprise in Ghana!!

Good morning, this is Atsushi.


Today is the second day of our visiting Ghana.
As usual, Ken and I visited Ghana Football Association (GFA) without any appointment.


I asked a guy, who is working for a stall next to the hotel we stayed, how to get to GFA. He told me that it is located within 10 min away by taxi from here.  

He caught a taxi and asked for a discount for us.

He was so nice guy! 

We headed for the building which is supposed to be near a big stadium, according to the friendly guy. 


It was so hot (over 30 ℃) in the cab as Ghana's  tropical climate.
To make matters worse, the air conditioner was not working.

The stadium is 40,000 capacity venue. 

I heard this is not the one for the African final qualifier. 

At the front gate of the stadium, I was going to take a photo.

But a security guard warned me, "Don't take pictures!".

We were treated very kindly at Spain Football Association and Tunisia Football Association. We're shocked.

I tried to persuade him to let us in.

The guy told us, "GFA is not here. If you want to get inside the stadium, you must pay 20 Cedi."

I thought he was offering a bribe.

But looking at the wall of the booth, I found the message saying "Entrance fee 20 Cedi." I was relieved.

He told me that I would be permitted to take photos if I pay.

Then we decided to get in the stadium, putting off visiting GFA.

As always, we wore Samurai blue. No exception. 

The second level seats are for guests. 

The seats are made of leather. 

Also, the scene from the seats were great.

The scenery from the seat where I was is below.

Overall, they are gently sloping seats. 

I didn't expect to see the grounded stadium in Africa.

You might say it's normal for the regular member of the World Cup to have it.

But I couldn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes.

Then we asked the security guy how to get to GFA.

Finally we got there!

This building is GFA. Its roof looks Japanese house!

This bus might be for the national team. 

Can you see the letters on the front.

"Black Stars". It is the nick name of Ghana national team.

I was afraid of taking photos again.

But we're brave so that we entered the building.

I asked the receptionist, but she gave us a dry response.

We were to give up. 

Then a big black guy in white-colored ethnic costume was approaching us.

This was one of the most unbelievable moments we've ever encountered during our trip!!


Who could think of this happening?
No candid cameras could do this.


Seeing is believing. Have a look at this!

Surprisingly, the black guy was a JAPANESE!!


That he was a Japanese is joking. 
But he speaks Japanese fluently like native Japanese speakers.
His name is George.

George used to go to Japanese school. 

He speaks Kansai-ben, which is one of the dialects.

Oh, my goodness. 

We've supplied many big stories. But this can be one of the best of all.

We're were so amped up by this incident!

Who could imagine this? Here is Ghana!

Half of you could not even locate it on the world map.

We were absolutely lucky so that we could meet an African who could speak Japanese in this unfamiliar country!

We're so excited that we forgot to ask him questions such as "Who is the secret weapon of Ghana national team?" or "Who is a good player among Japanese national squad?".

Anyway, a coincidence is one of the interests in this journey.

I might be able to ask for a help about our Visas in visiting neighbor countries.

We will keep in touch and hope to see him in the World Cup next year.

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The Japanese national team's head coach Okada was here in London.

Hello! It’s Ashishi

We got through the problems at Istanbul airport, and arrived safely in London on the same day. 

The reason for visiting England this time is to take part in a friendly match with a London-based Japanese Football club called Lonjapa. Kohki, a player of the team came to pick me up from the airport, and I went to his house at 10pm to be greeted by 15 members of the club.

Club members of Lonjapa and Lonjapa Ladies. 

They were already drunk.

It is the first time on my round the world trip to be greeted like this.

They held a Okonomi-yaki and Tako-yaki party for me because I was missing Japanese food.

It's been a long time since the last time I ate it.

There were many people from Hiroshima, 

so they cooked me some Hiroshima style Okonomi-yaki.

We ended up having drinks until 3am, which is 5am in Turkey time.

Then I slept for 5 hours and from 10am I headed to a friendly match between the Japanese club and an English club.

By the way, the head coach of the Japanese Football team Takeshi Okada has played at this club “Lonjapa” in the past.

Back in the day when Okada was still a player at his club side Furukawa Denko, he went to West Ham to train abroad. On his days off on weekends, he used to play at this team.

I have played against Takahito Suzuki in an amateur futsal league last year myself. 

Apparently professional footballers play with amateurs now and then.

So , I took part in a match with a club that has such history.

We played on a pitch with lots of leaves on it.

During the first half of the game, I was on the bench taking pictures.

You hear that Englishmen are gentlemen, but the Englishmen we played against were constantly repeating the F word every fifty-fifty.

Nill all at the break, I played from the second half as left side back.

I matched up with an Englishman about 190cm tall. 

No chance I could beat the tall guy in the air.

Club members of Lonjapa sent me some pictures taken by a better camera so I am adding them now.

The visibility is totally different when pictures are taken

 with such good cameras. Thanks a lot Hayakawa-san!

When I play futsal, I am a Goleiro (GK), which does not run around. 

As expected, out of breath shortly after I enter the pitch.

After all, my left side started to get broken in to, and we ended up losing 0-2.

Ken scored a hat trick in Switzerland (Read here about it), but I, Ashishi have again in England after Tunisia have been shown how hard it is to play against the world.

So, we took a picture at the end.

It makes me emotional thinking that Okada was in here back in the day.

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