What do you think?
Rate this book
Between the Lines: Navigating the World of Japanese Football
In the past 30 years football in Japan has evolved at an unprecedented rate.
From having no professional league and never appearing at a World Cup, the J.League is now one of the most keenly followed, best run, and eagerly scouted divisions in the world, the men’s national team is established as a regular challenger at international tournaments, and the nation’s women have enjoyed even greater success on the global stage.
The positives are plentiful, but not everything is perfect with the beautiful game in the land of the rising sun.
In Between The Lines, Sean Carroll takes you behind the scenes of the Japanese game, speaking to top players, coaches, and other insiders – including three former Samurai Blue managers – about their experiences of football in the country. These conversations form a multi-layered appraisal – and occasional critique – of the sport and nation at large, with Carroll’s in-depth study asking where Japanese football finds itself, how it got there, and where a nation of such vast potential can go next.
From having no professional league and never appearing at a World Cup, the J.League is now one of the most keenly followed, best run, and eagerly scouted divisions in the world, the men’s national team is established as a regular challenger at international tournaments, and the nation’s women have enjoyed even greater success on the global stage.
The positives are plentiful, but not everything is perfect with the beautiful game in the land of the rising sun.
In Between The Lines, Sean Carroll takes you behind the scenes of the Japanese game, speaking to top players, coaches, and other insiders – including three former Samurai Blue managers – about their experiences of football in the country. These conversations form a multi-layered appraisal – and occasional critique – of the sport and nation at large, with Carroll’s in-depth study asking where Japanese football finds itself, how it got there, and where a nation of such vast potential can go next.
210 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 14, 2023
7 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
Sean Carroll
37 books2,697 followersSean Carroll is a physicist and philosopher at Johns Hopkins University. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1993. His research focuses on spacetime, quantum mechanics, complexity, and emergence. His book The Particle at the End of the Universe won the prestigious Winton Prize for Science Books in 2013. Carroll lives in Baltimore with his wife, writer Jennifer Ouellette.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 29, 2025
An interesting investigation of where Japanese football is and where it might go by an English journalist who has covered the game in Japan since 2009.
Displaying 1 of 1 review