Tohoku derby (東北ダービー) refers to matches played between professional football clubs of Tohoku region, Japan. This area consists of six prefectures and such clubs include Vanraure Hachinohe, Iwate Grulla Morioka, Vegalta Sendai, Blaublitz Akita, Montedio Yamagata, Fukushima United FC, and Iwaki FC. Historically, the most significant are games which were played between Vegalta and Montedio (Michinoku derby), the two most successful of Tohoku's football clubs. The Blaublitz vs Montedio derby is called Ōu Honsen and played in the former Dewa Province. The Nambu derby is a football rivalry between Vanraure and Grulla, both teams are based in old Nambu domain territory. The Fukushima derby is the match in the Prefecture, between Fukushima United and Iwaki FC.
Tohoku derby Akita vs Sendai
The Tohoku derby Akita vs Sendai, also referred to as the Kurikoma derby, is a footballing rivalry played between Blaublitz Akita and Vegalta Sendai, both professional J.League teams from the cities in the Tohoku, Japan. The latest meeting between the two sides took place on 3 May 2023, and ended in a draw attracting a crowd of 15,026.
Historical Background The sports rivalry between Akita and Sendai likely originated from the Boshin Civil War and battles that lasted for months, which later expanded into football and basketball. On 4 July 1868, 12 Sendai feudal retainers in their lodgins were killed by impetuous young samurai from Akita and their heads were mounted for display on Kawabata's bridge in Kubota, Akita. This incident caused the Akita War. Sendai had been the largest municipality in the Ōshū, on the other hand, Akita had been the capital of Ushū with the Ōu's largest port of Tsuchizaki.
Stadiums The game is usually hosted at Soyu Stadium and Yurtec Stadium Sendai. The two stadiums are approximately 170 km (106 miles) apart. Sendai is the largest city in the Ou region and the venues draw large home attendance. Team NameStadiumCapacityImageBlaublitz AkitaSoyu Stadium20,125TDK Akita General Sports Center Mizubayashi Athletic Field10,000Vegalta SendaiYurtec Stadium Sendai 19,5265Miyagi Soccer Field10,000Miyagi Athletic Stadium30,000
Past results Sendai overwhelmed the derby with 12 victories against Akita's 1 in the official meetings.
Statistics as of 3 May 2023 TournamentAkita wins Draws Sendai wins Goal diff Tohoku League 0 2 6 9 - 30 J2 League 0 3 2 3 - 6 Emperor's Cup Preliminary 1 0 1 1 - 5 Zensha Preliminary 0 0 3 2 - 14 Total 1 5 12 15 - 55
Tohoku Soccer League In 1980s TDK SC based in Nikaho, Akita joined the Japan Soccer League 2 and were relegated from the second tier. The derby was first contested in 1991 when Sendai club, Tohoku Electric Power, was promoted to Tohoku Soccer League. The two teams did not play each other in the league again until the 2022 J2 League season after Sendai's relegation. SeasonDate(Stage/)WeekLocationHomeScoreAwayAttendance1991-T-Miyagi PrefectureTohoku Electric Power3 - 0TDK---Akita PrefectureTDK0 - 0Tohoku Electric Power-1992--Miyagi PrefectureTohoku Electric Power 4 - 1TDK---Akita PrefectureTDK2 - 4 Tohoku Electric Power-1993--Miyagi PrefectureTohoku Electric Power5 - 3TDK---Akita PrefectureTDK2 - 2Tohoku Electric Power-199431 July-Miyagi PrefectureTohoku Electric Power8 - 0TDK- 4 June-Yuri DistrictTDK1 - 4Tohoku Electric Power-
Emperor's Cup Tohoku Preliminaries The derby was also played twice in the Emperor's Cup Tohoku Preliminaries. SeasonDate(Stage/)WeekVenueHomeScoreAwayAttendance199416 October Semi finalGonohe Hibarino ParkTohoku Electric Power0-1TDK199511 November Semi finalYuwa, AkitaTDK0-5Brummell Sendai80
Zensha Tohoku Preliminaries SeasonDate(Stage/)WeekVenueHomeScoreAwayAttendance199110 August Quarter finalsHachinoheTohoku Electric Power5-2TDK199215 September Quarter finalsYuwaTDK0-3Tohoku Electric Power199311 September Quarter finalsTsuruokaTohoku Electric Power6-0TDK
J2 League The clubs met again in the J2 League, after Sendai got relegated from J1 League, the top tier. The series occurs twice a year, with each team hosting one match. Both sides have met a total of 4 times which resulted in 2 victories for Sendai, 2 draws, and 0 victories for Akita in the second tier. SeasonDate(Stage/)WeekVenueHomeScoreAwayAttendance20221 MayJ213Yurtec Stadium SendaiVegalta Sendai3 - 1Blaublitz Akita9,61223 October42Soyu StadiumBlaublitz Akita0 - 0 Vegalta Sendai5,404 20233 May13Yurtec Stadium SendaiVegalta Sendai2 - 2Blaublitz Akita15,02622 October39Soyu StadiumBlaublitz Akita0 - 1 Vegalta Sendai 4,178202416 March4Soyu StadiumBlaublitz Akita0 - 0 Vegalta Sendai6,2566 October34Yurtec Stadium SendaiVegalta Sendai Blaublitz Akita
Friendlies
Players who have played for both clubs
Koji Hachisuka (S: 2012–2023, A: 2024-) Ryutaro Iio (S: 2019–2020, A: 2021-2023) Shingo Kumabayashi (S: 2006–2007, A: 2013–2015) Satoshi Otomo (S: 2000–2002, A: 2006) Toshio Shimakawa (S: 2009–2013, A: 2012–2015) Ryota Takada (A: 2022–2023, S: 2024-)
Tohoku derby Akita vs Iwate
The Tohoku derby Akita vs Iwate, also known as the Kita-Tohoku derby, the Ōshū Kassen, and Michinoku Mitsudomoe, is a local derby contested between the Japanese J.League's two north-Tohoku-based clubs, Blaublitz Akita and Iwate Grulla Morioka. It is also a confusing fact that the surname of Iwate's ex-manager and president is Akita. Derby spectators wore Yutaka-Akita-faced cardboard masks on 13 August 2022.
Stadiums The game is usually hosted at Soyu Stadium and Iwagin Stadium. The two stadiums are roughly 90 km (56 miles) apart. New LED night lighting equipments were set to be installed at Iwasuta in 2020. Team NameStadiumCapacityImageBlaublitz AkitaSoyu Stadium20,125Akigin Stadium4,992TDK Akita General Sports CenterNikaho Green Field4,430Iwate Grulla MoriokaIwagin Stadium 4,946 x 2
Past results There have a been a total of 22 matches between both the teams with Akita and Morioka winning fifteen and five matches respectively and two games ended in a draw.
Statistics as of 12 May 2023 Tournament Akita wins Draws Iwate wins Goal diff Tohoku Soccer League 3 0 1 10 - 5 J3 League 10 2 4 25 - 17 J2 League 2 0 0 4 - 1 Total 15 2 5 39 - 23
Tohoku Soccer League The derby was first contested in 2005 when Morioka club was promoted to Tohoku Soccer League 1st division. SeasonDate(Stage/)WeekLocationHomeScoreAwayAttendance20051 MayT1TDK Akita General Sports CenterTDK1 - 2Grulla Morioka-3 July8Morioka Minami Park StadiumGrulla Morioka1 - 2TDK-200625 June7Morioka Minami Park StadiumGrulla Morioka2 - 3TDK-30 July10Nikaho Green FieldTDK4 - 0Grulla Morioka2,300
J3 League The clubs met again in the newly formed J3 League in 2014. SeasonDate(Stage/)WeekVenueHomeScoreAwayAttendance201413 MayJ36Yabase Playing FieldBlaublitz Akita2-1 Grulla Morioka1,5231 June14Morioka Minami Park StadiumGrulla Morioka3-0 Blaublitz Akita1,4302 November30Akigin StadiumBlaublitz Akita1-3 Grulla Morioka2,18720153 May8Akigin StadiumBlaublitz Akita1-0 Grulla Morioka1,73116 August26Morioka Minami Park StadiumGrulla Morioka0-0 Blaublitz Akita1,17023 September30Morioka Minami Park StadiumGrulla Morioka0-1 Blaublitz Akita1,127201624 April6Iwagin StadiumGrulla Morioka1-1 Blaublitz Akita1,0762 October24Akigin StadiumBlaublitz Akita2-0 Grulla Morioka2,98120172 April4Akigin StadiumBlaublitz Akita1-0 Grulla Morioka2,10010 September22Iwagin StadiumGrulla Morioka1-3 Blaublitz Akita1,21720188 April6Iwagin StadiumGrulla Morioka2-1 Blaublitz Akita9552 September21Akigin StadiumBlaublitz Akita2-1 Grulla Morioka2,114201924 March3Iwagin StadiumIwate Grulla Morioka3-1 Blaublitz Akita2,08427 July18Soyu StadiumBlaublitz Akita3-1 Iwate Grulla Morioka1,289202027 June1Iwagin StadiumIwate Grulla Morioka0-4 Blaublitz Akita03 October19Soyu StadiumBlaublitz Akita2-1 Iwate Grulla Morioka977
J2 League The most recent meeting saw Akita win 1–0 in August 2022 at the Iwagin Stadium. The two teams are currently separated due to Iwate's relegation from the J2 League at the end of the 2022 season. SeasonDate(Stage/)WeekVenueHomeScoreAwayAttendance20223 AprilJ28Soyu StadiumBlaublitz Akita3-1 Iwate Grulla Morioka1,90313 August31Iwagin StadiumIwate Grulla Morioka0-1 Blaublitz Akita1,542
Friendlies They have competed more than 4 practice games together.
Players who have played for both clubs Shuhei Fukai (A:2016-2018, I: 2019) Takumu Fujinuma (I:2018, A: 2019) Futoshi Harada (I:2005, A: 2006) Daiki Kogure (A: 2022-2023, I: 2024-) Hiroki Kotani (I: 2018, 2020, A: 2019) Taro Sugahara (I: 2007–2008, 2014, A: 2009–2010, 2013) Masashi Wada (A:2019, I: 2021-)
Tohoku derby Akita vs Iwaki
Football matches between Blaublitz Akita and Iwaki FC are described as the Tohoku derby Akita vs Iwaki. It is a match between two cities located in Northeast region. This rivalry is also known as Iwaki derby, stretching back to Iwaki, Akita (Yurihonjo) and Iwaki, Fukushima's historical Iwaki clan connection. Iwaki's Riku Saga was raised in Katagami, Akita青森山田出身！仙台大の嵯峨理久が、“先輩”松尾佑介と“親友”高橋壱晟から受けた「アドバイス」 - qoly、2021年1月4日（2022年1月1日閲覧） and Yukihito Kajiya of Blaublitz played for Iwaki Astron FC in his youth.
Venues The game is usually hosted at Soyu Stadium and Hawaiians Stadium Iwaki. The two stadiums are approximately 312 km (194 miles) apart. Greenfield was renovated to meet J.League stadium standard in 2023. New spectator seats, new night lighting towers, large video equipment, doping inspection room and press seats were installed and total renewal costs were JPY 1.7 billion. StadiumCapacityImageBlaublitz AkitaSoyu Stadium20,125Iwaki FCHawaiians Stadium Iwaki 5,600
Past results Statistics as of 2 July 2023 Tournament Akita wins Draws Iwaki wins Goal diff J2 League 1 1 0 2 - 1 Emperor's Cup0 0 0 0 - 0 Total 1 1 0 2 - 1
J2 League The derby was first played on 14 May 2023 when Iwaki club was promoted to J2 League. The match was televised by NHK throughout two prefectures utilizing the On-set virtual production. SeasonDate(Stage/)WeekVenueHomeScoreAwayAttendance202314 MayJ214Iwaki Greenfield StadiumIwaki FC0-1 Blaublitz Akita2,4582 July23Soyu StadiumBlaublitz Akita1-1 Iwaki FC2,181 202430 March7Soyu StadiumBlaublitz Akita Iwaki FC4 August25Hawaiians Stadium Iwaki Iwaki FC Blaublitz Akita Emperor's Cup SeasonDate(Stage/)WeekVenueHomeScoreAwayAttendance202412 June 2nd roundSoyu StadiumBlaublitz Akita Iwaki FC Friendlies They have competed more than 4 practice games together.
Players who have played for both clubs
Kyowaan Hoshi (I: 2022, A: 2023-)
Tohoku derby Akita vs Fukushima
Tohoku derby Akita vs Fukushima, also referred to as the Michinoku Mitsudomoe, is an inter-Tohoku soccer rivalry between Blaublitz Akita and Fukushima United FC. Akita was promoted to J2 League and the matches were discontinued in 2020. Keita Saito, Hayate Take and Hiroto Morooka suited up for both sides.
Attendance records The record for a Blaublitz home match is 10,607, set on 25 March 2018, when the Fukushima United defeated Akita 1–0 with a goal by Nildo at Yabase Athletic Stadium.
Venues The game is usually hosted at Soyu Stadium and Toho Stadium. The two stadiums are roughly 223 km (135 miles) apart. Toho is the largest athletic stadium in the prefecture and four 54-meter-tall LED-bulb light steel towers are installed to Tousuta in 2022. Team NameStadiumCapacityImageBlaublitz AkitaSoyu Stadium20,125Akigin Stadium4,992Nikaho Green Field4,430Fukushima United FCToho Stadium 21,000J-Village Stadium5,413Shinobugaoka Stadium16,400
Past results There have a been a total of 19 matches between both the teams with Akita and Fukushima winning eleven and five matches respectively and three games ended in a draw.
Statistics as of 12 May 2023 TournamentAkita wins Draws Fukushima U wins Goal diff JFL 2 0 0 4 - 2 J3 League 8 3 5 22 - 15 Emperor's Cup 1 0 0 3 - 0 Total 11 3 5 29 - 17
JFL The two clubs faced each other for the first time in 2013 when Fukushima City club was promoted to Japan Football League.