Prime Minister Jun'ichiro Koizumi meets South Korean President Kim Dae-jung at a pre-World Cup event. (Cabinet Secretariat)     TWO MONTHS AND COUNTING: Host Cities Prepare to Welcome World Cup Teams April 16, 2002 The tension is mounting as the May 31 kick-off of the 2002 FIFA World Cup approaches. It is now less than two months until Japan and South Korea, co-hosts of the tournament, welcome the teams and fans from the 32 competing nations. Ready and Waiting There are 10 Japanese cities hosting World Cup matches. They are, from north to south, Sapporo (Hokkaido Prefecture), Rifu (Miyagi Prefecture), Niigata (Niigata Prefecture), Kashima (Ibaraki Prefecture), Saitama (Saitama Prefecture), Yokohama (Kanagawa Prefecture), Fukuroi (Shizuoka Prefecture), Osaka (Osaka Prefecture), Kobe (Hyogo Prefecture), and Oita (Oita Prefecture). Every venue now has a completed stadium with a capacity of over 40,000 spectators - in line with World Cup regulations - joining Yokohama, which had already built a 70,000-capacity stadium. All of the host regions have conducted repeated trial events in an exhaustive effort to ensure their own readiness, not just in terms of physical facilities but also in terms of crowd control, security, volunteer training, and other organizational aspects of the job. The Japanese-style hotel where the Japan team will stay during the World Cup is now ready. (Jiji)     Hooliganism countermeasures are also in place. Though the host cities all agree that they "do not want to dampen fans' enthusiasm by enacting excessive measures to preserve order" (in the words of a spokesperson for Fukuroi), they are taking steps to minimize opportunities for confrontation between supporters of rival teams. In Osaka, where spectators will converge on the stadium from four different train stations located nearby, spectators will be asked to get off at the station corresponding to their seat number. Kobe has formed a project team to respond to natural disasters and terrorism, and that team will also be responsible for handling hooliganism. Cities Mark World Cup Off the Field, Too During the World Cup, with the eyes of the world upon them, the host cities plan to hold a variety of special events in addition to, and separate from, the tournament. The Japanese host cities are also engaged in a brisk program of exchange with their Korean counterparts; activities include goodwill youth soccer games and mayoral visits. The World Cup has even had an impact on school lunch menus. In Saitama Prefecture, schools are serving "World Cup lunches" featuring the cuisine of the countries whose teams will play at Saitama Stadium, such as England and Belgium. The lunches are helping to boost the students' understanding of the visiting countries.   Your Name Send this article to a friend Trends in Japan Home The World Cup is being used as an educational tool in other ways, too. In the town of Rifu, Miyagi Prefecture, each elementary school has been assigned a country, and the students are to form ties with and support their country's team. This is known as the "one school, one country" program and also took place during the Winter Olympics in Nagano in 1998 and Salt Lake City in 2002. Osaka and Yokohama have each set up big screens in two locations, so that people unable to purchase World Cup tickets can watch free live broadcasts of the games being held in their towns. This setup is possible because each city has secured secondary broadcasting rights to the games. The huge screens will allow soccer fans to come together in the city streets and enjoy watching the big event. Bilateral Exchange Not Limited to Host Cities The World Cup has sparked a flurry of exchange between Japan and South Korea, from the national government level down to individual citizens. The official World Cup song, "Let's Get Together Now," a collaboration between popular Japanese and Korean musicians, has just been released. Japan's prime minister, Jun'ichiro Koizumi, sang the song impromptu at a party in Seoul on March 22, while he was visiting Korea to meet with Korean President Kim Dae-jung. The Japanese prime minister and the Korean president also went to see the stadium where the World Cup's opening ceremony and opening game will be held in Seoul. All of these goodwill activities have provided a further boost to World Cup fever. The partnership between Korea and Japan goes beyond soccer; extensive exchange is taking place in the cultural arena too. An increasing number of TV dramas and movies are being jointly produced by the two nations. All in all, the two countries are getting closer and closer. Copyright (c) 2002 Japan Information Network. Edited by Japan Echo Inc. based on domestic Japanese news sources. Articles presented here are offered for reference purposes and do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese Government.