The Ōu Honsen (奥羽本戦, ''Main battle of Ōu'', a pun on the Ou Line railroad traversing the prefectures) is a footballing rivalry played between

Blaublitz Akita is a Japanese professional association football team based in Akita, Akita Prefecture. In 2014 they entered the J3 League after previously playing in the Japan Football League, the third tier of the Japanese association football league system. ...

and

Montedio Yamagata is Japanese professional association football club based in Tendo, Yamagata. The club plays in J2 League. Montedio is a coined word combining the Italian word for "mountain" (Monte) and the word for "God" (Dio). History The club based in T ...

, both professional

J.League The , officially is Japan's professional football league including the first division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the Japanese association football league system. J1 League is one of the most successfu ...

teams from the cities in the former Dewa Province,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It is also known as the Dewa derby or Chokaisan derby, and named after

Japan Railways The Japan Railways Group, more commonly known as the or simply JR, consists of seven for-profit stock companies that took over most of the assets and operations of the government-owned Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987. Mo ...

Ōu Main Line which connects

Akita City 'Autumn field' is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Akita Prefecture, Japan, and has been designated a Core cities of Japan, core city since 1 April 1997. , the city has an estimated population of 305,625, 136,628 households and a population d ...

and Tendo, Yamagata. Series winners can wear home kits at the opponent's stadium next season. This matchup is a part of

Tohoku derby Tohoku derby (東北ダービー) refers to matches played between professional association football, football clubs of Tohoku region, Japan. This area consists of six Prefectures of Japan, prefectures and such clubs include Vanraure Hachinohe, Iw ...

Stadiums

The game is usually hosted at

Soyu Stadium Soyu Stadium, formerly known as , is an athletic stadium in Akita, Akita, Japan. Located approximately 3 kilometers from the city center, the Akita Yabase Stadium is a multi-use facility opened in September 1941. It has been renovated several time ...

and ND Soft Stadium Yamagata. The two stadiums are approximately 156 km (97 miles) apart.

Past results

Statistics as of 21 May 2023

Tohoku Soccer League

TDK were relegated into the regional league ahead of the 1987 season. The derby was first contested in 1990 when Tsuruoka club was promoted to

Tohoku Soccer League is a Japanese football league covering the Tōhoku region, the 6 prefectures of Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi and Yamagata. It is one of the nine Japanese Regional Leagues, the fifth and sixth league levels in the Japanese association ...

. Yamagata won the Ōu League four times in a row between 1990 and 1993 before being accepted into the Japan Football League ahead of the 1994 season. The two teams did not play each other in the league again until the 2021 J2 League season after Akita's promotion as J3 champions. {, class="wikitable" style="border-collapse:collapse; text-align:center; font-size:100%;" !Season!!Date!!colspan="2", (Stage/)Week!!Location!!Home!!Score!!Away!!Attendance , - , rowspan="2",

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, , -, , rowspan="8", T, , -, , Yamagata Prefecture, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", Yamagata Nippon Electric, , style="color:black; background:#FFFFCC;", 0–0, , style="color:white; background:#006AB6;", TDK, , align=- , - , , -, , -, ,

Akita Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is approximately 966,000 (as of 1 October 2019) and its ge ...

, , style="color:white; background:#006AB6;", TDK, , style="color:black; background:#FFFFCC;", 1–1, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", Yamagata Nippon Electric, , align=- , - , rowspan="2",

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, , -, , -, , Yamagata Prefecture, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", Yamagata Nippon Electric, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", 9–1, , style="color:white; background:#006AB6;", TDK, , align=- , - , , -, , -, ,

, , style="color:white; background:#006AB6;", TDK, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", 1–3, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", Yamagata Nippon Electric, , align=- , - , rowspan="2",

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, , -, , -, , Yamagata Prefecture, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", NEC Yamagata, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", 2–0, , style="color:white; background:#006AB6;", TDK, , align=- , - , , -, , -, ,

, , style="color:white; background:#006AB6;", TDK, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", 0–4, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", NEC Yamagata, , align=- , - , rowspan="2",

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, , -, , -, , Yamagata Prefecture, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", NEC Yamagata, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", 7–0, , style="color:white; background:#006AB6;", TDK, , align=- , - , , -, , -, ,

, , style="color:white; background:#006AB6;", TDK, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", 0–5, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", NEC Yamagata, , align=- , -

Emperor's Cup

The derby was also played twice in the Emperor's Cup. {, class="wikitable" style="border-collapse:collapse; text-align:center; font-size:100%;" !Season!!Date!!colspan="2", (Stage/)Week!!Venue!!Home!!Score!!Away!!Attendance , - ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, , September 5, , rowspan="2", E, , -, , ND Soft Stadium Yamagata, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", Montedio Yamagata, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", 3–0, , style="color:white; background:#006AB6;", Blaublitz Akita, , align=3,085 , - ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, , October 8, , -, , ND Soft Stadium Yamagata, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", Montedio Yamagata, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", 2–0, , style="color:white; background:#006AB6;", Blaublitz Akita, , align= 2,425 , -

J2 League

The clubs met again in the

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yas ...

, after Akita got promoted by winning the

J3 League or simply J3 is the third division of . It was established in 2013 as the third-tier professional association football league in Japan. The third-tier nationwide league is a relatively recent development in Japanese football with a first attempt ...

. Their first league meeting in 28 years resulted in a scoreless draw at

. {, class="wikitable" style="border-collapse:collapse; text-align:center; font-size:100%;" !Season!!Date!!colspan="2", (Stage/)Week!!Venue!!Home!!Score!!Away!!Attendance , - , rowspan="2",

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, , April 17, , rowspan="6", J2, , 8, ,

, , style="color:white; background:#006AB6;", Blaublitz Akita, , style="color:black; background:#FFFFCC;", 0–0, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", Montedio Yamagata, , align=1,777 , - , October 10, , 33, , ND Soft Stadium Yamagata, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", Montedio Yamagata, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", 2-1, , style="color:white; background:#006AB6;", Blaublitz Akita, , align= 6,779 , - , rowspan="2",

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, , April 10, , 9, , ND Soft Stadium Yamagata, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", Montedio Yamagata, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", 5-1 , , style="color:white; background:#006AB6;", Blaublitz Akita, , align=5,722 , - , July 17, , 27, ,

, , style="color:white; background:#006AB6;", Blaublitz Akita, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", 0-2 , , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", Montedio Yamagata, , align= 5,206 , - , rowspan="2",

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

, , May 21, , 17, , ND Soft Stadium Yamagata, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", Montedio Yamagata, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", 2-1 , , style="color:white; background:#006AB6;", Blaublitz Akita, , align=8,476 , - , September 23, , 36, ,

, , style="color:white; background:#006AB6;", Blaublitz Akita, , style="color:black; background:#FFFFCC;", 1–1, , style="color:#FFF338; background:#014099;", Montedio Yamagata, , align= 5,193 , -

Friendlies

They have competed more than 27 practice games together.

Players who have played for both clubs

* Yoshimasa Fujita (Y: 2002–2003, A: 2004) *

Keita Hidaka is a Japanese footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Tokyo United. Career Montedio Yamagata Hidaka made his official debut for Montedio Yamagata in the J. League Division 2, J. League Cup on 10 September 2014, against Sagan To ...

(Y: 2012–2015, A: 2016–2018) * Kohei Higa (A: 2011, Y: 2012–2016) *

Han Ho-gang Han Ho-gang (ハン・ホガン, 한호강, born September 18, 1993) is a Japanese Korean football player. He plays for Suwon Samsung Bluewings. Career Han was born and raised in City of Kyoto, Japan, educated in the system of Chōsen gakkō, ...

(Y: 2016, A: 2016–2020) * Yuki Inoue (Y: 2002–2004, A: 2009–2010) * Kenichi Kaga (Y: 2017–2019, A: 2020–) * Hideki Matsuda (Y: 2000–2002, A: 2004–2005, 2008) *

Masatoshi Matsuda is a former Japanese football player. Playing career Matsuda was born in Chiba on September 4, 1980. After graduating from high school, he joined newly was promoted to J2 League club, FC Tokyo in 1999. However he could not play at all in the mat ...

(Y: 2003–2004, A: 2007, 2009–2013) * Yuki Takabayashi (Y: 2006, A: 2007–2008) * Tetsu Takahashi (Y: 1998–1999, A: 2000–2002)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ōu Honsen Dewa Province Blaublitz Akita Montedio Yamagata Football derbies in Japan Ōu Main Line Nicknamed sporting events Y. Sasaki Honda Kasuga