Japan's women cricketers lost heavily to India at the Asian Games in Nagoya — bowled out for 57 in their Twenty20 quarterfinal before India chased it down in five overs, opener Shafali Verma smashing an unbeaten 40 off 15 balls. But the scoreline was almost beside the point. For a team playing a minority sport in a country where baseball rules, simply sharing a field with the world number three side was the highlight of their Games.
The match was played at Korogi Athletic Park in Nagoya in front of a healthy home crowd — a mix of friends, family, sponsors and curious locals who had never watched cricket before. Half-Indian batter Ahilya Chandel called facing India "extra special", having grown up watching the team on TV, and said the chance to test themselves against elite opposition showed exactly what Japan needs to work on if they want to climb the rankings.
That's the interesting thread here for visitors: cricket is quietly growing in Japan, a country more associated with sumo, judo and a national obsession with baseball that runs from school tournaments to packed pro stadiums. Japan has now appeared at three Asian Games, and the team is openly using these showcases to convert Japanese sports fans into cricket fans. The Nagoya crowd was part of that plan — the players said drawing in people who didn't know the sport was exactly the goal.
The tournament itself rolled on without Japan. Defending champions India moved into a semifinal against Bangladesh, with Pakistan facing Sri Lanka in the other last-four tie. Sri Lanka had earlier knocked out Malaysia by 86 runs in the day's other quarterfinal.
For travellers, the story is a nice excuse to look beyond Japan's usual sporting highlights. Nagoya — often skipped on Tokyo-Kyoto itineraries — proved it can host international multi-sport events with genuine atmosphere, and catching a live sport you've never seen is one of the more rewarding things a trip to Japan can offer. Whether it's cricket finding new followers in Aichi Prefecture or baseball's electric Nippon-Ham and Hanshin rivalries, Japan's sports scene is well worth building a day or two of your itinerary around. If the women's team keeps progressing, the next Asian Games might be a good moment to watch a genuine underdog story unfold in person.