Several hundreds of Susijeng fans have made a long journey to the island of Okinawa in Japan to cheer on Finland for the World Cup. The island is beautiful, but it also hides a dark history.
OKINAWA.
Hot and humid. These two words can probably best summarize what kind of place Susijengi is currently playing in the basketball World Cup, far from Finland. At its best, the air temperature is 35 degrees and the humidity is 85%.
Of these landscapes, Okinawa is best known. Turquoise water and wonderful beaches.
There are dozens of similar beaches in Okinawa. Even the temperature of the sea water drops to thirty degrees at the end of August.
However, Okinawa’s history is not all sunny. One of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War took place on the island of Okinawa. In the spring and early summer of 1945, an estimated total of 200,000 people died, of which more than 100,000 were civilians.
Many things on the island remind us of the war, such as various memorials to those who fell in the war.
The US army occupied Okinawa at the end of World War II in 1945 and the country controlled the island until 1972. There are still two US military bases in Okinawa. About 30,000 US troops remain on the island.
The island’s official nature sound seems to be the roar of American military planes. With the US presence, basketball is a big deal in Okinawa.
According to the Japan Basketball Association, about ten percent of Okinawans play basketball. All in all, almost 1.5 million people live in Okinawa Prefecture, or the six islands. The main island has approximately 1.2 million inhabitants.
According to the Japan Basketball Association, last year there were more basketball players of primary school age or younger in Okinawa than in Tokyo, even though the capital city has ten times the population.
Because of such things, it is easy to understand why the World Cup of Basketball is played on an island in the Pacific Ocean instead of the big city of Tokyo.
Basketball World Cup matches are played on the main island of Okinawa Prefecture in the city of Okinawa at the Okinawa Arena.
The hall is only a few years old. It was opened in 2021.
The hall also serves as the home arena of Japan’s reigning champion Ryukyu Golden Knights. The hall can hold up to 10,000 spectators. Now the World Cup has a capacity of 8500. The Golden Knights’ home games are mostly sold out.
Thousands of curious Japanese people had also arrived at the opening of the World Cup in Finland and Australia to watch the meeting between the top countries.
Even though the Finns who came to the place have paid several thousand euros for flights and accommodation alone, the competition tourists can get to the venue with a sigh of relief in terms of drink and food costs.
The main reason is that the Japanese yen is so weak compared to the euro.
There were queues at the drink counters in the Okinawa arena at the opening of the World Cup in Finland and Australia, but they had also prepared for that.
Competition beers cost 700 yen, or about 4.20 euros. The price difference is quite large, for example, to Finland and the World Hockey Championships. In Tampere Areena, a beer of the same size cost 9.20 euros.
On the food side, there are Asian nuances and, for example, a separate dessert counter. Various Japanese pastries were on sale for a few euros. Mouths to sweeten and encourage!
You can see Susijengi and Lauri Markkanen’s highlights from the World Championships in the app and on ‘s website. Finland will next face Japan on Sunday from 15:10.