The Shizuoka Derby is a commonly occurring football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 fixture in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. The game takes place between the two professional J. League

J. League

The or is the top division of and is the top professional association football league in Japan. It is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football and the only league given top class 'A' ranking by the AFC. Currently, J. League Division 1 is the first level of the Japanese...

 teams in Shizuoka Prefecture

Shizuoka Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshu island. The capital is the city of Shizuoka.- History :Shizuoka prefecture was formed from the former Tōtōmi, Suruga and Izu provinces.The area was the home of the first Tokugawa Shogun...

; Shimizu S-Pulse

Shimizu S-Pulse

is a professional Japanese association football club. Located in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, S-Pulse currently competes in the J. League Division 1 . Formed as recently as 1991, S-Pulse are one of the youngest professional teams in Japan, but are among only five to have competed in...

 and Júbilo Iwata

Júbilo Iwata

is a professional Japanese association football team currently playing in the J. League Division 1 . The team name Júbilo means 'joy' in Portuguese and Spanish. The team's home town is Iwata, Shizuoka prefecture and they play at Yamaha Stadium...

. The game is usually hosted at Ecopa Stadium, the prefecture's largest sporting venue. In the two 2007 J-League season

J. League 2007

The 2007 J. League Division 1 season was the 15th season since the establishment of the J. League. The season began on March 3 and ended on December 1.-Promotion and relegation:* At the end of the 2006 season, , , and were promoted to J1...

 meetings, S-Pulse triumphed both times. Firstly 2-1 at Nihondaira Stadium

Nihondaira Stadium

Outsourcing Stadium Nihondaira is a football stadium in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Japan. It is currently mostly used for football matches and has been the home stadium of the J-League's Shimizu S-Pulse since 1993. The stadium holds 20,339 people and was opened in 1991. In November 2008 a four-year...

 in May, and then 1-0 in September at Ecopa.

The Shizuoka Derby's rivalry factors include: the common prefecture; the fact that Júbilo supporters feel that Shimizu should not have been chosen for the J. League as it had not competed in the Japan Soccer League

Japan Soccer League

, or JSL, was the top flight soccer league in Japan between 1965 and 1992, and was the precursor to the current professional league, the J. League. JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professional Japanese Baseball League that was founded in 1936...

 beforehand (whereas the old Yamaha Motor Corporation club that preceded Júbilo had gone all the way to the old title), and Shimizu's recent ascendancy.

External links

• Photos of Iwata supporters, with several anti-Shimizu signs, by the Progresso firm.