Long queues of fans greet Japanese players at Saitama Matsuri
10/10/2006
Tokyo, October 10, 2006: Japan’s men’s team thrilled volleyball fans at Saitama Super Arena on Sunday – and they weren’t even on the court.
Five players proved to be a big attraction at the FIVB World Championships kiosk during the “Saitama Matsuri” (Festival) organized by Saitama City government, signing hundreds of autographs for fans and posing for photographs.
For the World Championships organizing committee, the Saitama Matsuri was the perfect stage on which to promote the event, as Japan will play their first-round matches in the men’s competition at the Super Arena from November 17-22.
The five players worked two one-hour shifts to cater for the long line of fans, with Masaji Ogino, Shinya Chiba and Kota Yamamura at the first sitting and Nobuharu Saito and Yu Koshikawa closing out the event. There was an unbroken queue of well-wishers for the entire two hours, and only the players’ commitment to a SKY PerfecTV! talk show in the afternoon brought the marathon signing session to a close.
A sixth player, Yuta Abe, was unable to attend due to illness, and sent a message of regret and thanks to his supporters.
The festival, which filled the wide boulevards around the Super Arena with music, dance, food stalls, exhibitions and sales kiosks, attracted thousands of visitors on a sunny autumnal day – and there was no doubt where the longest queues were to be found.
Fans were presented with World Championships merchandise by the players and had the opportunity to buy other souvenirs and match tickets for Japan’s Pool A games against Argentina, Poland, China, Egypt and Puerto Rico.
The World Championships Head Office, the Saitama Volleyball Association, Saitama City, Japan Volleyball Association, host broadcaster TBS, ticket agent Ticket Pia and souvenir programme publisher Nippon Bunka Shupan were all represented behind the scenes.
Shinya Chiba greets one of the hundreds of volleyball fans at the Saitama Matsuri on Sunday.
