Hi all, I'll be in Tokyo for a couple weeks and would love to catch some MLS games or maybe some English matches on tv aside from the live J-League games I plan to hit. Can anyone recommend places on the west side of Tokyo (though I'd be willing to go further if need be)? Also curious if anyone has a line on a soccer pickup game in Tokyo? Might be jonesing for a run... Last question: has anyone ever tried MLS Live there and got it to work successfully? I'm hopeful, but ready to be disappointed... Yoroshiku, Lolo
Can't offer much help regarding MLS games, but one night I was around Kabukichō I saw 2 soccer pubs, I only entered one but there was a great atmosphere and people were watching Liverpool against some other premier league team. The thing about live MLS games is that due to the time difference between the US and Japan they are supposed to be broadcasted when in Japan it's still early morning, which is less exciting and some bars might even be closed. Good luck anyway!
No one watches MLS in Japan. You'll have to find a good proxy to get your fix while you're there. The Footnik is a pretty solid place with an international crowd: http://www.footnik.net/index.php/english/schedule/ Otherwise various English-style soccer pubs should be showing EPL and other European leagues. In terms of pickup games, futsal is generally popular in Tokyo due to space constraints. Futsal Tokyo looks like a cool site where you can sign up for individual participation in games organized by level and location. The signup looks clunky (no form, just email) but they seem to have a lot of options.
I met several Marinos fans at the game that follow MLS streams online since the game times are often more convenient for footy fans here than European leagues. That was also a surprise...