Welcome to the "Hat & Roger" - pull up a chair and let's talk some Japanese football! (The reference will become clear...)

Are we edging closer to a return to the J.League? Jon Steele & Stuart Smith believe so, piecing together 'evidence' from various sources and they talk about the situation in Japan now, and whether they'd feel safe going to watch games in stadia come July. 

Also, happy 27th birthday to the J.League, a rethink for the Emperor's Cup and other stuff in this streamlined, yet full, 39 minutes. Enjoy!

Stuart - @sushi_football

Jon - @J2KantoBites

Patreon - https://patreon.com/jtalkpod

It's another welcome return on this week's pod, as Richy Palmer guests to help us wrap up Sven's terrific Patreon message - the gift that has kept on giving for Sam and Ben in recent weeks!

First we look at J.League Associate Membership - the system by which lower league clubs apply to become J - then give a couple of scenarios if the league were to ever reach it's target of 100 clubs within 100 years.

From there its a check on the eight prefectures that are without a J.League club: Richy assesses them from just about ready to a fair way off - and which areas of the country without a professional club would benefit the most from one.

And we finish with a look at Chris Hough's superb new video - A football adventure across Japan - on his Lost in Football Japan YouTube channel.

Follow Richy on Twitter: @GifuRichy

It seemed a lot of you had things to get off your chest with regards to the J.League, and so Jon Steele & Stuart Smith listened and passed judgement. They disagreed a lot, and that means you won't be happy with some of our responses....but, hey - that's life! 

So, from monochrome kits, to Kazu, to reserved seating, here is the Room 101 response episode. Enjoy! And stay safe, wherever you may be listening.  

Stuart - @sushi_football

Jon - @J2KantoBites

Patreon - https://patreon.com/jtalkpod

After we reveal the winner of the 2020 Levain Cup, Sam and Ben are joined by budding novelist Scott McIntyre for a hard-hitting look at the prospects of a mid-June return for the J.League, and an anytime-in-2020 resumption of the ACL.

Look out for Scott's debut novel 'Love In The Time Of Corona' on bookstands at an airport near you when it is safe to resume air travel.

Follow us on twitter:

Scott - @mcintinhos

Sam - @FRsoccerSam

The Pod - @JTalkPod

With the K-League returning this weekend, follow Sam's Football Radar colleague Alex Lee.

Room 101 - from George Orwell's seminal 1984, or Nick Hancock's BBC TV show depending on your level of interest in English literature. 

Stuart & Jon decided to build a J.League themed Room 101 and put our Japanese football pet hates in - although I (Stuart) did go a bit off piste. Still, maybe you agree with us or maybe you think we're being pedantic. As long it provokes discussion I'm all for it. 

So what do you think? What deserves to go in the J.League Room 101? Let us know. 

Thank you to all the Patreons who support the pod. It is great to see such support and we hope you enjoy these episodes amidst all the other bad stuff happening in the world now. 

Stuart - @sushi_football

Jon - @J2KantoBites

Big Pod Ben - @JTalkPod

Big Pod Sam - @FRSoccerSam

Patreon - https://patreon.com/jtalkpod

There were two teams he mentioned were in trouble a month ago, and on this episode Dan Orlowitz from The Japan Times returned to the pod with Tosu in serious financial danger. Is it Sayonara Sagan?

Also, the format of the 100th edition of the Emperor's Cup continues to flummox - even in these uncertain times - and we fix the Levain Cup, although it would probably be better if we just got rid.

Follow us on twitter:

Dan - @aishiterutokyo

Sam - @FRsoccerSam

The Pod - @JTalkPod

At the start of this episode we mention the Patreon-exclusive Ultimate XIs Draft episode that featured Cesare Polenghi and Alan Gibson, to listen to that banger of a pod - and check out other posts and a poll centred around it - please join our growing band of true believers on Patreon: patreon.com/jtalkpod

Jon & Stuart return for a Sunday spectacular (ok, that might be a bit hyperbolic) for your listening delights. We talk:

J.League with a very special guest

The competition formerly known as The Emperor's Cup

Bad financial results

And we open the J-Talk: Extra Time book club with recommendations for those who like football and reading. Enjoy. 

Thanks to the Patreons - you people rock. Thank you for supporting what we do.

We took an idea/topic/question from a patron, and Stuarts Woodward and Smith were the right men at the right time to handle it, as they joined Sam and Ben to discuss their impressions of, and experiences of interacting with, the active support at their favourite J.League clubs - Yokohama F. Marinos and FC Gifu, respectively.

Follow us on twitter:

Stuart Woodward - @stuartcw

Stuart Smith - @sushi_football

The pod - @JTalkPod

Sam - @FRsoccerSam

There's another special Patreon-only episode of the pod coming later this week, for access to that, and all of our other exclusive content for our patrons, climb on board (there's plenty of room!) at patreon.com/jtalkpod.

Yes! "Have a break, have a kit chat!"

Jon Steele & Stuart Smith discuss the clangers & bangers in this year's J2 & J3 kit race - referencing Parma, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Rick Astley, Stan Smith's and redcurrant along the way. 

By the way, there is a weird high pitched noise on Stuart's side of the recording that couldn't be edited out. Apologies for that. 

Stay safe out there. 

@sushi_football

@J2KantoBites

Patreon - patreon.com/jtalkpod 

We appreciate all of you that help support this podcast. We know that times are lean and difficult for a lot of you in various parts of the world, but we hope this brings at least a little entertainment along for you all.

Chris Hough joins us for a chat about his terrific new Top Ten Stadiums in Japan video on YouTube and then sticks around for our first ever J1 kit draft, as we select our favourite top flight shirts from the 2020 season.

Who put together the best line up of kits? I hope to have some tweets or a website post done very soon with them all laid out, but wanted to get the pod posted as soon as I could.

Follow us all on Twitter:

The Pod - @JTalkPod

Sam - @FRsoccerSam

Chris - @LiFJapan

Lost in Football Japan

#311# As this is Ep.311, I nicked a bit of music from 311, a band I like. Please don't sue me, 311.