With the J. League season in full swing, it¡¯s sometimes easy to forget that the J. League YBC Levain Cup is also in progress.
As Japan¡¯s four Asian Champions League representatives battle it out across East Asia, 14 other first-division teams, as well as two second-division teams, are contesting the group stage of the J. League¡¯s oldest competition, which launched in 1992 to hype up the inaugural 1993 season.
The winner gets a respectable payout of ?150 million (about $1.35 million), a profile-boosting ¡°Cup of Champions¡± match against South America¡¯s Copa Sudamericana winners and ¡ª perhaps most importantly ¡ª plenty of cookies, crackers and biscuits from title sponsor Yamazaki Biscuit Co.
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