There¡¯s little practical information to be gleaned from the performances of Kawasaki Frontale and Urawa Reds in their defeats against Paris Saint-Germain last week, during the first two stops of the superstar club¡¯s sold-out Japan tour.

But the different ways their fans approached the game says much about Japan¡¯s supporter culture ¡ª and what it shares, or doesn¡¯t, with its European counterparts.

Following their team¡¯s narrow 2-1 defeat to the French visitors at Tokyo¡¯s National Stadium on Wednesday, Kawsaki supporters behind the home goal unveiled a banner in PSG¡¯s colors reading ¡°Forza Paris¡± ¡ª a gesture of friendship, inspired by Frontale fans¡¯ own ¡°Forza Kawasaki¡± banner, that had previously been extended to German darlings Borussia Dortmund and Premier League mainstay Chelsea during their respective visits in 2015 and 2019.