The Ōu Honsen (奥羽本戦, Main battle of Ōu, a pun on the Ou Line railroad traversing the prefectures) is a footballing rivalry played between Blaublitz Akita and Montedio Yamagata, both professional J.League teams from the cities in the former Dewa Province, Japan. It is also known as the Dewa derby or Chokaisan derby, and named after Japan Railways Ōu Main Line which connects Akita City and Tendo, Yamagata. Series winners can wear home kits at the opponent's stadium next season. This matchup is a part of Tohoku derby.
Stadiums The game is usually hosted at Soyu Stadium and ND Soft Stadium Yamagata. The two stadiums are approximately 156 km (97 miles) apart. Team NameStadiumCapacityImageBlaublitz AkitaSoyu Stadium20,125TDK Akita General Sports CentreMizubayashi Athletic Field10,000Montedio YamagataND Soft Stadium Yamagata20,315Tsuruoka Komagihara Stadium7,000
Past results Statistics as of 21 May 2023 TournamentAkita wins Draws Yamagata wins Goal diff Tohoku League 0 2 6 3–31 J2 League 1 2 4 6–12 Emperor's Cup 0 0 2 0–5 Total 1 4 12 9–48
Tohoku Soccer League TDK were relegated into the regional league ahead of the 1987 season. The derby was first contested in 1990 when Tsuruoka club was promoted to Tohoku Soccer League. Yamagata won the Ōu League four times in a row between 1990 and 1993 before being accepted into the Japan Football League ahead of the 1994 season. The two teams did not play each other in the league again until the 2021 J2 League season after Akita's promotion as J3 champions.
SeasonDate(Stage/)WeekLocationHomeScoreAwayAttendance1990-T-Yamagata PrefectureYamagata Nippon Electric0–0TDK---Akita PrefectureTDK1–1Yamagata Nippon Electric-1991--Yamagata PrefectureYamagata Nippon Electric9–1TDK---Akita PrefectureTDK1–3Yamagata Nippon Electric-1992--Yamagata PrefectureNEC Yamagata2–0TDK---Akita PrefectureTDK0–4NEC Yamagata-1993--Yamagata PrefectureNEC Yamagata7–0TDK---Akita PrefectureTDK0–5NEC Yamagata-
Emperor's Cup The derby was also played twice in the Emperor's Cup. SeasonDate(Stage/)WeekVenueHomeScoreAwayAttendance2010September 5E-ND Soft Stadium YamagataMontedio Yamagata3–0Blaublitz Akita3,0852011October 8-ND Soft Stadium YamagataMontedio Yamagata2–0Blaublitz Akita 2,425
J2 League The clubs met again in the J2 League, after Akita got promoted by winning the J3 League. Their first league meeting in 28 years resulted in a scoreless draw at Soyu Stadium.
SeasonDate(Stage/)WeekVenueHomeScoreAwayAttendance2021April 17J28Soyu StadiumBlaublitz Akita0–0Montedio Yamagata1,777October 1033ND Soft Stadium YamagataMontedio Yamagata2-1Blaublitz Akita 6,7792022April 109ND Soft Stadium YamagataMontedio Yamagata5-1 Blaublitz Akita5,722July 1727Soyu StadiumBlaublitz Akita0-2 Montedio Yamagata 5,206 2023May 2117ND Soft Stadium YamagataMontedio Yamagata2-1 Blaublitz Akita8,476September 2336Soyu StadiumBlaublitz Akita1–1Montedio Yamagata 5,193 2024May 1816ND Soft Stadium YamagataMontedio Yamagata0-2Blaublitz Akita8,229
Friendlies They have competed more than 27 practice games together.
Players who have played for both clubs
Yoshimasa Fujita (Y: 2002–2003, A: 2004) Keita Hidaka (Y: 2012–2015, A: 2016–2018) Kohei Higa (A: 2011, Y: 2012–2016) Han Ho-gang (Y: 2016, A: 2016–2020) Yuki Inoue (Y: 2002–2004, A: 2009–2010) Kenichi Kaga (Y: 2017–2019, A: 2020–) Hideki Matsuda (Y: 2000–2002, A: 2004–2005, 2008) Masatoshi Matsuda (Y: 2003–2004, A: 2007, 2009–2013) Yuki Takabayashi (Y: 2006, A: 2007–2008) Tetsu Takahashi (Y: 1998–1999, A: 2000–2002) Keita Yoshioka (Y: 2022–, A: 2024–)
References
External links
Y. Sasaki Honda Kasuga