Ahead of the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014, Match Flag Project workshops took place in various areas in Japan and in the event participants wholeheartedly created many colorful "match flags with a mixture of football and art" with a piece of cloth, combining national flags of Japan and each opponent, Cote d’Ivoire, Greece and Colombia.

Sunday, 4 May Fukushima / Kitakata

At Kitakata bal in Fukushima, preliminary students in soccer schools, preschool children and their parents, fans of Fukushima United, a J3 club, high school students who came to Fukushima for camping and an Aizu lacquered ware craftsman worked together to create three match flags. When the flags were hoisted in front of the bar, a horse-drawn carriage happened to pass by there and the crowds broke into very loud cheers as if they shout to the top of Mt. Bandai.

Monday, 5 May Niigata / Niigata Art Museum

On 5 May, Child’s day, at Niigata Art Museum, eight groups of parents and children participated in the event.
Children who love football and arts and crafts classes showed their interest in the condor in Colombia’s national emblem because it has more complicated design than the three-legged crow, the symbol of the JFA.
Parents mainly helped children to work and they sincerely created the flags.

Saturday, 10 May Kumamoto / Shimotori shopping street

On 10 May, a Match Flag Workshop was held in Kumamoto, the place where the workshop took place for the first time. The Shimotori shopping street, the center of the city, cooperated with the Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto to create three large signboard-like flags, 4 meter by 1.8 meter. In the production process, pedestrians put a colored cloth on Mr. Hibino’s rough sketches and therefore many people could participate in the workshop. In another workshop at the same venue, a match flag was made with a dying technique which was used in the production of the “Team of Asia, Japan” flag in Dazaifu, Fukuoka. Passers-by in the Shimotori shopping street looked up the match flags, hung on the arcade of the street, and had a feeling that the World Cup is approaching, wondering who will be in the 23 members.

Sunday, 11 May Gifu / Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu

On 11 May, a workshop was held in the Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu. The prefecture is the project leader Mr. Hibino’s hometown and accordingly Gifu’s governor attended the event. The number of participants exceeded the fixed number and six match flags were created. After the workshop, participants took commemorative pictures in the garden of the museum.

Friday, 16 May Kochi / Kochi central park

The Match Flag workshop at a shopping street In Obiya town, Kochi took place on 16 May. Local design school students and vocational school students participated in the event as a part of a class and a social rehabilitation training respectively and as well as two players of Igosso Kochi, a Shikoku League club joined the workshop.
Students who is not a big fan of football also created the flags with the players and many people sincerely made them with their mind on SAMURAI BLUE and the opponents. Looking up the six flags of 3 meter by 5 meter, hung on the arcade, pedestrians were talking about the World Cup.

Saturday, 17 May Mitoyo, Kagawa / Marine Wave

This year’s 10th Match Flag Project workshop was held in the Mitoyo cultural hall, Marine Wave, and at the same time and venue the environmental festival which promotes recycling took place. After each workshop, cloths were carefully sorted out and used in the next venue, therefore the cloths used here, recycled materials, had traveled across Japan with Mr. Hibino. With both of their themes being recycling, the two events were attended by many people. A family of four which created the flag for the Colombia match, was putting the 23 players’ uniforms made of cloths on the flag, guessing their yet-to-be-announced numbers.
Match flags created in this event will be displayed at the lobby in the main building of Mitoyo city hall during the World Cup period.