The 36th Empress’s Cup is finally set to begin on 29 November.
A total of 36 teams, consisting of 10 teams from the Nadeshiko League and 26 teams qualified in nine different regions, will fight heated battles until the final match on 1 January, 2015 for the top spot among all women’s teams Japan.

While all the Nadeshiko League teams except for two start their campaign at the third round such as INAC Kobe Leonessa who aim at the 5th consecutive championship and Nippon Television Beleza who have won the Cup for the all-time record of 10 times, it is interesting to see how top high school and university teams start from the first round and get through the tournament.
Urawa Reds Ladies, currently keeping the first place in the Nadeshiko League Exciting Series with only a match left, and Okayama Yunogo Belle, winning the Nadeshiko League Regular Series, will not face each other until the final as they were placed in the opposite sides of the tournament table.
“We will play aggressive football with collective efforts in both offence and defence and focus on every game at hand. And hopefully we can get to the final on the New Year’s Day,” said Yoshida Yasushi, who has led Urawa Reds Ladies since the middle of the 2013 season.
Looking at the upper half of the tournament table, Urawa will meet INAC Kobe in the semi-final if both continue to be on a roll.

In the first round, the All Japan High School Women’s Football Tournament’s inaugural champions Seiwa Gakuen High School (Tohoku) will make their first Empress’s Cup appearance in two years, their 11th all time, and face the third consecutive Tokushima qualifier champions Naruto-Uzushio High School (Shikoku). Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara (Kanto), third-placed in the Nadeshiko Challenge League, make the third straight appearance, facing the challenge from Okayama Sakuyo High School (Chugoku), the junior team of Okayama Yunogo organisation.
Shimizu Daihachi Pleiades (Tokai), capping a record of seven consecutive All Japan Women’s Football Championships, make their 30th and second straight tournament appearance against debutant AS Harima ALBION (Kansai). Niigata University of Health and Welfare (Hokushinetsu) earned an All Japan University Women’s Football Tournament berth in three years after the club was established. Their opponents are SFIDA Setagaya FC, who play in this national tournament for the second time in three years and are currently placed sixth in the Challenge League.

Fujieda Junshin High School (Tokai) are last year’s All Japan High School Women’s Football Tournament runners-up and play in the Cup for straight years, this time being the eighth in their history. They will take on Himeji Dokkyo University (Kansai), who reached the final eight of the All Japan University Women’s Football Tournament last year. One of the four teams getting through to the third round will match up against Nadeshiko League’s Jef United Chiba Ladies and then meet INAC Kobe if they get further.
Midfielder Sugita Hina, the captain of Fujieda Junshin High School, says “we will play out our game and work hard to maximise our individual strengths.”
Jef United Chiba Ladies U-18 and Urawa Reds Ladies Youth were qualified both as the Kanto representatives.

While Chiba U-18 make their Empress’s Cup debut in the first round match against Shizuoka Sangyo University Football Club Bonita (Tokai), Urawa Youth will play the second tournament in seven years in the second round against the winner of the AS Harima and Shimizu Daihachi match. INAC Kobe will take on the winner of the match in the third round.
Meanwhile, the winner of the Chiba U-18 and Shizuoka Sangyo University play against Nadeshiko League’s Iga FC Kunoichi, who have played their league promotion playoff against a Challenge League team. The winner square off against AS Elfen Saitama (Nadeshiko League) in the third round.

Pick-up games of the Okayama Yunogo side of the tournament table will be reported in the Part Two issue.

The first round matches are scheduled on 29 and 30 November at Technoport Fukui Stadium in Fukui, Mie Kotsu Sports Garden Suzuka Soccer-Rugby Field in Mie and Miki Sougou Bousai Park Athletic Stadium in Hyogo, the second round matches are to be on 6 and 7 December at Yurtec Stadium in Miyagi and Coca-Cola West Hiroshima Stadium in Hiroshima, and those of the third round are to be on 13 and 14 December at Fujieda Sports Complex Park in Shizuoka and Miki Sougou Bousai Park Athletic Stadium in Hyogo.

The quarter-finals are scheduled on 21 December at Marugame Stadium in Kagawa and Yurtec Stadium in Miyagi as the semi-finals are scheduled on 28 December at Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka.
The final will be held on the New Year’s Day for the first time since the 33rd tournament in 2011 when it was scheduled along with the men’s tournament final, Emperor’s Cup. After the women’s tournament was set to be separately held, this year’s contest will be the first time to be held on that day.

The 36th Empress's Cup

Sat.29 November - Thu. 1 January 2015
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