There are mops of silver hair, Bobby Charlton combovers and a fair number of creaking knees. But the Red Star and Blue Hawaii football teams can be forgiven for the hesitant start to their match: every man on the pitch is older than 80. Within minutes, though, they are running freely – and moaning at the referee – as they roll back the years with every pass and tackle.
With a combined age in four figures, the 22 men are defying the passage of time in the Tokyo Soccer for Life league for the over-80s, a sporting expression of Japan’s status as a “super-ageing” society where the average male life expectancy is almost 82.
They are among a growing number of older Japanese who are playing sport at an age when most people have long since swapped their football boots for a pair of comfy slippers.
“The over-80s division is a reflection of what we’re seeing in Japanese society, where the elderly demographic can be active like this,” said Yutaka Ito, the league’s secretary general.
There are some concessions to the teams’ advanced years. Each half lasts 15 minutes, tired players can ask to leave the pitch whenever they like – the first substitution in this round of matches came after 13 minutes – and the league will take a break during the brutal heat of July and August.
At 83, Mutsuhiko Nomura retains the skills that have served him well during seven decades in football. The former Japan national team player is the Red Stars’ midfield general, urging his teammates to push forward as he sprays the ball around the pitch.
“In those days I was always moving around … I used to chase and win the ball,” said Nomura, who started playing football aged 12 and won the prestigious Emperor’s Cup with Chuo University in 1962 before going on to have a successful club career with Hitachi, earning him a place in the country’s football hall of fame. “But now I like to be more of a controlling midfielder, looking up to see where my teammates are and how they’re moving.”
Kitted out in his team’s red bib and shiny gold shorts, Nomura said he was niggle-free “and my eyes and ears still work fine. I wish my leg muscles were a bit stronger, but I can still do my job on the pitch. I’ll keep playing for as long as my body allows me to.”
The division is still relatively small, with about 40 players – enough for three teams – signing up when the first round of matches was held in April, according to Tetsushi Aoyama, a senior member of the Tokyo Senior Soccer Federation. “A lot of players quit when they’re in their 70s because they’re weak or because they have caring duties at home.”
Tokyo created a division for players in their 60s two decades ago, followed by an over-70s division in 2012 and, five years later, another for those aged 75 and over.
Like their younger counterparts, most of the over-80s players are lifelong footballers who played the amateur game for company-affiliated clubs in the decades before Japan launched its professional J League in 1992.
“If I hadn’t played soccer, I’d be dead by now,” said the goalkeeper Shingo Shiozawa, a former racing car designer who at 93 is the oldest player in the league.
While half-time brings complaints about the heat and requests for drinks and bags of ice, the several doctors on the teams have mercifully not had to dust off their Gladstone bags.
Several games into the season, organisers believe their gamble with octogenarian football has paid off. “I think it’s been a success,” said Masahiro Mikuniya, the chair of the league. “You obviously have more to worry about – looking after their hearts and their heads is the most important – but at this age only the best, fittest players are still active. The others have all fallen by the wayside.
“They are all longtime footballers … they know that their physical condition will start to deteriorate once they stop playing. They genuinely want to play soccer for life.”
Ryoichiro Nozawa did not kick a ball for four decades while he was busy running a company that builds robots for the car industry, but now finds himself alongside men he played against in his 20s. “I found I had more time when I reached my 70s so I started playing again,” said Nozawa, wiping the sweat from his forehead after 30 minutes of football.
“It was really tough at the beginning but now I’ve got used to it. It feels great when you make a decent pass or intercept the ball. And you are among friends. We know it’s good for our health, but the main reason we’re still playing is because we love football.”
This article was amended on 5 June to give the correct figure for the average life expectancy of Japanese men.