Six months ago the suggestion that Kashima Antlers would be crowned double winners in Japan seemed ludicrous. Yet with the long campaign having wrapped up with the season-ending Emperor's Cup final on New Year's Day, Kashima Antlers stand alone as the dominant force in Japanese football.

Kashima predictably beat Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-0 in front of a packed National Stadium in Tokyo, with young defender Atsuto Uchida and surprisingly Brazilian misfit Danilo scoring the goals.

Kashima had reached the final with a clinical 1-0 victory over Kawasaki Frontale three days earlier, with Masashi Motoyama's stupendous volley belying the fact that the Antlers spent almost the entire match doing everything possible to dampen the attacking threat of Kawasaki's Juninho and Chong Te-Se.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima sprung an upset in beating Gamba Osaka 3-1 at Ecopa Stadium in the other semi-final, but while plenty of hearts hoped for another Hiroshima upset in the final, there were just as many heads that predicted a routine Kashima victory.

So it turned out, as flying defender Atsusto Uchida continued Kashima's trend of relying upon goals from anyone but their strike force of Yuzo Tashiro and the pedestrian Marquinhos. Uchida smashed an unstoppable opener in the ninth minute, as fans tuning in on TV settled in for an afternoon feast of Kashima casually knocking the ball around for eighty minutes in an attempt to hold on to a one goal lead.

Kashima were never really threatened, and with NHK switching to a shot of the suspended Yosuke Kashiwagi sitting high in the stands every sixty seconds or so, the point that Hiroshima would have presented far more of an attacking threat with the effervescent Kashiwagi in their side was made with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

This being Japan, all that was left - besides the final whistle, was an appropriate cameo from Kashima's aging veteran Atsushi Yanagisawa. Kashima's club captain appears to be on his way out of the Ibaraki giants, with his average of about two league goals every five or so seasons not even satisfying the often goal-shy Antlers these days. Nevertheless Yanagisawa came on to set up a second goal for perhaps the only player at the club even less effective than he, as Brazilian midfielder Danilo surprised everyone by proving that he does indeed know what a football looks like, as he smacked the round thing into the back of the net in stoppage time.

So Kashima end the season as by far-and-away Japan's best team. Urawa fans will probably disagree - why wouldn't they, when their club can afford to splash out a cool 300 million yen for the likes of Oita Trinita's star Tsukasa Umesaki? The trophy count tells the tale, however, and while Urawa end the season as Asian champions, it's Kashima who have trumped them as they end the season as double winners in Japan, and deservedly so.

How on earth were Sanfrecce Hiroshima relegated? How did a team that contains two current Japan internationals, three current Japan under-22 internationals, a host of former Japan internationals, former Korean and Bulgarian internationals and the highest scoring foreign player in J-League history... end up in J2?

Big teams have been relegated in the J-League before. In 2006 Cerezo Osaka went from losing out on the J-League title in stoppage time the previous season, to the indignation of relegation just twelve months later. Tokyo Verdy went down the season before. But in both cases Cerezo and Verdy struggled throughout the entire season. Yet Sanfrecce Hiroshima never really looked in danger of going down in 2007, until the penultimate round of the season.

It was only at the end of Round 33 that it became obvious Sanfrecce Hiroshima would have to fight their way out of trouble in a promotion/relegation playoff. That's because Leandro's wonder-goal in stoppage time at Ajinomoto Stadium propelled Omiya Ardija to a 2-1 win over FC Tokyo and subsequent safety. At the same time Hiroshima were thumped 3-0 by Kawasaki Frontale at Todoroki Stadium, practically condemning them to the playoff against the third-placed finisher in J2.

Even so, few expected Hiroshima to have too many problems in seeing off a Kyoto Sanga FC side that had finished dead last in the First Division a season earlier. Kyoto had mustered a late season surge to finish in third place in J2, and their good form continued in a 2-1 win over Hiroshima at Nishikyogoku Stadium in the first leg of the playoff. Despite copping an absolute battering at Big Arch Stadium, Kyoto somehow hung on to record a 0-0 draw, with Sanfrecce substitute Ryuichi Hirashige incredibly hitting the post with a bicycle kick in stoppage time that would have kept Hiroshima in the top flight!

Predictably, most have pointed the finger at Hiroshima's Austrian coach Mihailo Petrovic for the team's failure. Yet perhaps Hiroshima have also learned the value of vocal supporters. While JEF United struggled throughout 2007, they always looked capable of retaining their top flight status when playing in front of their vociferous fans at the Fukuda Denshi Arena. Hiroshima, meanwhile, played out of the eternally-maligned Big Arch Stadium - a concrete colosseum on the outskirts of town that holds over 50,000, but which often struggles to attack even five figure crowds in J1.

Hiroshima will have no such worries next season. They'll be plying their trade against the likes of Tokushima Vortis and Mito Hollyhock - hardly giants of world football, no disrespect intended. Star striker Hisato Sato has already declared his intentions to try and fire Hiroshima to their second promotion in five years, after the Mazda-backed club were also relegated at the end of the 2003 season. Whether new Japan coach Takeshi Okada looks favourably on Sato's decision remains to be seen - Sato was overlooked for Okada's first 33-man training squad.

Hiroshima have been in this position before. But like Tokyo Verdy and Cerezo Osaka before them, they might find promotion from J2 as difficult a prospect as maintaining their place in the top flight.

Kashiwa Reysol in first? Jubilo Iwata coming last? There's nothing like the opening day of the season to expose all your shortcomings as a pundit!

Last week I suggested that FC Tokyo and Jubilo Iwata were two teams to watch out for. I was certainly watching, as both teams were smashed on the opening day of the season. With regard to FC Tokyo, it was a case of "same old, same old," as they conceded four goals to a rampant Sanfrecce Hiroshima. FC Tokyo scored two themselves, but they seem to struggle with the concept of outscoring their opponents, in order to secure all three points. It was interesting to note that one of their big-name signings from last season, Sota Hirayama, finally cracked a place in the starting line-up, while Costa Rican World Cup star Paulo Wanchope warmed the bench. I guess that means that Wanchope should expect to make his FC Tokyo debut around the year 2008 - watch this space, he could be primed for a cracking start to his Tokyo career in about twelve months time.

Jubilo Iwata, meanwhile, seemed to be suffering from shock in their match against Kashiwa Reysol. Kashiwa employed some interesting tactics, which seemed mainly to revolve around kicking wildly at any Jubilo opponent within a ten metre radius. That opened up a lot of space for Kashiwa...since Jubilo were reluctant to go anywhere near the ball, and they exploited it by scoring four goals, to Jubilo's somewhat paltry none. At one stage I thought the fourth official should have run on and handed a pair of boxing gloves to Masahiro Koga and Norihiro Nishi, especially since Nishi looked like one of the few Jubilo players who was willing to duke it out! Kashiwa travel to Sanfrecce Hiroshima this weekend, which means that Kazuyuki Toda's eyes have probably already started to glaze over. Whatever odds you can get in Vegas on Toda being sent off, I think you should take them!

All eyes this weekend will of course be on Japan's second largest city, Yokohama. It's been eight years since Yokohama Flügels were "absorbed" into the Yokohama Marinos, sparking the wrath of the Flügels' support. Instead of sitting around and pining for days gone by, the Flügels fans did what any normal, slightly-insane football fan what do - they started their own club. Fast forward to March 10, 2007 and Yokohama FC are making their top-flight home debut at Mitsuzawa Stadium. Who should be their worthy opponents? Why none other than Yokohama F. Marinos, of course! Expect a positively nuclear reaction from the Yokohama FC fans, when the F. Marinos players step onto the pitch. Keep an eye on Yokohama FC's Tatsuhiko Kubo as well - he smashed home a 35 yard piledriver against Urawa Reds last weekend, as you do, and he joined Yokohama FC from...you guessed it, F. Marinos.

I myself will be delivering my own, somewhat warbled reactions, from JEF United's brand-spanking-new Fukuda Denshi Arena in Chiba. Okay, so the stadium is a couple of years old now, but at least it was built in the last three hundred years, unlike some other stadiums in Japan. JEF United were beaten 2-0 by Nagoya last weekend (remember how I said that that match could be really interesting? It wasn't!) and now they're under a bit of pressure, as they take on Shimizu S-Pulse in their first home match of the season. While I wouldn't like to suggest that JEF United Chairman Takahiro Yodogawa is trigger happy, I certainly get the feeling that coach Amar Osim could be headed for the unemployment office sooner, rather than later, if United don't take something from this match.

So there you have it. Lots of interesting things happening in the J-League, but if you have any sense, you probably won't take my word for it!

Urawa Reds are the 2006 J-League champions, after they saw off Gamba Osaka 3-2 in front of 62,241 fans at Saitama Stadium on Saturday. The final whistle saw an outpouring of emotion from the club's fans, who had not only witnessed the Reds lose the 2004 Championship Series final on penalties to Yokohama F. Marinos, but also finish runner-up amidst chaotic scenes on the final day of the 2005 season. It was a case of third time lucky for Urawa, who were ultimately deserving winners of their first ever league trophy.

Not everyone, however, seems to be enamoured with the Urawa brand. For one thing, the club has a reputation for housing some of the more brusque fans in the league. Others have pointed to the financial clout of the Mitsubishi-backed club, arguing that they have enhanced their squad by signing the likes of Washington and Takahito Soma from Tokyo Verdy, and bringing Shinji Ono back from Feyenoord, to the detriment of their own young players. Personally I don't buy it.

The club certainly does have some of the more aggressive fans in the league. But given that their smallest crowd at Saitama Stadium this season was 34,417 - ironically against the league's other big crowd-puller, Albirex Niigata, the law of averages suggests that you might find one or two more vehement fans than you would at other grounds. Besides, these are football fans and as football fans ourselves, we can hardly criticise them for their passion. The same fans did, after all, continue to support the club en masse when Urawa was relegated at the end of the 1999 season.

As for buying players like Washington and Soma, Urawa was just doing what every successful club in every league in the world does, namely cherry-picking the best players from one of their relegated opponents. Few have begrudged Urawa's crosstown rivals Omiya Ardija for having done likewise, given that ex-Tokyo Verdy players Daigo and Yoshiyuki Kobayashi were arguably Omiya's best players this season. That Urawa bought Washington simply proved to be a wise choice, given that he ended the season as the J-League's equal top scorer with Gamba's Magno Alves, while Soma's decision to join Japan's biggest club was understandable.

Re-signing Shinji Ono from Feyenoord demonstrates, if nothing else, that the club maintains cordial relations with their former players. It is hardly Urawa's fault that their first eleven played so well throughout the season that Ono struggled to get a run. Kazuyuki Toda, for example, could seemingly hardly wait to get away from Shimizu S-Pulse when his loan spell at Tottenham Hotspur didn't herald a permanent deal, despite Shimizu being in desperate need of his combative services.

Speaking of Toda, he was one of the key figures in the match that I attended at Nihondaira Stadium on Saturday afternoon. These days Toda plies his trade with Sanfrecce Hiroshima, who happened to be the visitors to Shimizu's atmospheric ground. Toda was given a frosty reception by the Shimizu faithful, that surpassed even the bone-chilling wind blowing down off the hills that surround the stadium. Those fans were apoplectic in their delight, however, when the feisty Toda was given his marching orders after just twenty minutes, following two late tackles. The second prompted an acrobatic tumble from South Korean striker Cho Jae Jin but in truth, Toda should have known better, and he melodramatically removed his jersey as he trudged from the field, to the delight of the otherwise freezing Shimizu fans.

Shimizu eventually won the match 3-0, and more importantly overtook their bitter rivals Jubilo Iwata on the final J-League standings. But the day and the accolades belonged to Urawa Reds. It has been a long wait for the club, and they will say sayonara to their popular German coach Guido Buchwald, who departs at the end of the season to spend more time with his family. The title drought is finally over, however, and Urawa fans will hope that the club has the depth to fly the flag all the way for Japan, in next season's Asian Champions League.