After a three-week interval, Division One of the J. League kicks off again Saturday with the start of the second stage.
The first stage was memorable for several reasons: Jubilo Iwata's dominating victory of the stage; the surprising success of JEF United Ichihara; and the decline of two traditional powerhouses, the Yokohama F. Marinos and Tokyo Verdy 1969.
On the plus front, attendances were well up with an average of 17,545 fans per game, the third best in the history of the league following 1994 (19,598) and 1993 (17,976).