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Japan might be out of the 2022 World Cup, but the impact of their football fans is here to stay.
From being clean and tidy to showing heart in the face of defeat, the Samurai Blue and their countryfolk have gotten the whole world swooning, praising, and talking about them.
As a tribute to the greatest football fans on Earth, Fifa World Cup put together a near-9-minute video highlighting the best of the passionate Japanese fans at this tournament and what makes them collectively tick as the fanatic, indefatigable 12th person in the team.
The video started with a voiceover narrator, who said: "Japan has won the hearts of people around the world, thanks to their incredible displays at this year's Fifa World Cup. But even more so, thanks to their fans."
The narrator added: "Japan debuted at the World Cup in 1998, and have been regulars ever since, qualifying for the last 16, in three of the last five tournaments."
"But it's their supporters who are the true heroes, committed to blending passion and fire, with honesty and integrity."
Hardcore supporters who won't keep quiet
In this first episode of "The Culture Club" segment for the Fifa World Cup channel, the spotlight was shone on that one segment of Japanese football fans who will not stop chanting and encouraging their team, regardless of what happens on the pitch.
Chants of "Nippon" were almost non-stop, wherever the camera panned to the Japanese fans in the stands.
When a foreigner joined in to cheer the Japanese team alongside their fans, he would learn that their intensity is infectious.
Interviewed in the video was Akira Kohara, a true and true Japanese football fan, whose passion for his national team "knows no bounds".
Asked to explain his unwavering support for the team and how the Japanese keep up with that intensity, the reply was nothing out of the ordinary -- but typically Japanese, as it highlights their honour system and its influence on culture.
Kohara speaking via an interpreter, said: "You always have respect toward your elders... so you'd always want to be respectful, to kind of carry that on."
She added: "Being polite and respectful is just the basis of everything. It doesn't matter if it is football, it doesn't matter if you're at work. So, it's very rare for you to be disrespectful to somebody. And I think you can see that with the football culture."
When asked about the Japanese habit of cleaning up stadiums, the reply was that "it's just something we grow up with".
"It is in our education system."
You can watch the whole clip here.
Japan team pays tribute to fans as well
Some 12 hours after it came to pass that Japan was out of the World Cup, the official Samurai Blue Twitter account belonging to the Japan football team, tweeted a tribute "to everyone in Japan" to thank their supporters.
Top photos via Fifa World Cup