You know, I started watching Japan * volleyball matches on TV during the pandemic, just killing time. Got hooked real quick – those spikes and saves man! But dang, trying to understand which teams were which felt like reading Japanese subway maps blindfolded.
First Steps Into the Chaos
So one Monday night, I grabbed my laptop and searched “Japan volleyball teams”. Got buried under Japanese websites and scoresheets. Gave up after an hour with zero clear answers. Next morning, I pulled out Google Translate and brute-forced Japanese league pages anyway. Screenshots everywhere, half-baked translations… total mess.
The Notebook Era (RIP Pens)
Bought a fresh notebook Wednesday afternoon – big mistake. Wrote three team names before realizing this wouldn’t scale. Switched to a massive spreadsheet instead. Made color-coded tabs for: Division 1 teams, Division 2 squads, and wildcard facts. Killed three highlighters marking hometown cities.
Deep Dive Drama
The rabbit hole got real:
- Spent Thursday night comparing Panasonic Panthers’ trophies vs. Wolf Dogs Nagoya’s fan chants
- Tracked down JTEKT Stings’ neon-green uniforms – almost blinded myself
- Wasted Friday verifying if Osaka Blazers players actually have samurai ancestors (they don’t)
My partner thought I was prepping for the Olympics. Nope, just obsessing over libero positions.
Crash Landing
Sunday morning disaster: Excel froze with 20+ tabs open. Lost half the Osaka Blazers stats. Cursed at Microsoft for 10 minutes straight. Started over using Google Sheets like a sensible person. Autosave is god.
Sharing the Madness
Posted the finished guide this Tuesday morning with:
- A simple team comparison table
- Hometown map markers
- Two facts per team even casuals care about (like “most coffee addicted setter”)
Already got DMs asking if JT Marvels’ mascot is licensed merchandise. Priorities, people.
Final thought? Researching this felt like wrestling with a volleyball net. But hey – if three volleyball newbies message me saying “found my team!”, that’s a win. Might even buy those neon JTEKT socks myself.
