Celtic are planning a first ever tour of Japan next summer.
The Premiership champions’ popularity has soared in the country after the signings of Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi last season. Kyogo lit up the league with his performances after arriving from Vissel Kobe last summer.
Manager Ange Postecoglou also has history there. He made the switch to Glasgow after a successful spell in charge of Yokohama F Marinos before he was poached after a failed attempt to land Eddie Howe as Neil Lennon's replacement. And now Japanese outlet Sponichi reports that the Hoops are preparing to head to the Far East next summer. Club marketing staff have apparently made trips to Japan to lay the groundwork for a summer tour in 2023,
Two friendly matches are planned against J League opposition. These include Postecoglou’s former club Yokohama. Kyogo’s former club are also contenders as Celtic look to build on the following they’ve gained as a result of adding him and his compatriots to the squad.
However, Japanese-based journalist Dan Orlowitz has warned that fans hoping to travel will have to wait on the country re-opening their borders to tourists. Travel to the nation is restricted in a bid to keep Covid infections to a minimum.
The Asian Cup is also likely to be hosted by either Japan or Korea. That could affect flight prices but a final call on where the tournament will be held should be made in plenty of time.
Orlowitz tweeted: “This is such a tap-in that the only surprise, to me, is that it took until now for something to leak, but I suppose there’s no urgency 1+ year out.
“Of concern to those anticipating the Japanese Bhoys’ participation will be the Asian Cup (likely hosted in SK or maybe Japan). Would-be traveling support should keep in mind that as of this tweet, Japan’s borders are still closed to almost all tourists.
“Obviously hopes/expectations are that the latter issue is resolved by Summer 2023, because if it isn’t, then, uh, yikes. Also don’t look up flight prices right now if you are pregnant or have a heart condition, just saying.”
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