I went to see an ice hockey game the other day. Although I don't follow hockey, it is nice to watch a sport live. The atmosphere really adds to the fun of the game. Hockey is not big in Japan. The most popular sport is probably baseball (yakyuu) or soccer (sakkaa). A baseball or soccer player is usually one of the top three professions that a boy wants to be when growing up. Baseball has always been popular, but soccer became popular after the J. League was established in 1993. Japan co-hosted the 2002 World Cup with Korea, and the entire nation was very excited about it. I was fortunate to watch some games in Kobe. It was such a great and festive atmosphere created by the fans of the many different countries.