Kamatamare Sanukiカマタマーレ讃岐

Kamatamare Sanuki (カマタマーレ讃岐、Kamatamare Sanuki) is a football club based in Takamatsu, the capital city of Kagawa Prefecture of Japan. They currently play in the J3 League. They entered the J League in 2014 after finishing as runner-up in the Japan Football League in 2013. The first part of their name was coined by combining the Japanese word Kamatama (a type of udon noodle bowl) and the Italian Mare ("Sea"). The second part is what Kagawa Prefecture used to be called. Their name as well as their crest, which also features a kamatama udon bowl, are so unique that the club instantly became one of the best-known non-J. League sides in Japan when announced in October 2005.

History

The club was founded in 1956 as Takasho OB (Old Boys) Soccer Club (高商OBサッカークラブ) by the former students of Takamatsu Commercial High School's soccer club. Since renaming themselves Kagawa Shiun Football Club (香川紫雲フットボールクラブ) in 1991, they have been the leading football club in Kagawa, winning the Shikoku League Championship twice. The club's name changed again in 2000 to Sun Life (サンライフ) Football Club, when a consumer loan company Sun Life signed a sponsorship deal that continued until the end of the 2004 season. In October 2005, after briefly being called Takamatsu Football Club, the club officially announced their intention to rise to J. League status and changed their name to Kamatamare Sanuki. In 2010 they won the non-league treble by winning the Shikoku League, the Shakaijin Cup and the Regional League Promotion Series, and by virtue of the latter they were at last promoted to the Japan Football League.