One man that is delighted to see football return to Japan this weekend is . Here he is to tell us all about it.

The J.League resumes this weekend after the disaster caused by the Sendai earthquake, tsunami and nuclear emergency meant games were suspended throughout March and April. The earthquake, which measured 9.0 on the Richter scale, killed 14,000 and left another 13,000 missing in a tragedy that devastated the Land of the Rising Sun.

In footballing terms there were also casualties with the grounds of Kashima Antlers and Vegalta Sendai severely damaged by the impact. Kashima will play at the National Stadium in Tokyo for the months of April and May whilst Vegalta hope to return to their Yurtec Stadium for the April 29 visit of Urawa Red Diamonds.

The shock of the disaster was too much for Vegalta Sendai’s Brazilian striker Marquinhos, who had his contract terminated as a result of the trauma the earthquake and tsunami caused him. Marquinhos, who has plied his trade in Japan for the last 10 years, will surely be a big loss for the division after he scored 109 goals in 230 games for various J.League sides including Kashima Antlers and Shimizu S-Pulse.

The return of football should act as a much-needed distraction for the people of Japan, who have had little to smile about since the events of March 11. may be slightly subdued as all the weekend’s matches will feature a minute’s silence to remember all those that were lost in the tragedy.

On the field we see a clash between two of the J.League’s best supported and most successful teams as the Kashima Antlers take on the Yokohama F. Marinos, with both sides looking to improve on what turned out to be a disappointing 2010 season.

Considering the Antlers’ high standards, last season’s fourth place finish and Emperor’s Cup success was a bit of a let-down and manager Oswaldo de Oliveira will be hoping that Japan’s most successful club can regain the title that they won three years on the bounce from 2007-2009 before Nagoya became champions in 2010

Their opponents will be hoping to start the season with a morale-boosting victory as they look to escape the midtable mediocrity that has plagued them since their back-to-back title wins in 2003 and 2004. The Marinos will be led by their talismanic captain Shunsuke Nakamura and fans will hope the combination of the former-Celtic playmaker and promising youngsters Yuji Ono and Sho Matsumoto can bring the glory days back to the Nissan Stadium.

The weekend’s other big game takes place on Sunday as reigning Champions Nagoya Grampus travel to face the Urawa Red Diamonds. Urawa are another team who are hoping to have a change of fortunes in 2011 after finishing in a dismal 10 ^th in 2010. But the arrival of Brazilian midfielder Marcio Richardes from Albirex Niigata has strengthened their squad and with compatriot Mazola joining on loan from Sao Paulo the Reds look like they will be pushing for a top six place.

2010 was a special season for Grampus fans after they won their first league title in the club’s 72-year history. Nagoya’s previous best season came under the management of Arsene Wenger, who led the club to Emperor’s Cup success and a second place league finish with a team including Gary Lineker and Dragan Stojkovic. Stojkovic is now in charge of the club and he will hope that his side can become only the sixth team to retain the J.League Title, starting with a win at the Saitama Stadium this weekend.

It looks like it could be an exciting weekend of J.League action, with other games including 2010 runners up Gamba Osaka’s clash against Sanfrecce Hiroshima and last year’s surprise package Cerezo Osaka’s trip to face Montedio Yamagata.

All 18 J.League sides will be desperate to win of course, but results are not what is important this weekend. The very fact that football matches are taking place again is fantastic for Japan and by the time the final whistle blows I’m sure fans will just be happy to have thought about something other than the earthquake for a few short hours. Win, lose or draw, all fans of the J.League will be winners this weekend.

An excellent debut from Matt Kenny on gibfootballshow. If you want to read more of Matt’s work please visit his site My Sporting Ramblings or follow him on twitter