Iwaki FC has a very interesting, albeit somewhat tragic history. The club was created in 2012, in the Fukushima Prefecture town of Iwaki, as part of an effort to revive a region that had just been devastated by the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake. Its "home town" area includes the entire eastern coast of Fukushima Prefecture - an area best known as the home of several large nuclear plants.
Founded under the name "Iwaki Sports Club", at first its simply offered young people in Iwaki a place to congregate and play sports, as they tried to return to normal lives. But in late 2015 the club received a big boost when the sportswear company DOME (Japan's exclusive UnderArmor distributor) threw their resources behind an effort to develop "sports business" in the area. Fukushima prefecture has long been home to Japan's National Team Training Center, and the apparel brand saw potential to help revive a battered region and boost their brand name at the same time.
In quick succession, Beam and other corporate sponsors helped construct a top-quality training pitch, clubhouse and stadium to serve as the base for the newly reminted Iwaki FC. The rise was rapid, with Iwaki reaching the Tohoku Regional League in 2018 and the JFL in 2020. The 2021 season brought a JFL title and promotion to the J3. But the fairy tale did not end there. Itochu Corporation came in as a partial owner in 2022, and the investment the team was able to make in personnel brought a J3 title as well. In 2023, Iwaki FC joins the J2 for the first time.
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