The arrival of Eiji Kawashima has created an unbelievable media storm in Japan. The fact that the Japanese national keeper comes to Lierse has brought a lot of Japanese media to Lier.

The requests for interviews were so numerous that Eiji would have been doing nothing else. Eiji politely refused every interview until now and concentrated on the sporting side. Today, 2 days before the start of the League season, a Press conference was organised for the Japanese media. About 25 journalists were present.

We were able to surprise them with exclusive news: the Lierse website also now has a Japanese version. www.lierse.com/ja, and this was shown live to those journalists present.
This version will be maintained by our existing webteam, and Dorien Bex will take care of the translations, a Belgian who has studied as a Japanese translator. Our website had alraedy found it's way to the Far East. The clip on our site where Kawashima makes a miraculous save at Heist has been viewed 179.000 times. The number of visitors to the Lierse website, which is normally between 6,000 - 8,000 a day in the close season, has noticeably increased, and on one day reached a peak of 100.000.

At the press conference itself Eiji said that he was very happy here. He immediately had felt welcomed in the group and accepted by the supporters.  He has been here for just under a month and has begun to settle. He also said that he was super motivated and hoped for a permanent starting place. On the back of his shirt is Eiji. Why?, asked a journalist. “When I first came here everyone shouted Eiji to me. So I had the name put on my shirt. Since then everyone calls me Kawashima.” (laughs)

Th communication between him and the other players is logically in English. When asked what the biggest difference with Japan is, he answered : “Everything here goes slower than in Japan. When I recently ordered curtains for my appartment, the fitter told me that it would take three weeks before they would be delivered, as he was going to be on holiday.” For the Japanese present that was a shock. In Japan that wouldn't happen.

He was full of praise for the food. He goes out to eat every evening and has of course tried chips with mayonnaise. He's not piing for Japanese food at the moment.

On a more serious note he was asked why he came to play for Lierse. According to Eiji Lierse is an ambitious club, with an ambitious board that is not content to be an also-ran in the first division. He sees his arrival at Lierse as a unique opportunity to perform in Europe. Because he didn't disguise the fact that he wants to still go higher.

Finally over his teammates “What I immediately noticed was that everyone is very strong here. Both physically and especially mentally. They all have a very strong will. For me is that a good stimulance and an outstanding motivational factor.”