Update: As expected, Roma's players had their name printed in Japanese on the back of their shirts while on their tour of Japan.
Interestingly, they only used the kanji lettering on the NB x Aries kit. In their first match vs Nagoya Grampus Eight, they wore their white away shirt with regular namesets. The second game against Yokahama F-Marinos saw them wear their special kits complete with special font.
Original article: Roma's stunning New Balance x Aries kits have gone on sale from the clubs website with the option of player namesets in Japanese.
AS Roma 22-23 New Balance X Aries Kits Released
Japanese Namesets Available for Roma kits
The main focus of the New Balance x Aries x AS Roma collaboration was of course match kits, which went on sale yesterday after the big reveal a couple of weeks ago. Three different designs were produced; one men's, one women's and one goalkeeper shirt. Authentic versions of the men's and women's shirts are priced at €175, €50 more than the replica versions, which cost €125. There is only one version of the gk shirt available for €130.
AS Roma New Balance x Aries Kits + Full Collection Released
The club are currently on a tour of Japan, where they will wear the shirts in matches against Nagoya Grampus Eight (25th Nov) and Yokohama F-Marinos (28th Nov). To tie in the Aries collaboration with the "EuroJapan Cup" and increase the appeal to Japanese fans, the club are offering the option of Japanese language namesets on the back of the jerseys.
The club shared images of Zaniolo's number 22 and Pellegrini's number 7 shirts, but with the player names written using the kanji symbols of the Japanese alphabet. Their online store is currently down for maintenance so the price of the special personalisation is not available at the time of writing, but we do know that they are currently offering half price shipping to Japan.
Will They Make an Appearance on the Pitch?
We've seen clubs such as Real Madrid and Barcelona pose with jerseys emblazoned with Chinese symbols on the back before, while PSG and Inter actually played with the Chinese namesets on their shirts to celebrate Chinese New Year. It's possible that Roma plan on taking to the field with the Japanese lettering during their tour of the country.
These moves often claim to honour the country in question, but they are really quite transparent marketing ploys to increase club popularity and sell more shirts and merchandise in Asia. Most of the time the clubs involved do not go to great efforts to hide this, and Roma have been relatively open about it in this case. From a marketing point of view, it would make sense for them to wear the special namesets while in Japan and would not come as a surprise given the extensive PR campaign they are running for the tour.
We challenged Spinazzola & Zaniolo. But who came out on top? 🤔
▶️ https://t.co/EyAqbfIXxe#ASRoma pic.twitter.com/hQeeiVxwpU— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) November 22, 2022Club owner Dan Friedkin is the one who pushed hard for this tour, according to la Gazzetta dello Sport, and made no secret of his desire to expand the club's presence in the country. Roma are on the lookout for a new main shirt sponsor for next season, with naming rights for the new stadium they're planning to build also potentially up for sale. For Friedkin the 19,000 km round trip will be worth it if they manage to find some new, wealthy business partners.
How do you think the shirts look with the player names in Japanese? Do you think they will use these namesets on their tour of Japan or just make them available to fans? Comment below.