Our 2023 tour will see us face Yokohama F. Marinos, Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid before we return home to begin the defence of our Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup titles over the coming months.
LINK: How to follow the 2023 tour
After setting off on Wednesday 19 July, we will spend a week in Tokyo, Japan’s capital, before a three-day stop in South Korea’s Seoul.
It’s not the first time we have been to either country.
Ahead of this year’s tour, we look back to the matches we have played in Japan and South Korea in the past.
It’s Korea’s turn tomorrow, but for today, we will focus on Japan.
1976 tour
21 May 1976 - JAPAN NATIONAL XI 0 CITY 3
23 May 1976 - JAPAN NATIONAL XI 0 CITY 1
26 May 1976 - JAPAN NATIONAL XI 0 CITY 1
28 May 1976 - JAPAN NATIONAL XI 0 CITY 2
After a gruelling 1975/76 season in which City had lifted the League Cup and finished eighth in the top flight, Tony Book’s team set off for the Far East.
The Blues played a Japan representative side four times in succession, winning the opening game 3-0 in front of 15,000 fans.
Dennis Tueart, Denis Leman and Asa Hartford scored the goals and two days later, the teams met again, with Paul Power scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win for the Blues.
Three days later and the teams met again, City winning 1-0 again with Power once again netting the winner.
The fourth and final meeting of the game was also the best attended with 27,000 fans watching City again edge a tight game 2-0 courtesy of Tueart and Leman.
As a gesture of gratitude for making the journey, we were gifted a kabuto, a helmet once worn by samurai warriors.
It was dusted off in 2017, when Book reflected on the tour.
“We flew out to face Japan and South Korea, playing seven games over a two-week period,” said Skip.
“Sydney Rose was the director who accompanied us on the tour and after we were presented with the helmet, he shipped it, along with a load of other artefacts and collectables back to Manchester.
“I suppose it has been in storage ever since so it’s nice to see it again!”
1993 tour
24 April 1993 – MITSUBISHI URAWA 0 CITY 2
27 April 1993 – HITACHI OMIYA 0 CITY 1
With our Premier League status more than secured ahead of the final three games, we set off for Japan for a five-day trip.
A whirlwind tour began by touching down in Tokyo on Friday afternoon before continuing on north of the metropolis to Urawa, where we faced Mitsubishi Urawa (now known as Urawa Red Diamonds and the current continental champions).
Adie Mike and David Kerr were the scorers before the squad returned to Tokyo for two days ahead of a second match, this time against Hitachi Omiya – which was won by a David White strike.
Less than 24 hours afterwards, we were back in the UK ready to win at Southampton three days later.
2019 tour
27 July 2019 – YOKOHAMA F. MARINOS 1 CITY 3
Our preparations for 2019/20 saw us take in China, Hong Kong and Japan in a 10-day stretch in the second half of July.
Pep Guardiola’s Fourmidables side of the previous season overcame West Ham United in Nanjing before a 0-0 draw with Wolves in Shanghai a few days later.
Hong Kong club Kitchee were on the end of a 6-1 defeat before a trip to Yokohama and our sister club rounded off a successful spell in Asia.
Then managed by new Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou, Yokohama were well on their way to a first J1 League title success in 15 years.
A crowd of 65,052 were treated to a fine spectacle; an open, attacking game that saw both sides try to play out from the back.
Goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Lukas Nmecha sealed the win for City in our final game in the country before this summer’s trip.
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