To Takehiko Nakamura, the Pacific Rim Cup is a concept that’s been years in the making.

As a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Nakamura envisioned in his master’s thesis an annual soccer tournament that would match teams from the United States and Japan.

He first brought his idea to life when he facilitated the 2008 Pan-Pacific Championship at Aloha Stadium, headlined by David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy. After jobs with Major League Soccer and FC Barcelona as international director of business, Nakamura founded the Blue United Corporation in 2015.

Now in Year 2 of organizing the Pacific Rim Cup, which brings two teams from Japan and another two from the MLS, Nakamura sees a business model that’s not only sustainable, but that can continue to grow annually.

“I lived in Japan 16 years and 26 in the U.S. I always wanted to bridge both countries in soccer. That’s how I was able to go back and forth. Geographically, climate-wise, Hawaii made sense,” Nakamura says. “Doing these international events was my job with Major League Soccer and FC Barcelona.

“We would go to places that people don’t really want to go, but we would have to go because promoters paid for it. I was like, ‘Why don’t we go where everyone wants to go?’”

Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo was the winner of last year’s inaugural cup, a field that also included Iwaki FC, the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Columbus Crew.

Iwaki FC is also in this year’s field, but lost 2-1 to Real Salt Lake on Friday night at Aloha Stadium after Nick Besler’s goal broke a 1-1 tie in the 87th minute. Sebastian Saucedo gave Real Salt Lake the lead in the 24th minute, while Masahide Hiraoka’s equalizer in the 74th minute proved to be Iwaki FC’s lone goal.

“It’s important for us to play different teams. This was a good test for us,” Saucedo said. “It was awesome. I loved it. I think a lot of my teammates enjoyed it and I think we’ll definitely enjoy Hawaii while it lasts.”

Also present was Salt Lake’s Kyle Beckerman, who represented the United States national team at the 2014 World Cup and holds the record for MLS regular-season appearances at 463 and counting. Despite not seeing any action on the field on Friday night, he saw the benefits of the team preparing for its season opener on March 2 against the Houston Dynamo.

“I think it’s huge. The temperature is going to be similar to our first game in Houston. We felt what it’s gonna feel like when you’re running and you’re tired and sweating,” he said. “It’s such a different climate from where we’re at, so it’s gonna be important for preparation for the season.

“It was great. Man, perfect weather, the fans seemed like they had a good time. They were engaged, got some goals. All in all, I think it was a great night.”

Real Salt Lake awaits the winner of Friday night’s second semifinal between Vancouver Whitecaps FC and V-Varen Nagasaki for the championship game, set for 5:15 p.m. on Sunday at Aloha Stadium. It will be preceded by an 11 a.m. match that pits a Hawaii All-Star team from the Major Island Soccer Organization and the Fukushima Hamadori Under-18 squad, as well as the third-place game at 2:30 p.m.

Citing the lack of a pro soccer team in the islands, Nakamura also said he hopes to grow the game in Hawaii, as well as inspire its youth.

The Keiki Soccer Clinic held on Thursday night at Aloha Stadium sold out in 20 minutes for a crowd of more than 200 kids getting hands-on advice from members of all four professional teams. To Nakamura, that’s a vast improvement on last year’s clinic, which sold out in 48 hours.

“It’s really fun to be watching them and it’s gonna inspire me to try to play like them, too,” said Kristen Uyeda, an 11-year-old who participated in the clinic and will serve as a ball girl during the games.

Year 1 was a boon for the state economically, as the tournament brought in $1.5 million in revenue for the state, according to the Pacific Rim Cup website. Nakamura says this year’s figure projects to be around $1.7 million.

Nakamura also foresees the event taking place in Hawaii as long as there’s a tournament to be held. When asked about the condition of Aloha Stadium and how it caused the U.S. women’s national team to cancel an exhibition game in December 2015, he called it “unlucky for Hawaii and unfair for Hawaii.”

“We did this tournament here in 2008 in a worse situation on worse grass and David Beckham played in all of it without complaining,” Nakamura said. “It had nothing to do with Hawaii, in my opinion.”