Nippon vs. Kita-chousen
Everyone was rushing to go home early today. It felt a little weird because usually, my department mates would spend half of the evening in school working. It was always me who would stealthily pack my things and go home before 8:00 PM, a bit early for a Japanese worker but relatively late for a foreigner who used to wrestle a steady 9:00 to 5:00 job. But anyways, I learned later that tonight is one of the most-awaited nights of the year. The much idolized (by the Japanese) Japanese soccer team would be facing North Korea in a football match that should advance the winner to the world cup by one step. My senior even reminded me to watch the game and cheer for Japan.
Out of curiousity, I turned the TV on and I was surprised by the overwhelming number of people present in the stadium. Everybody was in high-spirits, chanting, shouting, screaming, and jumping like Japan was clinching for the gold in the olympics. Some people were so carried away, almost delirious, unceasingly waving the Japanese imperial flag against the blue backdrop formed by the jersey of the same color worn by almost all of the fans. Japan won (2-1) but I must say that North Korea, in spite of its financial and social predicament gave Japan a big itch to scratch. It was a tight and breath-stopping match with Japan advancing first but almost losing the game to its rival. I was deeply impressed by the skill and the moves of the Korean players though I must confess that I am a big fan of Nakata and Inamoto.
The excessive show of emotion by the Japanese in this game could be explained by the intrigue and the unhealed wounds that were brought by the series of abductions of Japanese nationals who were later on incompletely repatriated. These events were highly sensationalized by the local and partly by the international media, and involved a massive cry for protest by the Japanese. Until now, the diplomatic and political strains between the two countries continue although efforts to resolve the issue through bilateral talks are highly visible. Tonight's soccer match gave the Japanese the chance to voice out and openly show support for their country, and they succeeded in bringing home the bacon.
I hope that the issues between the two countries will be amicably settled soon, giving peace and understanding another chance in these days of turmoil.
Culture
Out of curiousity, I turned the TV on and I was surprised by the overwhelming number of people present in the stadium. Everybody was in high-spirits, chanting, shouting, screaming, and jumping like Japan was clinching for the gold in the olympics. Some people were so carried away, almost delirious, unceasingly waving the Japanese imperial flag against the blue backdrop formed by the jersey of the same color worn by almost all of the fans. Japan won (2-1) but I must say that North Korea, in spite of its financial and social predicament gave Japan a big itch to scratch. It was a tight and breath-stopping match with Japan advancing first but almost losing the game to its rival. I was deeply impressed by the skill and the moves of the Korean players though I must confess that I am a big fan of Nakata and Inamoto.
The excessive show of emotion by the Japanese in this game could be explained by the intrigue and the unhealed wounds that were brought by the series of abductions of Japanese nationals who were later on incompletely repatriated. These events were highly sensationalized by the local and partly by the international media, and involved a massive cry for protest by the Japanese. Until now, the diplomatic and political strains between the two countries continue although efforts to resolve the issue through bilateral talks are highly visible. Tonight's soccer match gave the Japanese the chance to voice out and openly show support for their country, and they succeeded in bringing home the bacon.
I hope that the issues between the two countries will be amicably settled soon, giving peace and understanding another chance in these days of turmoil.
Culture
posted by dondon at 8:47 AM
8 Comments:
Saw it, too, kuya. Very close match indeed! However, I was rooting for Japan, hehehe... I was actually disappointed by Japan's lackluster defense. Nevertheless, their offense was better than North Korea's, what with Takahara, Nakamura and Oguro (the one who sank the killer goal in the last minutes of the game) coming in fresh in the 2nd half. Nice game overall ;-)
sorry, mate, but japanese football fans are crazy passionate about the NK game b/c it's the first step in the last flight of stairs to the World Cup in Germany. The people who attended that stadium had to "win" the chance to buy tickets; the show of emotion and passion in the stands was all about the Beautiful Game. If you haven't seen it yet on the news, 810,000 people have entered the lottery to "win the right" to buy tickets to the next home game against Bahrain. That's more people than applied for the NK game.
The people holding the flags and leading the cheers are part of a huge group of Japan National Team supporters called the Ultras. These guys travel everywhere the team goes, and in 98 France World Cup, Japanese supporters were publicly singled out by FIFA and the international press for their exceptional spirit and flawless behavior.
Please, don't mix their dedication to the team with sordid political mudslinging.
Well, I respect your opinion but people look at the same thing but see it very differently. I have seen them fight against South Korea in the 2002 World Cup here in Japan and they were not as emotional. What you said was right but I personally heard some of my Japanese friends comment about how important the game was to them. They were not after the finals because they knew that they still had miles to go before winning the championship. They just wanted to beat North Korea.
To add to my previous comment...
try to expand your blog search and you'll see that I am not the only one with the same views about the game.
Soccer is not politics but it that particular game, politics undeniably influenced it.
I agree. Koizumi even warned the Japanese fans to behave properly before the game, knowing that political stimulus could erupt into a big trouble like what happened in China during the Friendship Games. Security was also unreasonably tight that night according to my friend.
Thanks anonymous. I also would like to share this article/analysis in the Washington Post about the Japan - North Korea soccer match. The date in this analysis is Feb. 10, 2005 which is one day later than my post here. The article even showed a little girl waving the Japanese flag.
I do thank the other anonymous commenter for his views on the game which is basic in inclination (sports is about winning and climbing the peak).
Besides considering the basic tones, I also try to see every event in a social and cultural level. Of course I and almost everybody know the basic facts surrounding the Japan-North Korean match so I didn't feel the need to write about it.
Thanks for visiting my blog and hope to see you again soon!
hi all, thought I'd comment here as the discussion sounds good. :)
- Japan did not play South Korea in 2002, not in the World Cup. The last time they played in a true game (not a friendly) was in 1997.
- I think your impression of "being surprised" by the number of fans and the cheering and flag-waving, may have been colored by your pre-existing knowledge of the political antagonism and the fact that you don't normally watch NT games. If you can get a hold of video from the Oman game in Japan last year for example, you'll see the chanting and flagwaving was equal if not more. If I remember correctly, there was even a Zico, Zico chant before the game started that was quite overwhelming. After 90 minutes, the score was still 0-0, and you could see people with their hands over their mouths in doom and shock, some women with tears in their eyes. Luckily, Japan scored a goal in injury time (kinda like this NK game).
- of course, with the way the media was handling the pre-game buildup, the PM had to step in and make a comment saying he hoped fans would not get out of hand. The politician's sound bite.
- Also if you look at the stands, there was even a sign that said "Let's go to Germany together". It was like everyone was EXPECTING trouble, when we saw no evidence of fans threatening to cause trouble in advance of the game (unlike the China game in the Asia Cup last year). There were no anti-NK banners at all, no booing during anthems, etc.
- Security was unreasonably tight that night because NK essentially threatened the Japan Football Federation saying that if they did not handle things properly in Japan, and there was any hint of trouble or bad behavior, NK would not be cooperative about key issues like practice facilities for the Japan team, visas for supporters, ticket allocation for Japan, and allowance of media.
I'm sure everyone there was aware of the feeling that "something could happen", but the majority of the supporters there were not majorly emotionally invested in that aspect of the game.
Of course, they did not want to lose to NK, with obvious feelings of being wronged, but they would not want to draw with any country ranked so low, especially at home, on the first game of the final qualifiers. Afterall, there is pride at stake here ;)
Like the Washington Post article you refer to, the irony is that the media is taking the obvious sensationalist angle, and not giving credit to the Japanese supporters for being essentially a very friendly, well-behaved, dedicated, intelligent group of people who despite all the political buildup did not let it get in the way of their first priority. I'm assuming we're talking about the people who showed up at the stadium who you saw on tv.
I think someone mentioned this already, but about 260,000 people applied for tickets to the North Korea game. About 810,000 people applied for the tickets to the next game against Bahrain... is that game political? No, so why the tripled interest?
I had the same initial impression as you, but after watching the video of the game again, I realized that I may have overlapped what I was told/expecting with the excitement in the air, into a great overgeneralization. I think a lot of people did this, especially people who don't watch these games avidly.
sorry if my thoughts are all over the place... and I wrote too much! Good luck with your blog!
I stand corrected. Japan did not play South Korea in the 2002 World Cup but nevertheless the point is, they were not as emotional with their previous games. Why do I say so? Because living in Japan for years now and understanding their "kokoro" (mind/heart/inner self) and by my direct observation with the very same Japanese friends and classmates who cheered for the Japanese soccer team over the years, I sensed something different. Almost everybody left the office unusually early, something they never did in the previous games. A cheering and drinking party (with the staff wearing the Japanese jersey) was held inside the school which is usually a taboo but it happened during the NK game.
Why were there less ticket applicants for the NK game than Bahrain? You must again understand the Japanese people do not want to be involved in any trouble. The NK game smelled danger for most of them so they chose to watch it on TV. The swollen ticket application for the next game could also have been triggered by their victory over NK.
If you have a direct, close, continuous,varied and long-standing interaction or relationship with them just like in my case and I am sure with the Washington Post correspondent's case too, you would understand what we mean. There are things that could not be conceived by the eye.For some, the cheering of the fans might have looked like the usual but for people who understand the Japanese, something was beyond their common manifestation during that moment.
I consider the W.Post article as an accurate and first-hand analysis of the Japanese character during that game. Who could say it better than somebody with the proper credentials and physically present in the premises during the game?
The correspondent of W. Post was not picked and assigned to cover Japan in behalf of a highly respected journal for no reason at all. I am sure that he is more informed about Japan and its culture than us here. I am also positive that his interest and knowledge in sports could not be inferior than most people.
Thanks for reading my blog. I hope that you enjoy your stay in Japan, a very beautiful and safe country to live in.
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