| 10. Sports |
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Japanese athletes are showing stunning
performances in various fields of sports; Hideki Matsui and
Ichiro Suzuki in professional baseball, and Kosuke Kitajima
in swimming, to name a few. One of the reasons, critics say,
is that the physical constitution of athletes has changed due
to application of new training methods. Another reason is exposure
to opportunities to play overseas. Because of recent changes
in rules regarding transfer of athletes, more and more professional
players in the field of baseball, soccer and other sports are
leaving Japan to test their abilities to compete in the global
arena.
Japanese TV sports viewing habits have also changed dramatically
in recent years. Watching Major League baseball games on TV
has become an everyday occurrence in Japan, and the number of
subscribers for satellite pay-TV channels broadcasting European
soccer leagues are swelling.
Sumo
Sumo is a unique form of wrestling, and professional sumo is
still performed in the traditional fashion, which has remained
virtually unchanged for several hundred years. There are six
Grand Sumo Tournaments a year, each lasting 15 days.
A new era began in 2003 in the world of sumo. For the first
time, there were no Japanese wrestlers at the sport's top rank.
The changing of the guard came in January when Takanohana, a
30-year-old yokozuna and a perennial favorite with Japanese
fans, retired from the ring during the New Year tournament.
He was the only Japanese-born yokozuna active in the ring at
the time. Shortly after, Asashoryu, a 22-year-old wrestler from
Mongolia, rose to the sport's highest rank after winning the
tournament, completing a breathtaking series of promotions.
Takanohana's departure and Asashoryu's advance complete a trend
that has been unfolding in professional sumo over the past several
years: As more foreign-born wrestlers make their mark, the traditional
Japanese sport is taking on an increasingly international appearance.
The emergence of these new stars could help revive interest
in sumo, which has declined in popularity after booming in the
early 1990s.
53 Foreign wrestlers
As of the end of December 2003, there were 53 foreign wrestlers
from the following countries: Mongolia, Brazil, Argentina, China,
Korea, Russia, Tonga, Georgia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria and
Kazakhstan. The first foreign yokozuna was Akebono from Hawaii,
who in 1993 became yokozuna and retired in January 2001.(*1)
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*1. http://www.sumo.or.jp/eng/index.html
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Baseball
Baseball has become a national pastime both as a spectator and
recreational sport. Professional baseball is organized into
two leagues—the Central and the Pacific—each having
six teams. How these teams fare in their games from April to
October every year is a matter of serious concern to millions
of Japanese. During the 2003 season, Pro baseball drew a total
of 23.7 million in stadium attendance. TV stations air games
at peak viewing times several days a week.
The Japan Series
The Japan Series is a tournament in which the winning teams
of both the Central and Pacific Leagues compete against each
other to determine the national champion. The 2003 Japan Series
turned into an exciting one. The Hanshin Tigers gained the league
title in the Central League after an interval of 18 years, which
swept its home ground Osaka into fervor.(*1) The Tigers then
played the Daiei Hawks, Pacific League-winner based in Fukuoka,
but lost to them by a score of 4-3, thus conceded the championship.
Outstanding performances of players in both teams were acknowledged
and Kenji Jojima of the Hawks and Kei Igawa of the Tigers won
Most Valuable Player Awards while Tsuyoshi Wada of the Hawks
and Hiroshi Kisanuki of the Yomiuri Giants became Rookies of
the Year. (*2)
Foreign Players in Japan
In the 2003 season, Tuffy Rhodes (from the United States) of
the Kintetsu Buffaloes became the home-run king in the Pacific
League with a total of 51 home runs. As for the Central League,
Alex Ramirez (from Venezuela) of the Yakult Swallows was nominated
for the Best Nine for Outfield and won three titles (most home
runs, most runs batted in, and highest safe hits).
"Godzilla" comes to NY
Across the ocean in the United States, some Japanese players
made their mark in 2003. Hideki Matsui, a 29-year-old slugger
nicknamed "Godzilla", made his sensational debut with
the New York Yankees in March 2003. He helped lead the team
at the American League championships and during the World Series
helped fight against the Florida Marlins. Although he became
one of the candidates for the American League's Rookie of the
Year, he missed the title partly because of his remarkable records
at home. During the 2002 season in Japan, Matsui won his third
Central League Most Valuable Player Award, batting a
career-high .334 (167-for-500) with a league leading and career-best
50 home-runs for the Giants. He also contributed to the Giants'
victory over the Seibu Lions in the 2002 Japan Series, batting
.333 with 4 runs batted in (RBI) in four games.(*3)
Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners, who took the Major League
by storm with his outstanding performance in 2001, marked 200
hits for three consecutive years (2001 to 2003). He finished
off the 2003 season with 212 hits, coming in second in the Major
League Baseball Hitting Statistics. There were nine Japanese
players in the Major League as of the 2003 season. Other Japanese
players making the headlines in the United States included pitchers
Hideo Nomo of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the trailblazer for Japanese
players in the majors.
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*1. http://www.hanshintigers.jp/index.html
*2. http://www.npb.or.jp/award/index.html
*3. http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/nyy/team/
nyy_player_bio.jsp?frame=mlb&playerid=425686
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Soccer
The first division of the J League (J1) now has 16 teams and
the second league (J2) has 12 team.(*1) The number of J1 teams
will be increased to 18 from 2005 season. The sport has proven
tremendously popular with fans in the localities holding team
franchises, as well as among schoolchildren and young people.
The J League has fostered and produced many star players many
of whom are active in the Japanese national team now led by
Brazilian coach Zico (Artur Antunes Coimbra), while others are
active in top divisions overseas.
The popularity of J League dropped in the late 1990s and teams
faced financial difficulty due to decline in the numbers of
stadium audience as well as corporate sponsorship. In recent
years, however, both the number of stadium audience and corporate
sponsorship have resurged thanks to the 2002 FIFA World Cup
Korea/Japan which helped attract new soccer fans to the J League.
2002 FIFA World Cup
Japan and the Republic of Korean co-hosted the 17th FIFA World
Cup in 2002, the first World Cup ever held in Asia. A total
of 32 teams participated in the World Cup, including Japan and
Korea, which as hosts automatically qualified to play. Out of
the 64 matches held in all, 32 matches were held in Japan and
32 in Korea. During the World Cup, which was held from May 31
to June 30, 3.5 million watched the games at stadiums in both
countries, while 42 billion people around the globe watched
on TV. Japan, led then by the French coach Philippe Troussier,
reached the top 16, winning over both Tunisia and Russia. Korea
made it to the top four. (*2)
Japanese Players Shine
A growing number of Japanese players in 2002~2003, made names
for themselves in top leagues in Europe; Hidetoshi Nakata playing
in Bologna, Italy, Shinji Ono in Feyenoord, Netherlands, Junichi
Inamoto in Fulham, the UK, and Shunsuke Nakamura in Reggina,
Italy to name a few.
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*1. http://www.j-league.or.jp/eng/
*2. http://www.fifa.com/
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Other sports
Swimming: Kosuke Kitajima set two
new world records in the men's 100-meter breaststroke at 59.78
seconds and in men's 200 breaststroke at 2 minutes 9.42 seconds
in the 2003 FINA World Championships in Barcelona winning two
gold medals and also obtaining a bronze medal for the 400 medley
relay.(*1) In the 2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships he
made a new record for Japan at 1 minute 0.34 seconds in the
men's 100-meter breaststroke semi-finals and also became champion
in the men's 100 breaststroke finals. He has established an
international reputation as ace swimmer in the Japanese team
with the titles above. Tomoko Hagiwara became the champion in
the women's 200-meter individual medley in the 2002 Pan Pacific
Swimming Championships.(*2)
Tennis: From the 1990s, Japanese
tennis players such as Shuzo Matsuoka, Kimiko Date and Ai Sugiyama
have been performing actively in tournaments held abroad. Sugiyama
has been performing exceedingly well in recent years, matching
up with Kim Clijsters (Belgium) to win the championship for
the doubles tournament in the French Open in 2003(*3), adding
yet another championship to the two already in hand: doubles
in the US Open in 2000 and mixed doubles in the US Open in 1999(*4)(*5).
This would add up to three championships within the four grand
tournaments. She ranked third in the doubles world ranking as
of June 2003.
Track and Field: In the field of
sprint racing, Shingo Suetsugu won a bronze medal for the 200-meter
sprint race at the final games of the World Championships in
Athletics 2003 clocking in at 20.38 seconds, becoming the first
Japanese flat sprinter to attain a medal.(*6) Suetsugu also
made a new Japanese record of 20.03 seconds during the 200-meter
sprint race finals at the Japan Championships in 2003 and became
champion.(*7) Koji Murofushi is one of the world's top hammer
throwers, winning first place in 2001 and 2002 world ranking.
In 2003, he threw over 82 meters in winning all six meets he
entered, including a toss of 84.86 in Prague on June 26 that
put him third on the all-time list, until he injured his right
elbow in August when he slipped during a training throw in the
rain. At the Paris World Athletics Championships held later
in the month, he had to settle for the bronze medal.(*8)
Marathons have become a regular feature of the Japanese sporting
scene. Some events, like the Fukuoka International Marathon
held in December and the Tokyo International Marathon in February
are well known around the world. In September 2001, Naoko Takahashi,
who won the gold medal in the women's marathon in the Sydney
Olympics in 2000 and set an Olympic record in women's marathon,
became the first woman runner ever to break the 2 hour 20 minute
barrier with 2 hours 19 minutes and 46 seconds when she won
the Berlin Marathon in world record time.(*9) Toshinari Takaoka
came in third place at the Chicago Marathon in October 2002
setting a new Japanese record at 2 hours 6 minutes and 16 seconds.
Golf: Shigeki Maruyama made his
victory at the 2003 Chrysler Classic of Greensboro with a 22
under total, capturing his third title in major tours in three
consecutive years. He made an average of 25.30 putts per round,
the best in his career. He led Brad Faxon, the second runner
with a 25-foot birdie putt on the first hole and consecutive
birdies on the fourth and fifth holes. Maruyama won $810 thousand
and moved up from 76th to 35th on the money list.
Japanese golf players who have marked the top five in the four
world major tournaments are Isao Aoki, second in the 1980 US
Open, Tsuneyuki Nakajima, third in the 1988 PGA Championship,
Akihiro Kuramoto, fourth in the 1982 British Open and Toshimitsu
Izawa, fourth in the 2001 Masters.
Olympic Games in Japan: In 1964
the Summer Olympic Games were held in Tokyo, marking the first
time to be staged in Asia. The Winter Olympics were held in
Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998.
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*1. http://www.fina.org/bcn03_swimmingrecords.html
*2. http://www.swim.or.jp/panpac2002/
*3. http://2003.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/scores/cmatch/20wd.html
*4. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/results/2000/2open/
*5. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/1999/us_open/news/
1999/09/15/1999_winners/
*6. http://www.iaaf.org/WCH03/results/gender=M/discipline=200/
combCode=hash/roundCode=f/index.html
*7. http://www12.ocn.ne.jp/~jaaf/2003jpncs/2-t-r-11.html
*8. http://www.iaaf.org/gp03/results/eventCode=3026/
gender=M/discipline=HT/index.html
*9. http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_33.pdf
http://www.berlin-marathon.com/world/E/marathon/top
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