The Japanese sporting spirit
THE recent FIFA World Cup witnessed several upsets, including former champions Germany’s defeat to Japan in a group match. After the thrilling victory, Japanese spectators stayed on to remove trash from the Khalifa International Stadium.
This incident brought back memories of a football match between India and Japan, played in the Asian zone qualifying round in 2004, at the Saitama Stadium near Tokyo. This game was a run-up to qualification for the 2006 World Cup. While no one expected India to win, it evoked considerable interest at the Indian Embassy in Tokyo, where I was posted as a military diplomat. We received a special invite, a diplomatic privilege since our national team was playing.
At the given date and time, about half a dozen of us from the embassy reached the venue and were ushered into the special boxes with an excellent view. We could see a stream of spectators making their way into the stands wearing the samurai-blue colours of the Japanese team, with the numerals of their favourite player emblazoned on them. They had come from different places around Tokyo, and even further away, mainly by the subway, but as they settled down in the state-of-the-art stadium, which had hosted matches during the 2002 World Cup in Japan, it looked as if this sea of blue was one homogenous entity. As the game progressed, the behaviour of the crowd was reminiscent of a well-groomed audience at a public school rather than the hooliganism one associates with football matches. Not that there was any lack of spirit or lustiness in the decibel levels of cheering, but it was all in a self-disciplined kind of way. The Indian team was outclassed and received a 7-0 drubbing, but there was no jeering. In fact, when the few times our team did manage some good moves, the crowd cheered them on. At the end of the game, one witnessed the Japanese penchant for cleanliness as the spectators got busy picking up any garbage that may have been lying around, though there did not appear to be much of it.
However, the most memorable action took place in the stands just ahead and below our spectator box. The couple of hundred spectators in that area were somehow aware that a few Indians were sitting behind them, probably because one of us had put a Tricolour on one side of our small enclosure. As if on cue, the Japanese got up, turned around to face us and gave a polite clap, as if to say ‘buck up’ or ‘never mind’, and thereby sent us home cheerfully despite the big defeat our team had suffered. Well, that is the Japanese way, a learning experience for others.
