Sports coverage in Japan
The first of 3 pieces today covering a range of topics. I would like to focus the first article on the subject of sport, something very close to my heart. I got the urge to write about this topic while watching men’s volleyball last night (Japan vs Iran) although I had thought about this subject during the women’s volleyball tournament earlier this month too. And the specific point I would like to talk about is television coverage of sports, particularly those involving the national team, in Japan. I should add that my comments come from experience of watching volleyball, judo, karate, handball, football and a few others. I have excluded baseball from the list as I would personally rather remove my own colon with a spoon and proceed to eat it than watch a full game of that.
Right, onto business. First I would like to put forward the benchmark, which is coverage of sport involving the English/British national sporting team. Coverage will come on and you’ll usually be greeted by a frontman, often an ex-player, talking about the game and building it up. They will talk a little about the teams and who they will be hoping has a good game. We’ll then go to coverage from inside the stadium where the teams will come out, we’ll have national anthems and then get started. If it’s a competitive football game involving England, just before kick-off you will hear one of the commentators say “England expects…” Quite what they expect is never explained, but by now it is probably “England expects to underwhelm the world with their lack of talent once again, probably resulting in post-match violence against any nationals of the opposing team currently in the country”. But I digress. Incidents will be replayed again and contentious points talked about in detail in the half-time and after the final whistle blows. If the English team loses (as the inevitably do), the analysts will talk about who didn’t stand up to be counted, and what needs to be done to win the next game.
Now let’s offer a little contrast with coverage of a sporting event in Japan. For sake of argument, I will use last night’s volleyball as a comparison. Coverage immediately starts with 2 far too excitable but still reasonably cute young women welcoming everyone, and reminding everyone about the score in the last match (if it’s against anyone half decent, Japan probably lost). Now it becomes immediately obvious that (as far as I know) these girls haven’t hit a volleyball since they were at high school, as getting all hot & sweaty working out and playing sports would not be seen very high on the kawaii-ometer (kawaii meaning cute in Japanese). But that’s ok - they are just the main announcers; they have 2 nameless and cute Japanese girls who know nothing about the sport, in England we have Claire Balding. Hmm… as you can see there is already a rift developing. But maybe things will change as we’re now moving over to the stadium, where the teams are starting to warm up.
And the first thing we see is… a couple of more cute Japanese girls who are once again looking to be at the height of excitement that only the aid of many hallucinagenic drugs can achieve. But what’s this next to them? Could these be the experts we have been waiting for? Ahh… my mistake. It is in fact some Japanese people of currently indeterminable gender, who are here to cheer Japan on. As it turns out they are some hideous J-pop group, names Hey! Say! JUMP. And even more surprisingly, they are all boys (see below, although I am still not convinced).
So these creatures offer their support in one of the most feeble messages I have heard, before we finally get to the 2 main commentators. Now it sounds like these guys have a semblance of volleyball knowledge between them, but they are carrying the whole broadcasting team with them. We look at the Japanese players and their heights, ages, and there’s probably blood type in there somewhere too. We are then allowed a couple of glimpses at the opposition and who their dangerous players are. Now I’m not sure what the criteria is when it comes to most dangerous player in other sports, but in womens volleyball the best player always seems to be the cutest one/the one with the nicest butt. Now I am sure this is a coincidence unless there is some direct relationship between curve of butt and playing skill, but that’s the criteria they seem to use. In fact, this must be the case as they frequently show that players butt, most likely allowing the viewers at home to see the curve of her butt and therefore deduce for themselves what a skilled player she is. I know some of you are saying “This article is now worthless without pictures” so let me give you a simple example below. The woman on the left is clearly the more skilled volleyball player going by Japanese TV logic. The butt is rounder, hence the skill level higher. Am currently trying to work out how they deduce how skilled the men are at volleyball. Maybe they just can’t tell which is why they hardly show them.
So on we go to the game itself. Now the commentary itself isn’t so bad, but the producers of the show make absolutely no attempt to hide who they are backing. Maybe this is because in the UK I like to think we give the opposition credit and respect when they are playing us (usually we have to as they beat us), but coverage will be straight down the middle. Not here in Japan. When Japan wins a point, we see the Japanese players and coach jumping for joy; when Japan loses a point, we see the Japanese players consoling each other. Sometimes we are offered a fleeting glance of the opposition team, the length of which will depend on the gender of the opposition and, if female, the curve of her butt (of course!). Sometimes, at a crucial point in the game, the screen will split into quarters, increasing the tension fourfold. The pictures will show 2 of the players, the coach and maybe one of the substitutes. In the middle of the screen it will say “Ganbarre Nippon!” which would translate to “Go Japan!” or “Good luck Japan!”. When a timeout is called by either team, the camera closes into the Japanese players only so we can see what their coach is saying to them. Contentious calls that go against Japan are shown again and again so they can prove they were wronged. If a controversial call is made in favour of Japan, the viewer is not offered a single replay while the commentators remark at the skill of the Japanese players.
Maybe I just don’t appreciate the generally unbiased TV coverage when it comes to sport that we get in the UK. I haven’t spent long enough in other countries to comment about them, but I am not exaggerating what seems to be happening in Japan when it comes to covering the national sporting teams. Would be very interested to hear comments from those in other countries, saying whether this sporting coverage in favour of your own nation is the rule rather than the exception. And just incase you don’t believe that I watch volleyball with the slightest interest in the sport, you are sadly mistaken! So I will sign off this entry with pictures of my favourite volleyball players for the both Japan’s women AND men!
Yoshie Takeshita Yu Koshikawa
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