Japan, Football, and Four and a Half Nationalisms:

1
Japan, Football, and Four and a Half Nationalisms

• A Wee Bit of Social Theorizing on the Occasion of
  the 2006 World Cup in Germany

2
Todd Joseph Miles Holden

• Professor of Mediated Sociology
• Graduate School of International Cultural Studies
  (GSICS)
  
• Tohoku University
• Sendai, Japan

3
Premise

• Japans World Cup Campaign has been separated
  into numerous stages
  
• Qualification for the Cup
• Member Selection
• Team Preparation
• World Cup Participation

4
Heavily Mediated

• This has been a very public -- nationwide --
  process
  
• Abetted in large part by the media.
• In some ways this is certainly due to the
  sophistication and reach of the Japanese media
  system
  
• and, in particular, television

5
In this Paper

• I want to talk a bit about this media system
• I will provide examples which will work to show
  that, through media, Japanese society has
  experienced (and has expressed) four (and a half)
  forms of nationalism during this World Cup
  campaign

6
Stated Alternatively

• The World Cup has given vent to the expression,
  through media, of four and a half forms of
  nationalism in Japan

7
Japans 4.5 Nationalisms

• Not all of these have been fully developed
• Not all of these are specific to Japan
• Although, in 2 and possibly 3.5 cases, their
  manifestations are relatively unique
  
• Altogether, though, like nationalism in any
  country, they are ultimately reproductive
  
• In large part due to the extensive power, reach
  and grip of media -- and mainly TV

8
Japans 4.5 Nationalisms

• In a nutshell, we can see the following 4.5
  nationalisms
  
• Political
• Social
• Historical
• Cultural
• Economic
• Roughly corresponding to the 4 stages of the Cup
  qualification process Japan underwent over the
  past 2 years.

9
Japans 4.5 Nationalisms

• Which one of these is the .5, I will leave you
  guessing at for now
  
• It tends to appear at various times
• i.e. it seems less stage-bound
• Moreover, it will become clear soon enough as we
  proceed through the discussion of Japans
  qualification

10
About Japanese TVwhy this matters

• Japanese TV is found in 100 of Japanese
  dwellings
  
• It is viewed daily by 99 of the people living in
  Japan
  
• On average 3.5 hours a day
• This average places Japan third in the world in
  daily TV consumption
  
• One assessment has stated that TVs in Japan are
  turned on between 7 and 8 hours per day

11
About Japanese TVwhy this matters

• TV is the most consumed medium in the country.
  Ahead of
  
• Newspapers at 86
• Cell phones at 73
• The Internet at 27
• Aside from this is the way that TV communicates
• Recent work by Holden and Ergul (2006) indicates
  that TV employs intimacy as a form of group
  identification and a consolidator
  
• TV is a binding mechanism that creates solidarity
  along the lines of national community

12
About Japanese TVwhat binds community

• Tropes that elicit the expression of emotions
• Simulations, narrations, re-enactments,
  subtitles, distorted voices and images
  
• Formats that enable the sharing of experience
• This often reduces to group experience (on
  camera), as well as confessionals, personal
  interviews and in-depth life stories historical
  re-tellings are often also employed
• Themes that are common to collective audience
  awareness, attention, and concern
  
• Food is a major topic
• So, too, is dating
• Trivia and arcane knowledge or how-to
• But, above all, sports

13
Sports and Bindingness

• One example would be the recently-completed World
  Baseball Classic
  
• In many ways it gave vent to the 4.5 nationalisms
  I will discuss here in relation to the Soccer
  World Cup
  
• Above all, though, it created a collective
  discourse, insofar as all media outlets -- TV,
  Internet and newspapers -- focused on
  
• National team selection and preparation,
• Preparation and performance of other teams around
  the world
  
• Performance of individual national team members
• The personalization and intimizing of the team,
  by dubbing it Oh Japan -- a conglomeration of
  the managers name (Sadaharu Oh) and that of the
  nation
• the manager, it should be mentioned, is among two
  of Japans most respected players of all time --
  the worlds home run king

14
Sports and Bindingness

• Finally, collective discourse emerged out of
• Daily game broadcasts/news reports
• TV and print ads featuring the team, and themed
  Japan Pride
  
• Daily morning wake-up and morning and afternoon
  Wide (Infotainment) shows which reported on
  various aspects of the tourney
  
• From results
• To strategy
• To interviews with manager and key players
• And interviews with star players and other
  baseball personnel back home
  
• To lighter aspects of the competition

15
How Bindingness Plays Out

• TV, Football, and Japans Four and a Half
  Nationalisms

16
Political Nationalism Relations with China

• During the preliminary qualification round,
  Japan played China in China
  
• After Japan won, Chinese fans burned a Japanese
  flag at the stadium and pelted the team with
  objects aboard the team bus

17
Political Nationalism Relations with China

• This has to be placed in the context of a long
  history of animosity relating to the Japanese
  occupation of Manchuria beginning in the 1920s
  and the famous incident known as the Rape of
  Nanking
• An event some Japanese deny existed and which is
  often omitted from text books.
  
• And, in fact, when the current Prime Minister
  visited the Shrine where Japans war dead are
  interred, many Chinese stormed the Japanese
  Embassy, breaking windows and assailing staff
  with slogans and protests over loud speakers.

18
Political Nationalism

• During the final qualification round, Japan
  played North Korea amid growing national
  tensions.
  
• Among the numerous factors that led to the
  expression of nationalism (on both sides)
  included

19
Political Nationalism

• the animosity between the nations stemming from
  the Second World War
  
• Japans relationship with the United States
  (which had declared North Korea part of the Axis
  of Evil)
  
• The missile that the North had test-fired over
  Japan a year before
  
• Past infiltrations of Japan by the North
• The kidnapping over the past 3 decades of
  Japanese nationals by the North Koreans for the
  purposes of training spies who could infiltrate
  Japan
• The refusal by the North to acknowledge or,
  finally, repatriate these Japanese nationals
  without compensation
  
• Continuing 6 party talks between nations about
  North Koreas nuclear ambitions
  
• A near riot by North Korean fans in the previous
  world cup match, forcing FIFA to command the
  Japan-North Korea match to be played on a neutral
  site (in Bangkok)

20
Political Nationalism

• Japan ultimately won the match, its second of two
  against North Korea, won their group, and booked
  passage to Germany -- the first team in the field
  of 32 to do so
• This produced a round of self-congratulatory
  chest-thumping in which Japanese interviewers
  were dispatched to Germany to learn what the
  Germans though about Japans qualification.
• At the same time, reaction from news reports in
  other countries -- among them Germany, Brazil,
  and South Korea -- were included.

21
Political Nationalism

• This kind of praise-seeking as a means of
  self-validation is typical of the way that
  Japanese media has been using sports to place
  Japan in the world of nations.
• I have reported on this extensively in recent
  chapters about (1) media reports of Japans
  sportsports and (2) also about the current stage
  of what I call Japans global career.
• One aspect of this is the view of Japan in other
  countries, from other press, media and/or fans
  
• This is a kind of social mirror effect which
  relates to Japans cultural history of isolation
  and bouts of perceived inferiority in the eyes of
  the world
• It ultimately carries the result of elevating the
  sense of nation as a geo-political entity

22
Social Nationalismcollective uchi

• This first kind of nationalism relates to a
  second -- both concerning the national
  community.
  
• For those doing work on Japan, it is almost a
  given that what is termed uchi and translates
  into a rough human ecological equivalent of
  gemeinschaft
• Uchi means inside and is distinguished from
  soto or outside
  
• It is applied to everything from family, to
  school to clubs to office or business
  organizations
  
• Uchi provides a special warmth, protection, a way
  of orienting oneself emotionally as well as
  physically

23
Social Nationalism uchi and TV

• In my work I talk about the role television plays
  -- via its tropes, and themes -- toward creating
  that kind of physcial and emotional connection
  
• In fact, this transpires on a daily basis as
  talent join together in groups sharing their
  viewpoints and personalities to shows ranging
  from quiz to news commentary.
• These talent, performers and public figures
  rotate among the shows, creating a kind of
  carousel, a world of hermetic experience for the
  (often anomous) viewer

24
Social Nationalism

• Content such as food shows -- so pervasive in
  Japan -- work to reinforce a kind of cultural
  nationalism
  
• The historic notion of nihonjinron -- (we
  Japanese theorizing that asserts national
  exceptionalism)
  
• So, too, do shared events such as the Olympics,
  the Baseball World Cup and the Soccer World Cup
  
• TVs role in this -- in reporting these events on
  daily Wide (talk) shows, morning wake up shows,
  evening news, and nation-wide broadcast sports
  programs -- works to reinforce a sense of
  national community a sense of collective uchi
• Such media contributions were constant,
  repetitive, saturating
  
• Remote reports provided daily updates on Japanese
  team conditions
  
• Athletes from other sports and even fans came to
  be expert
  
• Weighing in on what deployment (formations)
  should be used, as well as which players should
  be selected

25
Social Nationalism the case of Maki

• A strong example of this social nationalism was
  the binding that attended the final selection of
  the team to go to Germany
  
• Among those not selected was a very capable
  Forward, Kubo, who had been injured for much of
  the year
  
• In his stead, a young, unproven, player, Maki,
  was selected
  
• This set off a national, media-created,
  conversation about the merits of this selection.
  
• The person in the street weighed in often on
  these decisions
  
• So, too, studio analysts and newscasters
• This also created a kind of cult around Maki and
  his family -- who all were interviewed for the
  first few days following selection, often on
  morning, family-oriented wide shows, or else at
  their place of work and home

26
Social Nationalism the case of Maki

• In the language (and theroization) introduced
  above, Maki and his family were welcomed -- via
  TV primarily -- into the national uchi
  

27
Cultural Nationalism

• Uchi is part of what is said to make Japan
  unique.
  
• And the discussion of what makes Japan unique or
  else what is uniquely Japanese moves us into
  culture
  
• In this world cup the element that was the
  biggest validation of Japans image and through
  the filter of its own identity was the adoption
  of the samurai blue theme.
• Samurai was a concept that had fallen deeply from
  favor in Japan over the years
  
• It was seen as a vestige of a conservative,
  feudal, moribund, bureaucratic, rule-driven past
  
• It clashed with freedom
• It was viewed as a simplistic stereotype

28
Cultural Nationalism

• But with the advent of Ichiro -- as one who
  really traveled to foreign quarters to ply his
  trade -- the foreign imposition of this label,
  samurai began to stick
• This, without really appreciating the true
  meaning of the word
  
• Japanese came to feel pride in this heritage --
  especially as it was recognized by outsiders as a
  sign of strength
  
• Hence, when samurai (warrior) was attached to
  blues (the national team color), no one in
  Japan seemed to blink

29
Cultural Nationalism

• In fact, it was embraced openly as a point of
  pride
  
• Hence, at J-village, the site of Japanese
  national soccer development and national
  headquarters for all things football, actual art
  works -- in a semblance of the traditional
  ukiyo-e style, were placed on display
• They depicted samurai in full battle gear,
  mounted on horses and were dedicated to Japans
  2006 soccer samurai

30
Cultural Nationalism

• The samurai theme has also been incorporated
  intentionally into the game preparation and
  mind-set of the players.
  
• Each game players are given a different version
  of their team shoe, with the name and/or famous
  sayings from key national icons throughout
  Japanese history.
• The shoe worn for tonights Brazilian game
  apparently will have an inscription from Japans
  most famous wandering samurai, Miyamoto Musashi

31
Historical Nationalism

• Of course, samurai give us a hint of
  historicism -- a suggestion of the past
  
• But it isnt in this sense that we mean
  historical nationalism
  
• Instead, this title is intended for those moments
  of nostalgic recitation of the moments in Japans
  football past which, in various ways, add up to
  the current football present.
• This nostalgia is engaged in repeatedly by media
  during the course of football reportage/coverage

32
Historical Nationalism

• There is a well-rehearsed litany, in this regard
• This is mainly due to the fact that there is so
  little to Japans football past
  
• There was, of course, a gold medal at the Mexico
  Olympics in 1968
  
• But, in the main, historical nationalism reduces
  to a few key events
  
• A header in the last seconds of lost time which
  denied Japan a place in the 1994 World Cup
  
• A squad led by a late Japanese replacement
  manager in France 1998
  
• A well struck free kick that clanged off the top
  post against Turkey in Miyagi Stadium, in 2002
  
• A misplayed defensive assignment in the same game
  that led to a tally off a corner, deciding the
  quarter-final one-nil

33
Historical Nationalism

• These scenes recur constantly in media reports
• Along with the words
• Doha (where the last second header sealed
  Japans failed 1994 bid)
  
• Okada Japan (the name of that squad that lost
  three straight in France 1998)
  
• Trossier Japan(the name given to the squad led
  by a French manager in 2002)
  
• Miyagi Stadium (the site of Japans final loss
  in the 2002 World Cup it hosted)
  
• Zico Japan (the name given to the squad
  currently competing in the 2006 World Cup, led by
  Brazilian soccer legend, Zico)

34
Economic Nationalism

• As the World Cup has moved into its highest (and
  latest) gear, so, too, have the elements of
  marketing.
  
• The term Samurai Blue was appropriated by Kirin
  Beer, and attached to one of its brews.
  
• Team jerseys have been sold under this banner and
  the marketing of goods has been brisk, inspired
  by this notion of samurai and engaging in
  national solidarity.
• This form of activity -- though present in
  earlier Cup stages -- is strongest and persists
  today, through the actual staging of the cup

35
Conclusions

• Well, I promised four and a half nationalisms,
  without specifying the half
  
• Could you guess which one it was?
• Although the economic seems rather
  under-developed (in my talk), in fact that is not
  the one (half).

36
Conclusions

• The economic correlates rather well with the
  final stages of Japans world cup involvement --
  its actual participation in Germany
  
• The cashing in on Japans global sport success
• For a nation that has long felt a neglected
  weaker sibling (e.g. the U.N. Security Council
  permanent seat flap), this participation in the
  Cup is (psychological) validation
• Validation means that consumers want to purchase
  a piece of that (through goods)

37
Conclusions

• The economic correlates rather well with the
  final stages of Japans world cup involvement --
  its actual participation in Germany

38
Conclusions

• The political, as mentioned, came out
  particularly strong in qualification
  
• Although the constant use of the name Zico
  Japan in every (daily) news report or paper
  headline does have a cumulative
  political/national resonance.

39
Conclusions

• The social matches the member selection stage.
• With everyone in the public (it seemed) weighing
  in with an opinion as to who should be on the team

40
Conclusions

• And, although there were social dimensions to the
  team preparation stage -- with thousands of
  visitors who came to view practices and extensive
  media reports about each days activities -- it
  was an extremely cultural process that took
  place
• The media and public came to view the team as
  heading out into battle for the nation, under the
  samurai banner
  
• the medias frame was to report it as such
• the publics job was to cheer them on as warriors
  departing for battle
  
• And, in fact, many banners were penned by fans
  and posted at J-Village, to that effect

41
Conclusions

• Throughout it is history -- past, present and
  future -- that is woven seamlessly through this
  nationalist discourse
  
• Contributing to it, helping forge it

42
Conclusions

• And throughout the media played a central role in
  this all
  
• Keeping each nationalist dialogue going,
• But also bringing them together into a
  comprehensive discourse
  
• Crafting a frame and keeping the story of World
  Cup participation moving through these 4 and a
  half filters of nationalism
  
• When the (fallen) warriors return home from
  battle, it will be interesting to see which
  variant of nationalism becomes most salient