As a Japanese living in the states for 17 years, not only i recognized this as a mirror of current Japanese social/political situation (how it run by old men with power which values their seniority rather than their skill of problem solving), but also the shift and awareness of individualism in the country.
The guidance of coaches are everything if you are doing sports especially in a high school and college. The coaches are the ones who can grow or destroy players. What breaks my heart is the fact that he had no room to voice his opinion knowing he would regrets and had to do this press conference by himself while his coaches can't admit what they did. he is 20 years old. What are the adults doing? It's amazing how poorly nihon daigaku is handling this matter making wrong decision after another. Whatever they are protecting whether its college brand or their moral value, it's ridiculous. Reminder to believe in yourself not in what the shady adults say. They will not protect you and you only have yourself.
1
So, maybe the US is not so exceptional after all...
The starting fullback on my high school team, a pretty good friend of mine, was ordered by our head coach to put me down hard during practice one day, many years ago.
I was standing in as a member of the opposing kickoff team as the coach was attempting to implement some new kick return scheme he'd thought up and I guess he felt like I was getting in the way more than I should have been. I'll never forget it. We had run it a bunch of times, all the action was over, the whistles had blown, I was just standing there, getting ready for the next iteration, and then WHAM!! Out of nowhere I was hit full speed from behind by the fullback.
Though it was the first time I ever felt that twinge in my back that has now become chronic pain (albeit with a whole lot more cumulative damage since from having worked blue collar jobs in agriculture and construction much of my life), I don't remember the physical pain as much as I do the burning sense of betrayal and humiliation I felt after my friend told me our coach had told him to do it.
I still remember showering a few minutes later, using the spray to hide my burning tears of rage as I contemplated quitting the team. As it was I decided to stick it out but when that coach was dying of cancer a few years ago and some of my teammates tried to put together some kind of tribute to him I did not participate. That day will be the way I remember him until the day I die.
2
These critiques of Japanese cultural regarding obedience from the Americans responding to this article is like the pot calling out the kettle. Americans have become so obedient regarding violence and disrespect for others and government, there is no comparison to Japan. The success of American Media, Oligarchs and corrupt business and government leadership in the violent oppression of communities of color, the poor, and immigrants is more immoral, brutal and another modern nation that is not ruled by a dictator.
How many decades did football owners and coaches hide the facts they knew about critical brain injuries? How many American viewers and the media denied that the injuries are the fault of sport owners feeling the sport was not violent enough.
Remember the verbal assault against Kaepernick for taking a knee against police violence? The resulting brutal response from owners, players, media and Americans was beyond disgusting and Global embarrassment. There were threats of physical violence targeting Kaepernick from the same groups.
Target Japan? Target our nation as beyond brutal, irresponsible and without accountability. We are the fallen leader of the globe, because we are s nation in love with tyrants and bullies. We are the Global bully on the world stage that is only comparable to Russia. And we don’t seem to care.
4
A late hit like that in college play would have resulted in an immediate ejection, and, had it happened in the NFL, a whopping fine and multi-game suspension.
1
My family members experienced first hand the grovelling obsequience to authority, the rage and the cruelty of the Japanese Imperial Forces. Few Americans today seem to be aware of the unbelievable war crimes carried out by the Japanese, war crimes so repulsive and cruel they cannot be described in detail even today. At the time, even the most hardened killers and thugs in the Gestapo were shocked.
Colenso, World War II and the brutality of football in this article have only one common element -- they both hang on Japan. Beyond that, they are unrelated and trying to connect them is way off base. One is today's sports issue, the other a 70+ year old world war horror. The entire world is a different place to live.
That said, I'm very sad that your family was victim to the war horrors. It's a heavy burden to carry.
1
What we did to the Native Americans-- I won't even mention slavery-- while we were stealing their land can easily be compared to the worst that has ever been done by one people to another. And it went on for centuries.
But even in those centuries few of the new immigrants from Europe or elsewhere actually participated in the actual bloodletting. The land was "settled" and virtually free for the taking for the reason that those who had previously lived on it had been killed or driven elsewhere. Nobody thought twice then or thinks now about the individual horrors adding up to the millions necessary. And few Japanese actually participated in the horrific crimes committed across East Asia during those decades beginning almost 100 years ago.
By the way, I had very close relatives who served in the Pacific and they hated the Japanese (though they spit out an abbreviated version of that word to describe them) until they died too. And I won't lie-- the first thing I thought of when I read this article was Pearl Harbor.
Sadly, the human instinct to blame the entire group for the crimes of individuals, while exonerating ourselves from such blanket guilt for the crimes committed by members of our own group will no doubt be the extinction of us all before long.
Not only are few of us able to do unto others as we would have others do unto us, but speaking for both myself and from my reading of history, rarely will we ever forgive THOSE (single or plural) who trespass against US.
1
The real point that should be observed and should be concerning is that, effectively, this says that 73 years after the end of WWII, the Japanese or an alarming number of them, remain a people who would follow orders even to commit Hari Kiri, throw themselves over cliffs to avoid surrender, rush forward in Bonzai charges or brutalize war prisoners and commit war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Tell me the difference between a young man who would have done any of those things, of the young Japanese men who did all those things and this young man who may have crippled another man for life because his coaches ordered him to and then shamed him when he showed the slightest remorse.
The lesson? It may be best for the Japanese and the world for Japan not expand from a defensive military force to one capable of taking the offense as Prime Minister Abe would like to accomplish.
No Japanese Flyers were “ordered“ to commit hari Kari .
1
I disagree. This is not a cultural or misplaced belief of an inherent violence issue. It's a football issue, and it happens in America, too.
1
It’s not the football. It is the blind obedience to authority, s code of moral conduct that demands total social conformity. It is Bushido on a playing field. It is the medical experimental camp in Manchuria where some selected for monstrous, criminal experiments were Americans, it’s tens of thousands of Okinowan civilians hurling themselves and their children off cliffs to be smashed to death on the rock shore below because they’d been told the Americans would kill them and eat their children and because they were told the empower expected it of them and that they owed it to him. That’s what we fought and defeated. And it is exactly, exactly what happened on that playing field and why. So Patricia, read some history of Japan, of the war, of the arch conservative society that Japan is and remains, cloaked, costumed and masked though it may be in seeming democracy.
A totally illegal behind the back hit for no reason. The coaches and the player are criminals and should be banned from the game for life and charged with criminal assault. Maybe that will induce some morals in this type of thug.
3
All these comments on the Japanese...remember the Milgram experiment at Yale in the early 60?
1
I am not surprised that this happened. It was not, if it would happen, but when it would happen.
Tackle football by design is a violent sport wherein bone-crunching hits are admired and praised.
1
What a hilariously classic New York Times article. The article wants to talk about abuse of authoritarian power and social hierarchy in the pro football section. But if comments are any indication, readers are interested in every aspect of the story besides that.
The reply shows that this was a filthy tackle. Had it happened in the U.S., on any level, it would have resulted in a penalty, an ejection and a suspension.
2
Man in power hides behind a lie allowing underling to take the blame. Consider the underlying fable with respect to two unrelated stories in our recent past: "Bridgegate" and Wells Fargo opening up unauthorized accounts. We have learned that we can hide behind lies as long as we have more political power, more wealth or simply smarter lawyers to defer or altogether avoid the consequences of our illegal or immoral actions. This football story is not just about a person in power telling others to do something illegal or immoral. It is a cautionary tale about our society where people believe they don't have to follow the rules of common human decency because they can get away with it. Our news is full of breaking stories of lies and deceits by big corporations and politicians who are hurting others by their special interest driven behaviors but are not being held accountable because they are protected by their lawyers. Have you ever been taken advantage of by someone with deeper pockets? Have you ever been lied to and since you couldn't prove it the other party got away with their hurtful behavior? Once upon a time we were taught to believe in the goodness of human nature. This story says to me that we humans are expressing a greater need to attack those who are "different" from us rather than following a need to be connected to each other by our underlying humanity. When did "winning" become more valuable than being part of an interconnected community of diverse humans?
3
What's unusual about this late hit is how late (and obvious) it was. Here in the US, late hits are much more finely timed, and accepted by the referees.
3
A wonderful story from the Land of the Rising Sun.
It brings to mind the story NYT carried a few months ago. This was about a train company apologizing profusely for one of their trains leaving a station 20 seconds too early.
Indeed, it's a different society and has it's own norms.
The video posted with the story shows an unnecessary roughness. But It's also apparent that it was intentional.
The story does not report if a flag was thrown and yardage awarded - but may be in this case, too trivial to worry about.
As an aside, in today's America - there would be calls for a special prosecutor to investigate this incident and turn a sporting event into a criminal matter.
Hopefully, the Land of the Rising Sun does not go there.
Foul plays in team sports happen in any countries. As Ken Belson points out, the thing that makes this incident in Japan very unique is the Japanese media’s intensive coverage of the story. TV broadcasters devote extraordinary amount of time on this news in news shows with panels of TV talents “discussing” the matter on and on like forever.
As a Japanese, I wish Japan’s mainstream media dedicate their resources much more seriously on digging and investigating into issues that Japan faces. Where is the Japanese government standing in the North Korea talks? Does the government have a plan to deal with Trump who doesn’t care Chinese expansion so much in favor of American retreat from global stage. Japan’s prime minister is deeply mired in scandals of cover-up and falsification of government documents inconvenient to Mr. Abe. News media should much more vigorously investigate those by themselves. Unfortunately the media hype on the college football scandal appears to be a welcome distraction for Mr. Abe.
But like the 20-year old linebacker unable to stand up to the coach, Mr. Abe is unable to stand up to Trump. Yes, this culture needs to be changed, too, most definitely.
6
I currently live and work in Japan and have coached high school football here for 12 years. The power dynamic between a superior and a subordinate in Japan is one way. It's the Sempi (superior) over the kohi (subordinate) relationship where orders are unquestioned and roll downhill and it manifests in all aspects of Japanese society. Everybody follows orders here. Naturally it affects the way the game of football is played as "reads" done by certain football positions (quarterbacks, defensive backs, receivers) are virtually non-existent. Here you run the play just as it was called. No freelancing. The young man who injured the opposing team's quarterback didn't have a choice. No matter how ridiculous it seems to be that's the way it is here. It doesn't promote independent thought when educational institutions are morphed into conglomerates where coaches can preside over a college football program and a subordinate high school program. This is the case with Nihon Daigaku (University) as well as many other college and high school programs. Apparrently the kid was a college sophomore but had played for Nihon Daigaku's high school team as well so he'd been in the same system for a few years. Institutional oversight is not a priority here. In Japan everything is run by old men who have way too much power. It's always been this way here and won't change in our lifetime.
14
It's "Senpai" 先輩 and "Kohai" 後輩, not "Senpi" and "Kohi" as you wrote.
Also your characterization of the working relationship is way off base. It is a mutually-advantageous nurturing relationship, with the "Senpai" looking out for interests of the "Kohai" and the latter usually going along with the program.
In our culture it is somewhat similar to the "Probie" "Boss" relationship that id portrayed on NCIS.
Unfathomable obedience! SHAME
“I wasn’t strong enough to say no. Though I was ordered by the coaches, I could have refused but went ahead anyway and acted. It was weakness on my part.”
What Miyagawa says here should resonate with all the soldiers who fight in wars. Should you kill because your country tells you so?
Under Abe, government officials and LDP members no longer adhere to their own moral compass, but lie and deceive to push forward Abe's hawkish agenda - including to ultimately amend the Pacifist Constitution to fight wars again.
Under Trump, his supporters and GOP members no longer adhere to their own moral compass, but lie and deceive to push forward moral corruption.
We should all hear the confession of this 20yr old college athlete. It should resonate with so many people in the world today.
8
This was a criminal act - it was a blindside, full-speed tackle well after the ball was released, and obviously intended to injure. And a coach ordering it is also a criminal act. While I originaly thought this was something that doesn't happen in the U.S., on further reflection I think it does. How many baseball pitchers will follow a manager's orders and deliberately throw a 90+ mph fastball at an opponent's head? There are times when that happens and it is so clearly deliberate (Roger Clemens to Mike Piazza) that criminal charges should be filed. Unfortunately, it's not that rare that football or hockey players will target star opponents with hard hits designed to injure, usually on coaches orders. There is a certain aspect of these actions that are part of the game, but when the actions go so far beyond the line they are just not acceptable. This hit was a particularly egregious example of a problem that is not exclusive to the Japanese.
5
I grew up here in the US playing pop warner and HS football. From the age of 8 we were trained to "hit" our opponents, "spear" them with our helmets, "put the hurt on them."
"Play like a man, not a girl!" We did it to each other in practice during the week, so we could do it them on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Getting your bell rung so hard that you were dazed and confused was slap on the back proof from the coach that you were "being a man." The more paint marks on your helmet from an opposing team's helmets that you had, the better. We joked about Drain Bamage.
On field ultra violence was not only the order of the day if you "wanted to be a man," but was encouraged to be full time occupation to "prove you had school spirit." Wearing our team jerseys, drinking beer in the back of someone's pick up truck, we careened around town looking for other pick up trucks full of guys from other teams--and the rumble was on!
When the coaches heard about it on Monday morning their faces were filled with grins and glee. Their "boys" were growing up to be men just like them....
10
This is a striking example--no pun intended--but Japan certainly isn't alone in this 'I'm not to blame!' mentality. This absence of personal responsibility and self-volition is alive and well in the West as well. It is easy to take umbrage with the video as it is clear and unambiguous, but many of the most popular news items even in the NY Times are equally problematic. The particular feminist strain of blaming men for all the problems in society, for women's lack of equality, strains of the #metoo movement, are just as culpable. It is like 19th Century hysteria mutated for the newer social media.
3
Not sure what the surprise is....violence and football? coaches/seniors/those in power demanding underlings do nasty things?
Didn't the Nihon Univ player and coach just take a page out of the New Orleans Saints' playbook?
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/03/sports/football/nfl-says-saints-had-b...
3
In Japan, a player apologizes, appears genuinely contrite, and serves as a model of how to own up to errors and misdeeds...
In the USA?
A player would deny first anything happened, then seek to evade any and all responsibility, then blame the opponent and the media, and then issue an utterly fake prepared statement. While the coaches would disclaim any responsibility, and college would express they're "shocked, simply shocked" at such actions, issue a canned "apology" written by a "reputation mending" PR firm, and then announce a committee to study the whole issue. Ending in a complete whitewash, of course...
Which is the better, more estimable, way to behave?
32
That linebacker is a fool. No coach ever told a player to do anything that flagrant. Maybe he told him to take out the qb but there are a dozen plays a game where you could do so without attracting that much attention. Even dirty play requires some subtlety.
3
I think its pretty explicit when the kid, a member of the national team, is relegated to the doghouse because he took time off to tend to family matters and told that the only way he's going to play again is if he's willing to take out the QB. Also, other footage of the game shows the coaching staff congratulating the LB when he returned to the bench after three straight personal fouls.
8
I think you might be missing the point by a few hundred miles.
7
Fair enough.
My point was, the mission his coaches gave him were to hurt people and to do it immediately. That’s the impression I got watching his press conference.
Why else would a star player who represents his country, albeit in a minor sport in the country, do this? I mean, the kid got flagged for unnecessary roughness on the backup QB two plays later and was tossed four plays later after going after an offensive lineman.
My son played semi pro baseball in Japan. From start to finish his experience was a longer, less violent version of this. I'm not surprised. Go be a tourist and have some fun. Anything else? Watch your back.
3
“Be a tourist and the come back.”
“Watch your back.”
...for what? A sport?
Riiiiight. I agree. Go back to America, where kids blast you with an AR in the front OR back.
1
If Ken Belson wants to make a statement on Japanese culture, this is a wrong example to do it. Dangerous and illegal acts in sports could happen anywhere in the world. It could have been ice hockey games in US or in Canada, and the players and coaches would be dealt with swiftly. New York Times reported on a permanently injured college hockey player just recently. Look elsewhere for deeper understanding of Japanese culture.
9
In Japan, the coach is being excoriated for spinelessly throwing his player under the bus, quickly stepping down and refusing to acknowledge any responsibility, and Nittaidai, the college that employs him, is being given the same--much deserved--treatment. Nittaidai, the powerhouse of sports schools in Japan, has a long and sordid--if not always public--reputation for allowing sometimes vicious harassment to fester among its various athletic divisions, and for letting coaches and senior athletes get away with it. Regardless of the egregiousness of the tackle itself, this is not simply a story about the violent nature of American football, but a condemnation of the "obey at all costs" aspect of Japanese society that one finds in many other sectors aside from sports.
10
A small correction. This isn't Nittaidai; it's Nichidai. Both names are rather confusing to even us natives, but they are totally different institutions and aren't even related, although their names sound similar.
5
My mistake--I should have written Nichidai! (I know better...)
They're are too small for this sport. It's much too violent for them.
Wow, that's a patronizing comment. Are small boys "too small" for Pop Warner and peewee leagues? Not to mention that evidence shows that football is too violent for anybody.
8
The writer says this hit would have been no biggie except in Japan. Wrong! This was an egregious intentional late hit and would have been a big deal anywhere.
12
Not so. See Aaron Rogers.
No it wouldn't --- not in the US anyway.
A suspension &/or fine, maybe a temporary stain on the player's reputation for as long as people remembered it (a few weeks at most).
And lest we think giving beloved athletes a pass for criminal behavior is a particularly American phenomenon: in "the other football," Luis "the Cannibal" Suarez is still a big star in Europe, and Zinedine Zidane, having "retired," is a top coach.
2
I agree Andrew.
I had to watch the video twice to make sure. This such a blatant late hit I am very surprised the player making the tackle was not kicked-out of the game immediately. I am not familiar with Japanese football, but the referee had a clear view of the whole play and only assessed a personal foul. Unbelievable in my experience of over 30 years playing and coaching football here in America at both the high school and college level.
Makes me curious about the 'culture' of Japans football and it's officiating. If a kid does this and knows he will stay in the game I think another thing the Japanese should really look at is teaching these kids proper football and that the rules are truly enforced.
1
First, I didn't know they played football in Japan. Next, this was a dirty play. A dirty play pure and simple.
7
The coach, Uchida, is a coward of the highest order. My best bosses were people who stood by me and took responsibility for my failings, no matter what. They never threw me under the bus. In this case, it appears that Uchida is happy to throw his player under the bus and continue living his life.
Shame on him.
17
Uchida has no honor, has lost it.
A samurai would know what to do.
2
All of “football” is excessively violent— HS, college, pro, Japan,US. We (humans) need towards banning it now, along with gladiator games and lynchings! We can evolve, if we choose...
5
One thing this article doesn't mention is the player "said the nature of his relationship with Uchida left him unable to state his opinion."
I've lived here for 13 years and this young man just laid bare the bedrock principle of how Japan functions. If you're of inferior rank you shut up and listen. It doesn't matter if your ideas are better or you have more expert knowledge, it doesn't matter if your superior is flat out wrong or frankly ignorant. This is why there have been so many corpoarte scandals here in recent years--workers fudge the data to meet unrealistic targets set by their bosses. This is also why Japan seems utterly incapable of change, why, for example, the economy functions largely the same way it did in 1989 when the bubble burst.
The populace is trained from pre-school up to follow orders and not make waves. Respect for your elders, upperclassmen, senior employees in your company, or your parents, sounds charming but if they're abusing that power, if they're incapable of change that's desperately needed.
I listened to my 40 something wife have a conversation on the phone with her father this morning. She said yes about 20 times--from his perspective that is all that's expected of her--confirmation of edicts, unquestioning acquiesence. Having her own voice, contradicting him, please. Japan is the land of one-sided conversations like this. After a while, expected only to regurgitate phrases and ideas from above, you cease to even come up with your ideas.
41
Insightful. I’ll only add that it is also this culture that tends to police and regulate itself through previous managers and higher-ups of its own milieu- in hindsight, not good if you have nuclear reactors.
2
After all, we're not that many decades removed from the time when, if a Samurai wanted to test the sharpness of his sword, he could order a peasant to kneel and bend over.
1
Saying yes 20 times doesn't mean 'yes' as in she is agreeing, it just means she is affirming that she is listening, which is standard in that culture. There is also the practice of "Honne" and "Tatamae", the in group behavior versus the out group behavior. Thats an ancient culture which can be incredibly hard to read.
4
Belson missed an important point that came out on NHK and elsewhere. Coach Uchida is also in charge of personnel at Nihon University and this power inhibited other faculty members from speaking. Belson also softpedals Uchida's threats and ability to bench the player.
5
Another thing that Belson or his translating team missed was that the player was a "highly regarded defensive player". In segments from his apology news conference that aired on TV Japan Tuesday morning in the US (NHK Gendai Evening of May 22nd Japan time) the player clearly stated that he was a 2nd string player, never played much, and was told by Coach Uchida that if he ever wanted a chance to play he would take out the quarterback."
1
Miyagawa is a key defensive player for Nihon University. When they won the Koshien Bow last season, analogous to College Football Playoff National Championship in USA, many considered him the MVP of the game. He was also selected to represent Japan in 2018 World University American Football Championship to be held in China.
Japan is deeply concerned with following rules and the consequences of straying, even for a moment, from what is commonly expected, in all walks of society. The late hit is reckless and dangerous. It comes so late that the quarterback has let his body completely relax after a completed pass, a time when he is most vulnerable. Not only is this wrong in all of sports, it's particularly egregious in Japanese culture. Japan is in the midst of an ever growing debate about old Japan of the future of this great nation. Here we have a very public event testing long held values along with a very clear metaphor for accepting outside ways and thinking, particularly that of the west.
1
I lived in Japan for a few years. I'm not impressed with blaming your mistakes on westerners. American football is not my idea of a decent sport, but the infiltration and pollution of foreign ideas (and people) is just the type of mentality that took you to the Nanjing Massacre and beyond.
1
I wish the Times spent a sixteenth of the time and resources devoted to covering, say, a football story in Japan on actually reporting a Mets game. I know it's expensive to send a reporter all the way to Queens, but it boggles my mind to see AP reports running in the sports section on a hometown baseball team day after day. Can we save the war on football for actual football season?
5
I'd be far more interested in the way Japan views violence and atonement rather than watching a team that year after year completely destroys itself.
How was that Mets start?
1
Also,
"Traditional beat writing is on its way out, and the Times recognized that early and got ahead of the curve. It shares a mentality with its competitor, the Wall Street Journal, whose writers focus on the wacky, personal, and trending areas of sport. ESPN appears to be moving away from traditional beat writing and into features, profiles, and trend pieces as well.
"It should be noted that the Times does pull copy from the Associated Press for notable games and events its staff can’t cover, and that the Times’ website hosts native box scores for the four major men’s leagues, the WNBA, NCAA basketball tennis, golf, soccer, and motor sports. The information is there if the Times’ readership wants it."
https://deadspin.com/new-york-times-public-editor-whats-with-all-these-i...
1
This has all been discussed and explained.
"Routine game coverage is not a priority — profiles, trend pieces and deep investigations into subjects like concussions and doping are. We’re always looking for what people wouldn’t get elsewhere, for what’s not being done."
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/08/public-editor/covering-sports-includi...
And:
"Roughly 15 percent of readership is outside the United States, a number meant to grow. Of the domestic audience, only 20 percent is in the tristate area. Thus, it’s not surprising that only four reporters are assigned to cover local teams full time."
What do you think you'll learn from a Times reporter covering a Mets game in May that you wouldn't get from an ESPN game cast or from the other half dozen reporters crowding around a locker?
Maybe what you need is one of those cranky, crotchety sports columnists who complains about everything, a gloom and doom naysayer.
You'll have to find that elsewhere.
Have a nice day.
9
Of all the things to export to Japan, why the epitome of American violence disguised as sport?
13
The play was over. The hit on the quarterback was an egregious assault, pure and simple. The linebacker should be removed from the team and subject to assault charges in the courts. If the coach encouraged it or pressured the linebacker to harm the quarterback, the coach should be dismissed from the team, barred from coaching and subject to assault charges in the courts.
This kind of dangerous nonsense has no place in sports. Just stop it.
8
Just an off comment, but I find it funny how Sumo was mentioned along Soccer and Baseball as being the most popular sports in Japan. I get the impression, at least among the younger generations, that hardly anyone ever watches Sumo, or participates in it.
2
It's popular among people who are middle-aged and older, which is a significant portion of the population. Sumo wrestlers are celebrities in their own right. And women of a certain age adore them.
5
Not true at all that Sumo is not popular in Japan. I have lived here since 1979 and all one has to do to confirm the popularity is to watch the age range of the spectators from age 10 to 90 in the stalls. However I digress as this article is about the power that seniors over juniors in Japan. This is actually not a bad thing in itself this senior/junior mentoring system as it’s meant to bring up and develop the young to eventually take over the senior’s role one day. One I feel cannot understand this in black/white, particularly westerners especially Americans as this really exist in our culture anymore but one must experience this first hand in the schools, at the workplace, in class reunions and at even funerals. I feel the article while accurately written, is missing the mentoring aspect of this part of the culture as it’s not intended to be draconian. Indeed it’s open to abuse and more worse has happened than that to the quarterback. Let’s not forget what led to the suicide of Miss. Takahashi Matsuri of Dentsu Corporation a two years ago.
3
Last year I was in Japan and I couldn't find tickets to attend to even a B class game.
Stop it.
1
It just proves what I learned playing sports as a child and adolescent: Most coaches of most team contact sports all other the world are just a bunch of pigs. And my apologies to pig, for whom I have more respect than I have for most coaches.
18
seems like now we need to ban football too?
1
This "game", American football is not worthy of an honest, polite, and intelligent society that is Japan. I lived there for 8 years and they do things like return golf balls and even tees that they have found on the course by placing them in a basket after the 18th hole, return wallets they may find, open doors for you, never boo their opponents, and so on.....Football is an American concept, violence punctuated by endless committee meetings, in the words of George Will.
17
In my four years there I found the courtesy to be superficial at best. Outside of Tokyo, people can barely tolerate you if you're from a different race.
"The Football Hit Felt All Over Japan"
Thought this was an article about footballs hitting Japanese playing surfaces constructed with felt.
8
In the U.S. talented football players are picked out by coaches from about age 13 on...They are given passes from disciplinary actions that would affect others; they are given extra help to pass classes; they are seen by the adults in their life as "stars".
Take Aaron Hernandez as an example. He grew up in a stable, two parent home. He was a star from early on, when his athletic talents were seen. Hernandez' father died when he was 16....
Hernandez entered the University of Florida at age 17, and was an elite football player. He was busted for pot and failed six drug tests. He continually was in trouble and was suspended from the football team.
After college he entered the NFL. He was drafted, and given a contract extension that would pay $40. million dollars through 2018.
By 2013 he was an elite player in the NFL. That year he shot a man in a club in the face (the man lost an eye and partial use of an arm). Then the body of an old friend of Hernandez was found shot dead.
Hernandez was tried and sent to prison for life. In prison he killed himself. THEN an autopsy was done on his brain which had the most severe CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) ever seen in a person his age. The adults around Hernandez excused his criminal activities as due to the death of his father when he was 16. It seems now that CTE very likely caused the aberrant actions.
Read about CTE. FOOTBALL AS IT NOW PLAYED MUST END.
26
Please borrow the best of our culture, Japan. Not this.
11
Football, like boxing should be banned.
15
Oppression and suppression by authority and obedience and submission by the hoi polloi are nothing new. But how often is a flip of the script conceivable and acceptable?
By contrast to Japan's shocked reaction, Donald Trump has decried efforts by officials to prevent injuries in the NFL.
8
Gee: football is just as stupid a thing in Japan as it is here. Who knew?
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Maybe America should stop trying to export it's childishly violent sports all over the globe. Keep your excuse of a culture on your own shores.
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This miserable "sport" can't go away soon enough if you ask me.
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So last evening on a single TV station I counted 3 'ads' that were high-production apologies from : Wells Fargo, Facebook and now, Uber.
They sounded nice ... and passive... as though their own corporate policies weren't the cause. I thought of the Japanese corporate execs who, in the 80's, actually committed suicide for corporate crimes. Personally, I am glad that practice seppuku has stopped but the lesson here is what an apology is really about. Not just being sorry you got caught but being sorry for the deed YOU did and the lack or lapse of character that doing it displayed.
In this country 'sorry' is meaningless and just more fluff that takes up air space. It's as though as long as someone utters the word we are all supposed to forgive immediately and forget just as quickly. It's even in a candy bar commercial.... "sorry I messed up your tatoo..." in a tone that both demands and suggests that 'sorry' is certainly enough. After all, I said I was sorry, but you need to understand, I was eating a Milky Way so it's not really my fault. In most cases (not all), nobody resigns, nobody gets fired, and nobody believes that bad acts are really the choice of the actor.
Glad to know that the meaning of 'free will' has not been lost on everyone.
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Apologies are mostly social rituals to keep a skirmish from expanding into a battle, to demonstrate that the offender can be bowed by society if needed. There is rarely any moral depth to the apology, just the desire to get off the hook, leave the trouble behind, and go on doing what what you want. The everyday reality of this is that we enable an endless series of offenses and apologies, something the active and passive aggressors of this world thrive on.
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I guess I don't understand the rules of the game, but how was the player ever allowed to return to the field after an off-the-ball tackle like that? In soccer that would have been a straight red card with at least a 3 match ban. I know football is more of a contact sport, but surely there are rules against blatantly off-the-ball tackles, especially from behind?
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In a civilized country, the toll of football on the bodies (and morals) of young men leads to a deep national conversation about the soul of the nation. In our country, noting the toll of football on the young men who play leads to threats of legal action, defamation of the doubters, and lies/denials from the league. I cant stand the football culture here, and sorely wish the NFL would get the comeuppance it so richly deserves.
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AJ--you could've added a system of stoo dent ath a leets many of whom wouldn't be anywhere near a university if their marks were the criteria.
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I'm from Mexico City, Mexico. In this country and in this city in particular, football is a very popular sport, specially among young people and particularly among high school students.
My younger brother's best friend was killed in an incident similar to the one reported here. He too was a QB who, after attempting a play downfield, was hit in the head by a LB he didn't see. The boy's father was present and had to carry his unconscious son to the hospital.
Roughly a year has passed since my brother's friend died, with no investigation into the issue. Currently it is unknown to me if the player that hit him is still playing football, but reading this article has stirred once again the grief and pain that the death of a young boy my family considered another of its sons filled me with.
As a football fan myself, a son, brother and friend to football players and as a human being, I only wish Max could get the justice he deserves.
But make no mistake, I'm not out for blood, calling for that player to be put on the stand; all I wish for is that the community no longer turn a blind eye on coaches ruthless enough to use young boys and girls as tools to achieve victory at any cost and for that player to be brave enough to explain what happened.
For the sake of everyone involved, for respect to the spirit of fair play and for love of the game, we all should follow that young man's example and own up to our actions.
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i lived in japan off and on for 19 years.
the aftermath of this is very Japanese.
same planet, different world.
if this had been an American story, the concern and possible punishment probably would've depended on the talent of the players on these powerhouses.
another concern might've been the TV ratings for the next game if the player had been suspended.
or a team missing a bowl game and the exposure and money coming from that experience.
and I doubt an apology would've been given freely without a lot of vetting by lawyers and PR people.
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I've never been to Japan, but must agree with you about the U.S.
Here, football players from about the eighth grade on are treated as "special" and don't deal with rules, laws or consequences of any bad behavior.
The financial rewards of playing professional football on an elite level, in the NFL, outweighs ANY other offense. Almost everyone around these kids and young men enables their behavior and allows them to break every rule.
FINANCIAL considerations, the huge payday of anyone drafted into the NFL is big enough to allow the adults in these kids/ young men's lives, to overlook anything else.
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On the contrary -- NCAA compliance has never been higher. Plenty of teams "lose" players in summer .. after FERPA-covered disciplinary hearings.
And the football-haters keep forgetting -- these are college students. They drink beer, fight, and are loud. Not kidding.
Facts -- they help. A lot. Really.
I used to be a sports reporter in a previous life.
I used to cover professional football. also played in high school. also played baseball, fastball and hockey.
I don't need a lecture on being a football hater.
how many students in the major revenue sports do you think are qualified academically?
you haven't read research that players in those sports are routinely way above students who don't play those sports in arrests on and off campus?
I read a piece in SI many years ago that a major American university used to have their security people take around photos of the football team. it'd be the first thing they showed anybody who'd launched a complaint about being physically abused.
it was something like 25% of the arrests were from football players.
the big university revenue sports are corrupt.
2
Can you imagine what our violent world would be like if everyone accepted full responsibility for his/her actions as the linebacker did?
He humbly apologized, and though he outed the coaches for having ordered him to commit the vile act, he did not use that as an excuse. He noted that he had the free will to have declined if he had so chosen.
I believe in these days of incessant finger-pointing and shirking personal responsibility, we could all use a dose of this type of truthful self-examination.
Asking ourselves how we might have colluded in the chaos is not a sign of weakness. And it's the first step in restoring peace and balance to the world.
Think of using this method in any of the seemingly unsolvable issues we face, from the Israeli/Palestinian conflict to the exceptionalism the United States claims, which prevents it from ever seeing with clarity another country's point of view and its own contribution to world violence.
This is an excellent model for conflict resolution, but during these dismal times when even the president avoids taking any responsibility for anything, it seems like a far-off dream.
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To be clear, after actually watching the video and reading the story -- it was a (very) late hit. Really bad stuff.
No longer allowed in USA.
(bowing to accept thanks from others who watched video & read story)
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This is distinctly Japanese, a "shame culture" in which public apology is a demand of their collective society. There is a plus side, as you state, but also a grave downside of honor as we see with "honor killings" in the Middle East. Americans are individualistic, of course, and we would not be who we are unless we were. In actuality, the footballer's apology is ritualized, likely about as honestly felt or genuine as any of Trump's proclamations.
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No, the linebacker said he no longer has the right to play and has no intention of doing so. Trump doesn't do apologies, fake or sincere.
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