www.debito.org
THE 2002 FOOTBALL WORLD CUP IN JAPAN
(PARTICULARLY SAPPORO)
Some thoughts and investigations by a resident of Sapporo, site of the contentious
Argentina-England match.
(Index Page)
July 29, 2002
I will state my perspective at the start, so that readers can decide immediately
whether they want to read on:
I believe that co-hosting a World Cup was premature for
Japan. South Korea, with its deeper experience of both the game of soccer and of
crowd control, was far better suited as a society for the festive atmosphere that
comes with the world's most popular sport. Japan, in contrast, allowed its police
and domestic media to overstate the prospects of hooliganism and poured cold water
on the carnival (outdoor screens for the public to watch the game were banned in
Japan, shops were told to close and miss out on the economic opportunities, translators
made a roaring trade on producing exclusionary signs). Consequently, this stoked
the endemic fear and mistrust that many Japanese have of outsiders, strangers, and
the unknown and unpredictable (which made it difficult for international residents
of Japan who look foreign to escape the conflation with criminal elements).
I write this page as a naturalized caucasian Japanese citizen living in Sapporo,
who, for the first time in his fourteen years of Japan residency, felt so excluded
that he at times even wanted to leave the country. Furthermore, the lack of follow-up
self-reflection by the Japanese media and police (a simple "gosh, we overreacted,
and we apologize for making life uncomfortable for the international members of Japanese
society" would have worked wonders) raises questions with this author whether
in the end Japan learned anything from this.
My thoughts follow, for what they're worth, as they developed during the event in
real time:
ESSAY ONE (June 4, 2002)
- Foreigners barred entry in Sapporo: multilingual "MEMBERS ONLY" signs
proliferate
- Foreigners stopped without probable cause by Hokkaido Police
- PLUS: Miyagi Assemblyman: "Unwanted Pregnancies from Foreigner Rapes"
ESSAY TWO (June 6, 2002) UPDATE:
- Local internationalization forum and magazine "XENE" admits responsibility
for translating abovementioned exclusionary signs, then tries to exonerate itself
and justify its actions
- Arudou Debito on why Xene is in fact responsible: Its editorial control over
content of those signs
- The aftermath of the England vs Argentina Match: actual foreigner crime stats
- PLUS: NY TIMES and IHT/ASAHI
articles on Host City Sapporo (June 6, 2002)
ESSAY THREE (June
10, 2002)
- (OP-ED) "Too Early for Japan to Host the World Cup" (submitted to several
newspapers)
ESSAY FOUR (July
5, 2002) AFTERMATH:
- Final Foreigner Crime Statistics for the duration of the World Cup
- Contacting Miyagi Assemblyman for his "Foreigner Rapes" Comment
FINAL UPDATE (Nov
16, 2002)
- Formal Apology from Xene Inc (from their Oct 2002 Issue, pg 16) for abetting
discrimination (especially since their signs are still up in Susukino--long after
the World Cup has finished; in effect, they have caused social damage by giving discriminators
multilingual tools to continue working with).
RELATED ARTICLES
Copyright 2002, Arudou Debito/Dave Aldwinckle, Sapporo, Japan
