Japan, Football, and Four and a Half Nationalisms: A Wee Bit of Social Theorizing on the Occasion of the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Japan, Football, and Four and a Half Nationalisms:

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

Todd Joseph Miles Holden

Professor of Mediated SociologyGraduate School of International Cultural

Studies (GSICS)Tohoku UniversitySendai, Japan

Professor of Mediated SociologyGraduate School of International Cultural

Studies (GSICS)Tohoku UniversitySendai, Japan

Premise

Japan’s World Cup Campaign has been separated into numerous stages:

1. Qualification for the Cup2. Member Selection3. Team Preparation4. World Cup Participation

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

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

Stated Alternatively

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

Japan’s 4.5 Nationalisms

Not all of these have been fully developed

Not all of these are specific to JapanAlthough, 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

Japan’s 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.

Japan’s 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 Japan’s qualification

About Japanese TV:why 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

About Japanese TV:why this mattersTV 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

About Japanese TV:what 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

Sports and BindingnessOne example would be the recently-completed World

Baseball ClassicIn many ways it gave vent to the 4.5 nationalisms I will

discuss here in relation to the Soccer World CupAbove 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 manager’s name (Sadaharu Oh) and that of the nation

• the manager, it should be mentioned, is among two of Japan’s most respected players of all time -- the world’s home run king

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

How Bindingness Plays Out

TV, Football, and Japan’s Four and a Half Nationalisms

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

Political Nationalism: Relations with ChinaThis 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 Japan’s war dead are interred, many Chinese stormed the Japanese Embassy, breaking windows and assailing staff with slogans and protests over loud speakers.

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:

Political Nationalism the animosity between the nations stemming from the Second

World War Japan’s 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 Korea’s 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)

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 Japan’s qualification.

At the same time, reaction from news reports in other countries -- among them Germany, Brazil, and South Korea -- were included.

Political NationalismThis 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 “Japan’s sportsports” and (2) also about the current stage of what I call Japan’s “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 Japan’s 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

Social Nationalism:collective “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

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

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 TV’s 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

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

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”

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 Japan’s 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

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

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 Japan’s 2006 soccer samurai

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 saying’s from key national icons throughout Japanese history.– The shoe worn for tonight’s Brazilian game

apparently will have an inscription from Japan’s most famous “wandering samurai”, Miyamoto Musashi

Historical Nationalism

Of course, “samurai” give us a hint of historicism -- a suggestion of the past

But it isn’t in this sense that we mean “historical nationalism”

Instead, this title is intended for those moments of nostalgic recitation of the moments in Japan’s 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

Historical Nationalism There is a well-rehearsed litany, in this regard This is mainly due to the fact that there is so

little to Japan’s 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

Historical Nationalism

These scenes recur constantly in media reports Along with the words:

– “Doha” (where the last second header sealed Japan’s 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 Japan’s 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)

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

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).

Conclusions

The economic correlates rather well with the final stages of Japan’s world cup involvement -- its actual participation in Germany

– The cashing in on Japan’s 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)

Conclusions

The economic correlates rather well with the final stages of Japan’s world cup involvement -- its actual participation in Germany

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.

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

ConclusionsAnd, 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 media’s frame was to report it as such;• the public’s 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

Conclusions

Throughout it is history -- past, present and future -- that is woven seamlessly through this nationalist discourse

Contributing to it, helping forge it

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