Sports

Sumo, baseball and speed boat racing?

Sports are a big deal in Japan. Indeed, it is said that the very origin of the Japanese race depended on the outcome of a Sumo match.

Most large companies have various teams and exercises are done every morning in the office. At school, students attend club activities at the beginning and end of each day. Flamboyant players and outrageous managers fill the gossip columns and sports' pages, and in case you forget your own need to exercise, there's a National Sports day in October.

Baseball

The most popular sport in Japan is not Japanese at all however, it's professional baseball and was brought to Japan in 1873 by a US teacher. The players and etiquette however, despite one or two big name, big-earning foreign imports, are very Japanese. Teams bow to each other before and after the matches and the emphasis is placed very much on team performance over individual talent.

There are two professional baseball leagues in Japan - the Pacific League and the Central League, the 6 teams in each league compete for the pennant over a 10 month season which is followed by a playoff, the Japan Series, to decide the overall champions. Matches are played in the day and the evening and tickets are pretty easy to get hold of.

Football

Football, known as soccer in Japan, has always struggled to find a place in the nation's heart. The 2002 World Cup was of course held in Japan and Korea - and it was a fantastic event with the host countries both doing really rather well. Reality struck home in 2006 however when the national team put in a pretty dismal performance in Germany - losing a 2 goal lead against Australia and going out in the first round. The J League meanwhile continues to suffer from low turnouts and is most definitely in the shadow of pro baseball.

The one bright spot for Japanese soccer is most definitely the performance of its players abroad - Nakamura scoring wonder goals for Celtic, Takahara lighting up the Bundesliga and Yanagisawa playing for Messina in Italy. According to Celtic manager Gordon Strachan, Nakamura "Could open a tin of tuna with his left foot" - the Japanese sports papers are more likely to have these stories than much of a mention of the J League.

Sumo

What of more Japanese sports? Sumo is the most popular and the wrestlers still command high celebrity status. In Sumo the basic idea is for the higashi rikishi (east wrestler) to force his nishi (west) foe out of the ring or onto the floor of the dohyo (ring). It's generally all over in a few seconds but watch carefully and there is immense skill and artistry in the wrestlers' moves. There are six tournaments (basho) a year and it is well worth a visit.

And finally...

One of the more curious 'sports' to hold a grip over many a Japaese salaryman is speed boat racing. This might be considered somewhat obscure my many in the wets but its unique apeal lies in the fact that this isone of the only things it is legal to gamble on in Japan! Quite how this exception to the gambling laws came about is lost in the mists of time but needless to say, you can often find crowds of chain-smoking men crowded into the betting shops cheering on their chosen boat!

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