Like most sumo fans, I followed the Nagoya Tournament with particular attention this year and was thrilled that it developed into such a close contest. Naturally the participation of two yokozuna for the first time in a while was a factor, but in particular, it was the phenomenal success of Kotomitsuki. Commentators on TV and in the print media made a lot of the fact that he is from Aichi Prefecture and that he was thus fighting at "home." When he was defeated on the last day, NHK commentators said he probably felt bad about letting down the people of Nagoya.
However, there appeared to be a concerted effort to avoid mentioning that it was not just the people of Nagoya whose hopes were resting on him, but also the people of Japan, who are looking for a new Japanese champion to challenge the recent dominance of non-Japanese wrestlers. I did not see any reports of people in the crowd waving Hinomaru flags and, in one case, of a Hinomaru costume eerily reminiscent of "Uncle Sam."
Although I do not approve of aggressive nationalism in sport, I do not think these fans were particularly offensive. On the contrary, I find the fact that commentators apparently deliberately avoided discussing Japanese hopes disturbing. If there is nothing to be ashamed of, why hide it? Was there some kind of directive from the sumo association forbidding any highlighting of the fact that sumo is so dominated by non-Japanese at present? Or is this another case of self-censorship by the media?
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