Sunday, September 28, 2014

Compliments, Sumo, My Latest Crush, and Xenophobia

It's been awhile.  Hi.

I have several stories to share with you.

I returned to Japan on Thursday after five weeks in the US.  During this time I missed twelve of fifteen days of sumo, the Japanese art of wrestling.  Calling me a sumo fan is like saying I have a mild fondness for chocolate.  My teenage heart-throbs were sumo wrestlers.  I've always liked big and tall men (my husband is one; a big and tall man, not a sumo wrestler).  Somewhere in my mind I knew or guessed this was around the time for the September bout of sumo to take place, but it took me awhile to look up the latest stats online while I was in the States.  When I did I only checked the status of my then crush, Kisenosato.  He was doing okay.  So so.  Nowhere on the sumo web site was there any indication of the drama taking place about the latest star.  Only upon returning to my apartment and fighting jet lag, forcing myself to stay awake and watch sumo did I realize there was a massive story unfolding.

And, massive is indeed the right word.  The man at the center of the story is a 21-year old Mongolian who was on a winning streak like no one's business.  Ichinojo is shy when interviewed, his voice much higher than what what one expects would come out of this 192cm, 200kg body.  His first time competing in the professional ranks, this giant was blowing through the list of his sempai (older and more experienced wrestlers).  The new unstoppable force was a sensation not seen in the industry for decades.  Commentators and announcers could not get enough of this man who had grown up on the plains of Mongolia.

Let's be clear, however.  Sumo is a good representation of Japan, a country and a world where compliments are not thrown around freely.  One of the frequent commentators, a stable master and the uncle of a friend who runs a restaurant in my neighborhood will not mince words as he critiques the wrestlers.  Let's not say anything nice.  No.  The wrestlers always need more training, miss cues, lose because of stupid mistakes.  This stable master is old school.  He will never compliment.  He's mean.

In my first job out of university I worked for two Japanese corporate vice presidents.  One day, after getting a rather brutal verbal beating from one, the other pulled me aside and said, "We will never compliment you.  Unless you screw up, we aren't going to give you feedback."  Considering his comments followed the highest form of criticism I had received to date I figured I needed to take this seriously.  Don't screw up.  Otherwise you're fine but we'll never tell you so.

I've become accustomed to the lack of compliments.  I get it.  It's fine.  It's not, but this is Japan. 

During my Sunday morning brunch today I discuss my latest crush, the man dubbed The Mongolian Monster (which I find a cruel and unkind description).  My two friends agree this is a hopeless middle age crush, Ichinojo being younger than my son and all.  Asked what my husband thinks of this crush I tell them he's used to it and that he rolls his eyes at the latest in a long line of sumo wrestlers I drone on and on about.  They agree he's pretty special, my husband.  I agree.  So.  There you have it.  I have a new heart-throb, not a teenage crush but a full-blown middle age crush over a 21-year old.  Let us all be clear I have just announced to the world I'm in love.  Again.  Life is good.

On Day 15 of the bout, today, the grand champion is to be crowned.  One of the yokozuna, the highest rank attainable went up against my boy crush Ichinojo yesterday, both coming in at 12 wins one loss.  If Ichinojo won it would have been the first time in 100 years the newest kid on the block had a chance of winning the tournament.  He would need to win again tonight, but surely.  Surely he would.  If the yokozuna won, he would compete against another yokozuna today during the finals.  Ichinojo lost last night against Hakuho.  The yokozuna confessed the win didn't come easily.  The monster was a tough fight.  A good opponent.

Allow me to interject here a key fact:  all three yokozunas are Mongolian.  In other words, they're all foreign.  There is no Japanese yokozuna at the moment.

Two Mongolian yokozunas, Kakuryu and Hakuho went head-to-head today.  If Hakuho won, this would be his 31st championship win, coming in second overall.  As in, over all of sumo history.  The only other yokozuna who has more championship wins came in at 32 wins.  His name was Taiho.  More on him in a minute.

If Kakuryu won, Hakuho and Ichinojo (the newbie giant) would go head-to-head.  If Ichinojo won, this day would go down in history, the first time in 100 years a guy fresh off the ranks of mediocrity beat a yokozuna for the coveted status of grand champion.  Only good things could happen today, regardless of who won.  It was a good day for sumo.

Except there's a catch.  Rough math shows about a third of the wrestlers competing these days are foreign.  There's open and hidden hostility regarding this fact.  Sumo is steeped in deep tradition.  It's a spiritual Japanese art and sport.  Foreigners could and should never "get it", our collective foreignness implying no one could or would ever fully understand or appreciate its intricacies.  What to do then with the foreigners who have risen through the ranks?  How could Japan ever accept a foreigner into the highest rank of yokozuna?  The simple answer would seem to be "just say no" but because very little is simple in Japan this does not suffice.

Enter Taiho.  Forty years ago he was a true warrior, a wrestler of incredible skill and technique, he personified all that was great about sumo.  Until it became known he was half Russian.  He certainly didn't look it.  His features didn't indicate any mixing of blood.  He was the first (as I understand) not-truly-Japanese wrestler to make it to yokozuna, and then proceeded to win 32 grand championships.  Hakuho, one of the current Mongolian yokozuna is now at 31 championship wins.  Where are the Japanese wrestlers?  What's wrong with them that they can't beat out these foreigners?  Ask my friend's uncle, the mean commentator.  "Not enough practice," and "Not enough spirit."  Shame.

The sometimes covert and other times overt anti-foreign sentiment against these wrestlers is not new.  Nor is the tendency to find fault with foreigners en masse.  Xenophobia in Japan is alive and well and it pops up in places that catch us off guard.

Prime Minister Abe just reshuffled his cabinet, appointing five women to the posts of minister.  This was big news several weeks back.  Women in power, minister being the ultimate, is good news and I want to believe change is in the air.  Gone are the days women are quiet and demure.  Yes?

Then came the news four of the five women ministers have political views not favorable towards foreigners.  How do we know this?  Get photographed with a known (Japanese) Nazi leader and have that photo show up in the press.  Associate yourself with a group that is openly anti-Korean (North and South). Or both. 

Xenophobia in Japan is old news.  When in doubt, blame the foreigners.  I don't say this lightly, but there are simply too many instances throughout history when foreigners have become convenient targets of blame.

I wish my new crush success and strength.  He will need thick skin literally and figuratively to survive the onslaught of beatings he will take.  I wonder how his mother feels, knowing her giant of a son entered a world of harsh training, media and fan scrutiny, all in a country where foreigners are not always treated well.  Perhaps she's a giant in her own right, sending her son out into a world of glory and pain.  Be well, Ichinojo.

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