Today, I’d like to write about how Japanese culture has forced Japanese to approach the game so differently.
When I first came to Japan, baseball fans said the Japanese game was detail-oriented while MLB baseball was about power and speed. For a long time, I saw this as a way of complimenting both baseball brands, but after joining the media, I began hearing some managers imply that MLB players were good, only because they were more physically gifted, and not because they worked hard – like Japanese.
The work ethic here is different than it is in America, and Japanese baseball reflects this.
Japan’s obsession with meticulous attention to detail is referred to as “kodawari.”
On Monday, in Craig Calcaterra’s wonderful irreverent newsletter, “Cup of Coffee,” I found notice of Munetaka Murakami’s posting, and Craig’s bewilderment that the left-handed slugger is called the holder of the single-season home run record among Japan-born players.
“I’m not sure why that “Japanese-born” distinction is repeated by everyone. There is a long and rich history of racism against non-Japanese players in NPB history. I don’t know where that stands these days, and I don’t know how it’s been reckoned with if at all, but it seems to me that separating the records between Japanese-born and non-Japanese-born players isn’t pushing things in the right direction, ya know?” — Craig Calcattera
Aside from the fact that it’s not an official record, the answer has a little to do with Japan’s racist ethnic branding but a lot to do with its cultural emphasis on group conformity.
When something idiotic like this catches on in Japan’s mainstream news, every writer and editor will feel some pressure go along with the crowd and ascribe importance to it.
