Why aren’t you angry at the Paris Olympics, where there have been so many “misjudgments”? A foreign journalist points out the curse of “bushido” and “grace” in Japan.

Why aren’t the Japanese athletes more angry?　Why aren’t the Japanese athletes more outraged? If you care about bushido or sportsmanship, you should change your mind right now. The longer you stay silent without protesting, the more you will be taken advantage of in the international community, especially in the world of sports.

A series of “questionable decisions” have been made at the ongoing Paris Olympics. The first controversial decision was in the men’s 60kg judo quarterfinal on July 27. Japan’s Tatsuki Nagayama (28) was knocked unconscious by Spain’s Francisco Garrigos (29), who continued to clamp down on him even after he was told to “wait,” and was declared the winner by Ippon.

In the men’s 90 kg judo final on July 31, Murao Sanshiro (23) was expected to win by an ippon (combination technique), but the judges failed to give him a giawase ari, and Nagayama lost by an ippon (combination technique). It was extremely frustrating that the match continued without even a video judgment, as Murao was just one step away from the gold medal.

However, there is an aesthetic in the judo world that says, “Never lament the result of a match that has gone too far, but accept defeat gracefully. In fact, Nagayama issued a statement on his SNS, saying, “No matter what anyone says, we are a judo family! ‘ and that he has made his peace with Garrigos.

Judo is not the only sport in which there have been “questionable decisions.” In the fourth quarter of a men’s basketball game between Japan and France on July 30, when Japan was leading by four points with 10 seconds left in the game, Yuki Kawamura (23) was called for a foul when his opponent’s three-point shot was blocked. He was fouled and the game turned into a four-point play. Catching up at the last minute, Japan lost the game in overtime.

Kawamura said, “We were up by four points, so Kawamura didn’t have to take the risk of flying into the block, but he didn’t foul. But it was obvious to everyone that he didn’t foul. I think only the referee and the French completely believed in that judge. I can never understand why Louis (Yamura, 26) was sent off. Why was that an unsportsmanlike foul? I can only think it was a decision to let France win.

In fact, Yamura left the venue silently without responding to media interviews after his exit, and Kawamura commented , “It’s all about the referee. It was my fault for making a contest in a sensitive area,” he commented. He did not express any intention to protest the decision.

In Japan, athletes are taught from an early age that the referee is absolute. That is why they may have thought that it was unacceptable to protest vigorously against the judges at a match, especially on a big stage that attracts the world’s attention.

The All Japan Judo Federation sent a written protest to the International Judo Federation in response to Nagayama’s “questionable decision,” but the response was not very convincing.

I’m sorry, but I think the judgments in judo and basketball would have been different if the players had been Americans instead of Japanese. If the same decision had been given to us, there would have been a much stronger protest than this one. I don’t know if Asians are discriminated. But I think many Japanese are quiet and think that if they get angry, it will be over the Internet and not in English or French, so it won’t affect them. So, in order not to be taken advantage of, we need to express our “anger” properly. It is a legitimate thing to do.

Both judo athletes lost their gold medals, and the men’s basketball team lost its greatest victory in history because of the referee’s decision. The aesthetics of accepting defeat gracefully is a Japanese attitude that is precious and to be cherished, but in international competitions, it may also be important to “assert one’s anger in a big way” at times.