America Through The Eyes Of Japanese Baseball Reporters

[Mulboyne]

[canman]

Well after what we experienced with the Olympics and the way the Japanese press thought of their team and the rest of the world, it is no wonder that these reporters are kind of full of themselves. And while I think it is a given that Japanese players are great at the fundamentals because that is all they do from the time they enter junior high until they make it to the majors, they aren't dominating the MLB as many people expected them to. They are decent middle of the pack players. Also if the same thing that happened in SF had happened in Japan, there would have been a national crisis, since the rule wasn't in the rule book, the umpires wouldn't know what to do. They can only follow instructions, not think or make them up.
One last thing, I really hope this off season that most of the major league teams smarten up and stop overpaying for Japanese players who do not live up to the hype. The latest being Fukudome. Sure he had a reasonable season, but I don't think he would have been a starter on the Cubbies if it weren't for his salary. He could be considered a bust. Kuroda, was serviceable but not great, Matsuzaka, usually only pitched 5 or 6 innings at the most, and had great run support. I guess you could say Ichiro is a freak of nature, and leave it at that. How about good old Kenji Jojima, how is that working out.

[jim katta]

Great post!

While I don't think "all" Japanese people think this way, my years of experience with them in Japan and the U.S. tells me that this is indeed the way most of them (particularly the men) see America and Americans. Realizing this a while ago has saved me countless hours of potential frustration (I am American btw). The hilarious irony is watching so many Japanese citizens and companies attempt to imitate American aesthetics and success UNSUCCESSFULLY because they insist upon trying to imitate these U.S. ways while keeping their Japanese methods and thinking intact.

I agree that most Americans are not as educated as they think... but somehow we still kick Japan's ass in software, hardware, hollywood, etc. So these guys are judging us by our lowest common denominator and not by our successes -- which is what they always point to (i.e. Japanese successes) when mentioning Japanese methods. But ask them to explain: legions of shut-in hikikomori's, a horrifically high yearly suicide rate, a rapidly declining birthrate, millions of hours of salaryman overtime resulting in no increased productivity, etc. and they have no answers or want to pretend these issues are tiny blips on the radar of an otherwise glorious social and business reality. South Korea is kicking Japan's ass and China isn't far behind, so obviously they have a few things to figure out while they whisper about how ignorant, bluff-based and irrational America and Americans are. F-cking brilliant.

[canman]

I don't think a lot of these guys have anything to brag about. The level of education that most people get here is not much better than that of North America. Sure they may have better math and science education, but don't ask about history or politics. Also I still think that by and large university education is a joke in Japan, even at some of the best universities in the country. So while they may have more education, they are not better educated, and far from being better thinkers.

[GuyJean]

They're just pissed because they sucked in the Olympics using all their 'fundamentally superior professionals'.

GJ

[Greji]

They're just pissed because they sucked in the Olympics using all their 'fundamentally superior professionals'.

GJ

They were fundamentally superior! It's just that while they were demonstrating their fundamentally superior bunts, the Koreans were hitting fundamentally superior home runs.

[Gilligan]

The Japanese journalists in the story were able to get someone to listen to their ignorant BS for 2 reasons. First, the idiotic writer seemed to agree with their opinion of the US, and second, the guy had no real idea what Japan was like. Had those fools spoken to anyone who actually knew anything about Japan or ever lived in Japan, they'd've been laughed at immediately.

[Greji]

The Japanese journalists in the story were able to get someone to listen to their ignorant BS for 2 reasons. First, the idiotic writer seemed to agree with their opinion of the US, and second, the guy had no real idea what Japan was like. Had those fools spoken to anyone who actually knew anything about Japan or ever lived in Japan, they'd've been laughed at immediately.

Good point. He was probably some Oriole fan they picked at random....

[Uhhuh35]

Good point. He was probably some Oriole fan they picked at random....

Ouch!

I took the family to an O's game a few weeks back. Camden Yards is one of the nicer parks I've been to.



Watched my Angels go down in flames though.
Oh well, we'll meet again in the playoffs I guess! Oh. No I guess we won't!

[Greji]

Watched my Angels go down in flames though.
Oh well, we'll meet again in the playoffs I guess! Oh. No I guess we won't!

Gil, you didn't perhaps notice that shot, did you?:p

[Gilligan]

Gil, you didn't perhaps notice that shot, did you?:p

I did. I think the picture says a lot about what a great ballpark the Orioles have and how great their concessions are--if you look, you'll notice that probably more than 50% of the people are out of their seats getting something to eat or drink.

And you should give the O's a little more credit; their pitching staff pulled off the elusive Triple Crown* this season, and that counts for something.


*Triple Crown achieved by the O's pitching staff this season: led the AL in walks allowed, wild pitches, and hit batsmen.

[Adhesive]

LA Times: How the Japanese saw Friday night's weirdness

This reads like an article circa 1987.