Global Standards

Last week there was a figure skating competition in Tokyo (?). I saw the NHK sports news that two Japanese female skaters won the 2nd and the 3rd places at the competition. Some Russian skater won the first. They showed video clips from recorded performances of these Japanese skaters. Although I was anticipating to witness the Russian skater's performance as well, they didn't show any of it. In front of TV, I shouted "Why not?" My father watching TV next to me said, "Because this is Japanese sports news." I replied, "But why don't they show the winner's performance? It doesn't matter whether she is Japanese or not. I just want to watch the best performance!" "Well," said my father, "I think it's natural that Japanese viewers want to watch Japanese players."

I hereby hypothesize that one of the reasons Japanese don't compete successfully in many sports at the international level is that they grow up by watching pathetic Japanese players and missing world-class performances by people who are usually not Japanese...?