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The story
Toru Tamagawa, a former TV Asahi employee turned TV commentator, remarked on a news program broadcast September 29 that Japan’s medal haul at the ongoing Asian Games in Aichi/Nagoya reflects the fact that “the reason people are happy about winning gold medals is that Japan is losing to China in GDP.” When the remark was posted on 5channel’s “Nandemo Jikkyo” (Live Commentary) board, the thread split between support and criticism. While many criticized him, asking whether he could say the same thing to the athletes’ faces, others sympathized with the point itself, saying things like “he’s just describing the psychology of the viewers” and “it’s true that developing countries get more excited about gold medals.” The discussion expanded from there into questions about the value of medals and the Asian Games’ own lack of name recognition.
9/29 (Tue) 16:00
Toru Tamagawa, a former TV Asahi employee, appeared on September 29 on the news program “Hatori Shinichi Morning Show” (TV Asahi group), where he serves as a commentator, and shared his personal opinion on the ongoing Asian Games in Aichi/Nagoya.
That day’s broadcast reported on Japan’s medal rush, including gold and silver medals won by Japanese athletes in the men’s 3000m steeplechase final on September 28.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
It's a fact that developing countries get more excited about gold medals — Japan used to be the same way.
Say that to the athletes' faces.
Go say the same thing to the medalists themselves.
He's talking about the psychology of the people watching.
They're running away with first place in golds.
Given their population, they're actually pretty weak, especially in team sports.
Same goes for how they can't really compete in the major sports.
If it's just the show you want, there's Tver (Japan's free streaming service) anyway.
People weren't even that interested in the Games to begin with.
And on the political side, the organizing has been so bad that both the left and the right are furious.
The Asian Games just don't have much name recognition to begin with.
Nobody remembers when or where past Games were held, or who did what.
Table tennis is basically a de facto world championship, so that one's genuinely fun to watch.
The only time it actually succeeds is when it gets suddenly moved to a substitute host, purely because there's no time or money left to overspend.
It's like saying nobody was happy about medals before Japan got overtaken (by China in GDP).
It's not just GDP — we're losing to them across the board.
Is it a bigger deal than the Olympics?
Goes without saying, it's below the Olympics.
You can tell by comparing the times to world records.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Toru Tamagawa is a flagship commentator on TV Asahi’s “Hatori Shinichi Morning Show,” known for frequently making headlines with contrarian takes on current events. This year’s Asian Games are being held on home turf in Aichi/Nagoya, but domestic interest has been noted as low, with visibly empty seats in the stands — a point echoed in the thread, with comments like “the Asian Games themselves have low name recognition” and “nothing gets people excited except table tennis.” China has far outpaced host nation Japan in gold medal count, and Tamagawa’s framing — mapping the gap in economic power onto a country-versus-country sporting event — connects to a broader discourse that ties medal counts at international competitions to national prestige. In the thread, the pushback centered less on whether the remark was right or wrong and more on phrasing that sounded dismissive of the athletes’ efforts, with opinions further split by people’s personal views of Tamagawa himself.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Good News] Toru Tamagawa: ‘The reason people are happy about winning gold medals at the Asian Games is that Japan is losing to China in GDP, right?’“
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