arudoudebito
Mentor
- 25 Apr 2002
- 22
- 1
- 13
Dear Japan Referencers:
One of the first venues for the World Cup, Sapporo, has finished its three-game allotment. It's last game, England vs Argentina, was potentially the most volatile with the fans, and the mass media and the police did their level best, IMHO, to scare people into believing that hooligans were going to take over our town.
Now that even the shouting is all over, it's time to woolgather on what happened. Not only were three ferries reserved by Immigration to cart troublemakers back to Honshu, 7300 police were imported to make the city streets and public transportation feel like Greece in the 1970's. Several places, instead of taking advantage of the long-awaited economic boon, were advised by the police to close their doors to all business for the duration. One prominent bilingual magazine in Sapporo (called Xene) even lent a hand in translating exclusionary "MEMBERS ONLY" signs perfectly into five languages (but not Japanese).
So what happened? There is too much to tell right here. But take a look at my backlog of live reports, records of exclusionary signs, and news articles from the New York Times and the IHT/Asahi on the subject.
Susukino Sapporo "Members Only" Signs June 3, 2002
And the World Cup isn't even halfway through yet!
Bests, Arudou Debito in Sapporo
One of the first venues for the World Cup, Sapporo, has finished its three-game allotment. It's last game, England vs Argentina, was potentially the most volatile with the fans, and the mass media and the police did their level best, IMHO, to scare people into believing that hooligans were going to take over our town.
Now that even the shouting is all over, it's time to woolgather on what happened. Not only were three ferries reserved by Immigration to cart troublemakers back to Honshu, 7300 police were imported to make the city streets and public transportation feel like Greece in the 1970's. Several places, instead of taking advantage of the long-awaited economic boon, were advised by the police to close their doors to all business for the duration. One prominent bilingual magazine in Sapporo (called Xene) even lent a hand in translating exclusionary "MEMBERS ONLY" signs perfectly into five languages (but not Japanese).
So what happened? There is too much to tell right here. But take a look at my backlog of live reports, records of exclusionary signs, and news articles from the New York Times and the IHT/Asahi on the subject.
Susukino Sapporo "Members Only" Signs June 3, 2002
And the World Cup isn't even halfway through yet!
Bests, Arudou Debito in Sapporo