Japan Press Weekly

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2013 January 30 - February 5 TOP3 [ARTS AND SPORTS]

Judo coach’s physical assault of female athletes is a warning to entire Japanese sporting world

It came to light that 15 of Japan’s top female judoists, including Olympic medalists, had accused their head coach and other coaching staff of physical violence and submitted their petition to the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC), courageously raising the problem of abuse not only in judo but the entire Japanese sporting world.

Sports instruction is supposed to develop athletes’ potential based on their initiative and awareness. Acts of violence in coaching, however, deny individual human rights.

The All Japan Judo Federation recognized the fact last September, and two months later ordered head coach Sonoda Ryuji to apologize for his physical abuse against the judo trainees.

Unsatisfied with such a light reprimand, the 15 judoists decided to file a joint complaint to the JOC late last year, standing up against physical punishment and the use of violence in judo for the sake of future as well as current judoists.

The head coach allegedly beat and kicked his players during judo training and at competitions. Sometimes he hit them with a stick and verbally abused them.

Unfortunately, it is common for Japanese judo coaches to resort to violence. For 27 years up to 2009, a total of 110 children died in judo accidents, and some reportedly have been connected with excessively grueling training or physical punishment.

One athlete said, “We all cried ourselves to sleep in silence in fear of the possibility of not going to the Olympics if we disobey the coaches who are at the helm of selecting the team.”

Mizoguchi Noriko, a silver medalist at the Barcelona Olympics, told Akahata that she feels the reprimand handed out to Sonoda is lax.

The following is a summary of her interview:

The All Japan Judo Federation kept Sonoda as a coach with a minimal warning. This is like a yellow card, but what the wrestlers are seeking from the JOC is a red card.

They would be highly disappointed with Sonoda remaining to coach because of the absence of a relationship based on trust. The judo federation itself would lose the trust of athletes.

During the 2004 Athena Games when I served as a coach for the French judo team, the South Korean coach hit a judo contestant in public. This coach was later dismissed.

This is the common sense of dealing with injustice and abuse throughout the world. In France, if a member of the coaching staff exercises brute force, the person in question will be brought to criminal court and will lose his/her qualification as an instructor. It is a matter of course that violent coaches should resign for their lack of human rights awareness.

However, a culture that allows the use of violence is still common in Japanese judo. Sonoda is about the same age as I am. During my competitive career, I had to endure the suffering from physical abuse as well.

In Japan, to reply “Yes” to anything a superior says is thought to be virtuous. Meanwhile, the French culture allows anyone to say “Non” because they endorse a relationship of trust and equality between athletes and coaching staff.

Japanese sports in general have long accepted the use of physical punishment, not only in judo. To change the present situation which is far behind in terms of sports democracy, the 15 female athletes’ courage and resolution should be used to pave the way for drastic changes.