Fighting Sports Well Respected in Japan

Many Japanese people, mostly men, yearn for being strong.  I think this is the same in many of other countries, however, the degree of such a desire seems to be higher among Japanese than most of other peoples.

Let me show you a picture of Japan in early 1950s.

These people gathered in a public square in front of a station.  Guess what they were doing there.

Answer is...

These people came here to watch the small TV (circled in red), which was showing a professional wrestling match of very famous wrestler called "Rikidozan."

Rikidozan became a national hero in Japan after the World War II, and many people tried to watch him on TV.  But TV sets were not widespread yet at the time in Japan, and thus people came together to the public place for the TV broadcast.

Professional wrestling has been so popular in Japan since the Rikidozan's days.  For example, I remember even prestigious class of people in Japan, including some Prime Minister and corporate executives, did not hesitate to say in public they were a big fan of professional wrestling.  This is interesting to me that this kind of fighting sports are so respected in the Japan society, regardless of the fact that the professional wrestling matches were generally regarded as a "show", not serious.

In fact, I was told by my American friend during my living in the U.S. that the professional wrestling was not widely accepted in the U.S. and many people, particularly high class people, should be careful to say they are a fan of this fighting sports even though they actually are.

Anyways, I think that not only a professional wrestling but other fighting sports as well are very popular and respected in Japan.

I think this phenomenon is somehow related to the Japanese people's tendency to fulfill their desires to become strong through watching games or matches, rather than taking more physical actions, like learning some martial arts.

Sounds very realistic and smart decision to me...
Click here to find more Japanese stuff --->