Culture, Nationalism and 'Saving Face': Sport and Discrimination in Modern Japan

Headed by the Japan Amateur Sports Association (JASA), there is a large organization for the promotion of sports in Japan. This organization directs its efforts toward the needs of the Japanese, and as such restricts the participation in sports of the 1.5 million foreigners living in Japan. Such restriction constitutes racial discrimination and violates basic human rights, the United Nations declaration against all forms of racial discrimination and the Olympic Charter. The discrimination is epitomized in the long-standing tradition of Japan's annual national sports festival (the Kokutai). JASA will not stop discriminating unless forced by the United Nations, the International Olympic Committee or a lawsuit by Japan's foreign residents.