intlobserver comments

I am sure how many countries cover international sports events like the Japanese media. But I think if such a way of reporting sports does not represent rudeness, then it sure implies a lack of courtesy from an international perspective. Or if

that's what hometown audiences want, quite naturally

, then the hometown audience's minds, justifiably, are just as large as the town the audiences are confined to.

I am pleased that this is NOT the way sports are covered by my country's media. For example, when our national soccer team played and defeated or lost to another country's team, we would be able to see at least ALL the goals scored by both teams; we would be able to see how those foreign guys beat our goalkeeper; our TV commentators would not stint on praise for those foreign players, who together with our players, made the game. Or when our country hosts an international sport tournament, any sport, and our team is unfortunately eliminated early on, we will still be able to follow the foreign teams on TV until the very final game, and we will be patient enough to watch the whole final awards presenting ceremony with trophies and medals properly handed to the foreign players. For us, to watch sports means to enjoy and appreciate the spectacles of the finest performances by the players out there, regardless of who they are, local or foreign. Such as way of seeing world sports covered had been so natural to me that I had never thought of the word SPORTSMANSHIP until I came to Japan and spent quite some time getting used to seeing international sports events covered the Japanese way here.

What a swift final bout! The result was thrilling as the underdog won. More people had anticipated Hakuho would win, I guessed. But Harumakuji stayed more focused and had a better strategy, which was the swift charge he threw at Hakuho in the split second upon the start. That swift and forceful charge obviously startled Hakuho, and before Hakuho collected himself, his left foot had already gone out over the edge.

“Japan’s years of militarism and war of aggression have brought grave disaster to countries in Asia. Only when (it) learns from history can it open up to the future, only by adhering to the path of peace can it win its neighbors’ trust.”

Despite your ludicrous haranguing rhetoric, China, can you quote one single aggressive incident committed by Japan against its neighbors in the last 65 years? YOU CANNOT BECAUSE THERE HAVE BEEN NONE.

Now look at what you, China, have done to your neighbors in the past 35 years. China aggressively and unilaterally invaded Vietnam in 1979.http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2054325,00.html

China attacked, murdered, and robbed Vietnam's islands in 1988: http://freedomforvietnam.wordpress.com/2010/09/05/another-invasion-china-takes-spratly-1988/

China harassed and attacked Vietnamese fishermen 2013 http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324789504578383820145232386

China invaded the Philippines' reefs: http://facebooktopic.blogspot.jp/2013/05/china-invades-scarborough-shoal-of.html

And the list goes on. You'd better off shutting up, China.

Caught some flashing scenes in which the main character girl looked either dumb or stilted. Also found the opening melody annoying, a signal for an immediate switch to another channel.

Chucky3176: lazy or not, I just could not find any RELIABLE sources that can back up the pro-Korea claims. You cannot find what does not exist anyway. What have seen is a bunch of websites generated by or associated with Korea that self-promote the Koreans' stance on the disputed islands. The link you so called "third-party" is none better: it's said to be created by a Canadian man named Steven, who is an "expat," (NO expert), living or traveling in Korea. My impression on this site is that it is a Korea-controlled site, just like the many ones I have come across, and Steven, the so-called webmaster, is the paid translator. You expected me to trust a shoddy site like this? To live up to my expectation, your sources of information must match the same scale and level of being official and reliable as those provided by the pro-Japan camp. They have provided quotes from the US State Department.

I want to make a judgment based on facts from both the pro-Korea and the pro-Japan sides. But I can see that only the pro-Japan side has provided some valid and informative third-party links to back up their arguments related to the disputed islands. On the other hand, the pro-Korea side has made far more bombastic claims that are not supported by any verifiable facts. I am not convinced by merely pompous rhetoric. Provide objective links to prove your points, pro-Korea guys.

how about critical thinking? cultural awareness? world history, or even accurate Asian history?

InakaRob - Does that include making an ironically hyperbolic generalization?

Tell them that the UK is four countries. Their minds explode.

Nobody's mind would "explode" over such a trivial fact as how many smaller countries the UK consists of. Those who didn't know would have been little surprised at best. How many kids did you talk to and how many of them didn't know? Were you able to explain the meaning of "United" to them? And have you ever told non-Japanese kids of the same ages the same stuff? Now a question for YOU: how many countries does the ASEAN have? You don't have to name them.