TOKYO — The violent hit to the defenseless quarterback came from behind, after the first play of a game between two storied college football teams. Ordinarily, the illegal tackle would have simply drawn a severe penalty.
But it happened in Japan, where the play — and what led to it — has touched off nationwide examination of deep-rooted cultural dynamics, including what the Japanese call “power hara,” or harassment by those in power who force underlings to do things against their will.
When asked to explain his actions, the linebacker who crushed the quarterback, forcing him from the game with injuries to the back and knee, delivered an answer that made many recoil: His coaches told him to do it.
Nearly three weeks have passed since the notorious hit and debates about “ame futo,” as the sport is known here, have consumed Japan. The hit was captured on video and has been shown on a seemingly continuous loop in a country where football barely registers. The linebacker has been suspended, the coach of the team from Nihon University has resigned, schools have canceled their games against Nihon, and a national conversation about the inherent dangers of the game and its place in Japanese society is at a full boil.
In a stunning, nationally televised news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday, the linebacker, Taisuke Miyagawa, said his coaches ordered him to “crush” the opposing quarterback or risk being benched. Miyagawa said that instruction, along with other comments his coaches made, made it clear to him that he was to injure the quarterback.
The tackle has stirred an unusually rancorous spat between two of Japan’s best known college football programs with nearly 50 national titles between them. It has also shaken a country that has an almost pious adherence to fair play in sports, and prompted coaches, university officials and politicians to question the violence of the game.
The association overseeing the college games has begun an investigation of the incident. The father of the injured quarterback filed a complaint with the police in Osaka prefecture against the player who hit his son.
Like most football games in Japan, where there is no professional league and only a smattering of semipro teams, the hit was initially seen by only a handful of fans. On May 6, Nihon in Tokyo and Kwansei Gakuin University in Nishinomiya City, near Osaka, played at Amino Vital Field in Chofu, outside Tokyo.
On the first play from scrimmage, the Kwansei quarterback, Kousei Okuno, rolled to his right and threw an incomplete pass. His momentum carried him toward the sideline.
Before he made it there, Miyagawa, a highly regarded defensive player, charged across the field, lowered his head and hit Okuno with his shoulder in the small of his back. Okuno’s head snapped back and he was thrown violently to the ground. He left the game with injuries to his knee and back, and was expected to take three weeks to recover.
Miyagawa, a junior, was penalized for unnecessary roughness, but stayed in the game. Later, he was seen on video being congratulated by coaches and teammates when he went to the bench. He was eventually thrown out of the game after he received a third penalty.
The recriminations began soon after the final whistle.
Several Japanese media outlets, citing anonymous former and current players for Nihon, reported that Miyagawa was told to “destroy” the opposing quarterback, or risk being benched.
Masato Uchida, the longtime football coach at Nihon, denied ordering the hit, and said he told his team only to play hard.
Several days after the game, Kwansei Gakuin sent a letter to Nihon University asking for an apology and an explanation. At the same time, the Kanto College Football Association in the Tokyo region suspended Miyagawa indefinitely, and issued a warning to Uchida, his coach. The association has asked a third party to investigate the incident.
Amid the controversy, other football teams canceled their upcoming games with Nihon, turning the school into something of a pariah. Fifteen other colleges with football teams issued a pledge that they would play fairly, and never commit such a violent foul. The chairman of the Japan American Football Association, Makoto Kuniyoshi, said that “intentionally hurting other players can never be accepted.”
There were even calls from within Nihon University to review the incident because of the damage it has done to the school’s reputation. The university must “re-examine the sound way to play sports and educate all players again regarding the importance of the spirit of fair play,” the Nihon University Teachers’ Union said in a statement.
Politicians have weighed in, too. The head of Japan’s Sports Agency, Daichi Suzuki, called for an investigation into what prompted the hit. “I want to know why such a dangerous tackle happened, rather than the coach stepping down,” Suzuki said on Sunday.
Yasutoshi Okuno, the quarterback’s father, thanked Miyagawa for speaking with courage on Tuesday. “I want him to atone about what he’s done, and rehabilitate,” said Okuno, who believes Nihon’s coaches had planned to injure his son from the start. Kousei Okuno suffered ligament damage to his spine and knee on the play.
“Such instructions should not have been issued, and their way to force and corner (the player) deviates from social rules,” Yasutoshi Okuno said.
For now, Uchida is standing by his version of what happened, though Miyagawa, his former linebacker, has left little doubt about the effect of the incident. He said that he enjoyed playing football in high school, but he lost his love of the game because of the pressure.
“I don’t think I have a right to continue playing American football, and I have no intention to do so,” Miyagawa said.