Akita Embraces The 'Other Olympics'

By Ogasawara Naoki

The summer of 2001 will live long in the memories of many citizens of Akita-ken. As hosts of The 6th World Games, the northern Japanese prefecture saw an influx of international visitors and media coverage the likes of which it had never seen before. As with the Olympics, The World Games are held once every four years, and while they may not receive the same degree of public attention worldwide, 'the other Olympics' are still an impressive international sporting event.

Up to the time The World Games were actually held, many people both inside and outside of Akita-ken had their doubts about the significance of the event. They were skeptical that a small regional city like Akita could host an international sporting event or that organizers had the know-how needed to succeed. Others looked derisively at the event itself as a dubious collection of minor sports. But now that the first Asian hosts have successfully passed on the torch to the 2005 hosts in Duisburg, Germany, there's a great sense of satisfaction and relief that the 2001 games were such a great success.

AKITA PRIDE

The World Games are an international sporting event featuring sports that are not included in the Olympics. They are held every four years in the summer, the year after the Summer Olympics. The first were held in Santa Clara, USA in 1981, followed by London, England; Karlsruhe, Germany; The Hague, Netherlands; and Lahti, Finland. The Games held in Akita were the first to be held in the twenty-first century.

Akita is in northeastern Japan, on the Japan Sea. Located at 40° north latitude, it's about level with Peking, Washington D.C. and Madrid. Perhaps its greatest claims to fame outside Japan are Akita dogs and the Shirakami Mountains, which have been designated as a World Heritage Site. About 1,180,000 people live in the prefecture, with about 300,000 living in the capital city of Akita, a typical regional urban center.

Akita is rich in natural resources and scenic beauty, with high-quality rice harvested from the fertile valleys, beautiful forests of cedar and other trees, deposits of gold, silver and copper in mines dotting the area, and bountiful seafood harvested from the waters of the Japan Sea. This abundance has prompted some people to joke that even if Japan were to close down to the outside world as it did during the Edo period (1603 - 1867), Akita would get by just fine. Unfortunately, however, natural resources alone are no longer enough to support new industries in modern times. Confronted by changes in Japan's industrial structure, the region has fallen into a recessionary mood, with industrial stagnation reducing local employment opportunities. Young people continue to leave the prefecture, and experts predict that Akita will have the highest ratio of elderly in its population in Japan by 2020.

Given all this, people often ask why the citizens of Akita decided to try their hand at hosting the World Games.

Although there are many reasons, perhaps the main one was to sweep away this pessimistic mood. They wanted to bring an end to the feeling of stagnation, and revive their sense of confidence and pride.

Now, with the World Games over, it would seem that the citizens of Akita have achieved their goal, as symbolized by the opening ceremony. Thirty parachutists from six countries, including the United States, Great Britain and France, glided down into the arena from a height of 3,000 meters, creating an exciting opening show. The program was further enhanced by traditional performance arts from different areas within the prefecture.

'The inclusion of traditional performance arts made the opening ceremony an event of unprecedented excellence,' says executive producer Konno Tsutomu, who was also one of the producers of the Nagano Winter Olympics. The long procession of traditional arts and festival genres was so impressive that many Akita citizens who attended were inspired to look at their homeland with a new sense of pride.

Originally, the idea of fully mobilizing traditional performance artists was adopted in a desperate attempt to minimize operating costs. The World Games had a total budget of ¥2,350 million ($19.4 million), of which ¥100 million ($825,000) was earmarked for the opening ceremony. This was a negligible sum compared with the opening ceremony budget for the Nagano Olympics. Economic considerations notwithstanding, the program was truly enjoyed by attend-ees, including Kevin Gosper, the vice-president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who joked at the post-Games party that he was glad the Akita event came after the Sydney Olympics, and not before. Even attributing some of his praise to mere politeness, it was still clear that the program was a great success.

GAMES PHILOSOPHY

It's only been 20 years since the first World Games, so it would be premature to try to predict how the event might develop in the future. Still, the Akita Games did show signs of a change in the philosophy that has been adopted by the International World Games Association (IWGA).

The IWGA was established in 1980, the year before the first World Games were held in Santa Clara, and the year that the Summer Olympics were held in Moscow. The former Soviet Union had just invaded Afghanistan, which led to a boycott of the Olympics by the United States, Japan and other Western countries. In response to these conditions, the IWGA placed the World Games on a footing that transcended conflicts between states, eschewed commercialism and sought to create a venue in which participants could simply enjoy sporting events in their purest form.

This original philosophy was reflected in the fact that participating athletes were not considered representatives of their respective countries. Rather, they were chosen by the international federations (IF) of their respective sports as being top-level competitors. At the Akita Games, however, the winning athletes were honored for the first time in World Games history by having their national flags raised and their national anthems played. And, with that change, nationalism became something of a problem for the first time, as well.

In the women's tug-of-war event, all of the members of the winning Spanish team were Basque, whose homeland has been struggling for independence from Spain since the 1960s. When the Spanish national flag was raised, all of the women stepped down from the dais to show that they did not consider the flag to be their own.

On the final day of the Akita Games, IWGA President Ron Froehlich made the following comment at a press conference: 'Although we have done our best to keep nationalistic concerns out of the Games, in actual practice it's very difficult to keep them out. I think it's something that the media and audiences want.'

In Duisburg, the entrance ceremony will have the athletes come in under their respective national flags, instead of grouping them according to their respective sports, as had been the practice in the past. Both spectators and the media tend to focus on where the athletes are from, who wins and who loses, and how many medals are won by each country. It was the IWGA itself that strongly recommended that national flags and anthems be adopted at the Akita Games.

Another issue organizers must contend with is the harsh and rather prevalent idea that the World Games are a 'minor league' Olympics. It's true that many former World Games events—including baseball, badminton, rhythmic gymnastics, softball and beach volleyball—have 'moved up' to Olympic status. Many of the top officials of the international federations associated with these sports are strongly oriented toward the Olympics and have expressed their expectations that their sports will be formally accepted into the fold of future Olympics.

The World Games got their start in a reaction against the colossal size, excessive commercialism and extreme emphasis on winning that characterize the Olympics. The more the organizers seek name recognition, however, the less they can avoid internal contradictions with their original purpose. Although President Froehlich believes that the Akita Games generally raised the level of The World Games, it may also be that Akita was a turning point where the underlying principles took a radical new direction—or so it seems to this observer.

THE LEGACY

Even with these considerations, however, The World Games were great. Akita had about five years from the time they were selected as the host until the Games were held. Compared with that relatively long lead time, the Games themselves seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. And yet, they left the citizens of Akita with a legacy that can scarcely be adequately comprehended.

First of all, the Games were a showcase for all kinds of sports that are enjoyed throughout the world. For example, many spectators got their first exposure to Faustball (or fistball), the precursor to volleyball; others watched the Flying Disc competition, where they discovered what it's like being in a golf gallery and rooting for an American-style football team. The category of Life Saving transformed rescue operations at sea into a sport, while Casting allowed athletes to display their fishing skills. All of these presentations helped the citizens of Akita to realize that sports are not limited to the major soccer and baseball contests they see on television.

Second, The World Games drew approximately 4,000 athletes and officials from 93 countries, giving them ample opportunity to interact with local people in Akita. The World Games are aimed at more than sport competition; they are also dedicated to deepening ties between the host location and the rest of the world. Through the Games, many of the participants from abroad came into first-hand contact with Akita, and by extension, with the regional culture of Japan. Children, in particular, had many opportunities to meet some of the world's top athletes, helping to instill in the future generation an awareness of and orientation toward the many countries that belong to the world community.

Third, some 4,000 volunteers provided support for event operations on a basic level. For many of them, it was their first experience with volunteering, and it may have whet their appetites for more. The people of Akita are often characterized as being rather retiring, with a lack of interest in active engagement. With the World Games, however, they were able to show the world just how warm their hospitality can be.

In this regard, it may be instructive to relate the story of a Mexican athlete scheduled to participate in the billiard competition, who suffered a cardiac infarction just before the preliminary matches. He was treated in a hospital in Akita city for two weeks, but because he had no insurance, his bill mounted to ¥4.5 million ($37,000). Hearing of his plight, the citizens of Akita started a fund-raising drive that quickly raised ¥5 million to cover the costs. Smiling as he prepared for his trip home, the athlete left this passionate message behind: 'I've never met such kind and gentle people. Thanks to you, I can see my family again.'