Why This Topic Landed in Japan

The bite itself—a Chinese judoka biting a Japanese opponent's arm and being disqualified after a video review, with teeth marks left on the arm—happened two days earlier and was already covered. What is new is the aftermath. Chinese state media reportedly brushed it off as an accidental bite with "no evidence," calling it "a one-sided Japanese claim," though the exact Chinese-language wording stays unconfirmed. At the same time, Aichi Governor Hideaki Omura kept avoiding the press as overseas media piled on the Games' operational problems. The two threads—his handling of the event and the state-media spin—drew separate waves of criticism.

Key Reaction Themes

  • Contempt for the denial (dominant) — Most mocked the state media's refusal to accept a bite that left teeth marks as sore-loser stonewalling.
  • Technical rebuttal — Many pointed out that modern judo uses video review by two assistant referees plus a jury, so "a one-sided Japanese claim" makes no sense, and a professional does not bite "by accident."
  • Separating the people from the party press (small group) — A smaller set argued ordinary Chinese were mostly critical too, and that the problem is the Communist Party's media.
  • The governor dodging questions — On the governance side, commenters accused Omura of "strategically fleeing" the press and contrasted him with Osaka's governor, who fronted the criticism over the Expo.

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

Aichi's governor avoids the press

As overseas media panned the Asian Games, Governor Hideaki Omura kept skipping news conferences, and netizens questioned his accountability.

Sources: Yahoo! news, 2ch

Comments:

  • "A crap move, just as expected."
  • "Pretty much everyone except Omura has apologized. This guy's really trash."
  • "Strangely true—even when he apologizes he tends to say 'sorry if it made you uncomfortable' instead of apologizing honestly. Stepping down gracefully would pay off in the long run."
  • "Next election, we're definitely voting him out."
  • "Make this national embarrassment resign right now."
  • "They should've just recalled him."
  • "Yoshimura stood in the firing line over the Expo criticism and actually answered questions. This is so lame, lol."
  • "Right? Yoshimura-khan dealt with the Expo gripes basically every day and was manly about it."
  • "He's not Ichiro Ozawa—if he can't stand in the firing line, he should quit politics."
  • "Back when Omura was a lawmaker, he was called one of the young 'pundit politicians.' On TV, whenever he was asked about the crux of something he'd get flustered, and his catchphrase was 'I do think we must do such-and-such.' As a Nagoya native, I still don't get why we made him governor."
  • "The Games aren't worth the tax money poured in. It probably didn't cost 300 billion yen—how much was it in the end? Maybe around 10 billion? Still expensive, though."
  • "The attendance is partly unavoidable with this much unstable weather, but make them properly answer for the garbage operations."

Chinese state media's judo-bite denial

Chinese state media reportedly called the disqualifying judo bite an accident with "no evidence" and "a one-sided Japanese claim," drawing disbelief and technical rebuttals.

Sources: Yahoo! news, 2ch

Comments:

  • "Hard enough to leave teeth marks, yeah."
  • "The source for this is Xinhua too—meaning the state itself is saying 'biting is fine' and 'the rules and the ruling are wrong.'"
  • "You might accidentally hit someone swinging your arm, but opening your mouth, biting down, and keeping the pressure on—doing all that by accident is impossible."
  • "A pro doesn't bite by accident."
  • "Apparently ordinary Chinese are mostly critical of it. It's the Communist Party media that's out of its mind."
  • "I don't know the rules, but intent probably doesn't affect the foul ruling. It might matter separately if it turns into a suspension case apart from the match itself."
  • "Intentional or not, if you bite, you're out! This is sport judo, not a fight to the death."
  • "This article completely fails to understand how judo matches are run now—a shallow piece. On screen there's only one referee, but in real time two assistant referees do video review and talk with him, and a jury oversees it too, so 'Japan did something' makes no sense at all."
  • "Pulling a foul like this in judo has to be a world first."
  • "The athlete is bad enough, but the media are something else too."
  • "They tell nothing but lies. Filthy."
  • "There's no such thing as biting by accident, so…"
  • "Aren't they ashamed?"
  • "The Chinese really are bad losers."