Why This Topic Landed in Japan

Japan is hosting the Asian Games for the first time in 32 years, in Aichi-Nagoya. In the women's 70kg judo quarterfinal on October 1, China's Tang Jing bit the arm of Japan's Rin Maeda through her judogi sleeve while losing a ground exchange, and was disqualified by hansoku-make, leaving clear tooth marks. Biting hard enough to leave a mark through a thick judogi, on the competition mat, struck viewers as a fundamental breach of sporting conduct. Her unconvinced expression after the ruling, her refusal to speak to reporters, and her withdrawal from the repechage sharpened the anger. The contrast with Maeda, who stayed composed and went on to win gold, amplified the reaction further.

Key Reaction Themes

  • Outrage at the conduct, much of it racialized — Most of the anger targeted the biting itself, but a large share of it was framed as a generalization about Chinese people or voiced in dehumanizing terms; the rest criticized it as something not allowed in rule-bound judo and called for a lifetime ban.
  • Shock at the bite force and the injury — Commenters marveled that the bite left a mark through a thick judogi and said the arm would bruise purple.
  • Detached or joking takes (a smaller group) — Some relativized the act ("biting is a basic in battlefield combat arts") or mocked it as "Showa-era pro wrestling."
  • Doubt about the coverage (a few) — A few suspected the story would be underreported despite how serious it was.

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

Biting disqualification in the women's 70kg judo

A Chinese athlete bit her Japanese opponent's arm during a ground exchange at the Asian Games and was disqualified.

霜越隼人
霜越隼人
@simokosi
·

昼休みにアジア大会の柔道を視聴。 女子70Kg級の中国の選手、ありえない噛みつき攻撃。 道着の上から噛んだのだけど、腕には噛み跡が深く残っていて明らかに噛みついているのに裁定中も知らん顔。フェアプレイのかけらもない態度にあきれた。きちんと審判が下って前田凛選手の反則勝ち。 #アジア大会

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Sources: Yahoo! news, 2ch

Comments:

  • "Biting hard enough to leave a mark like that through that thick judogi takes serious jaw strength."
  • "Biting is just one of the basics in battlefield combat arts."
  • "It's not something you're allowed to do in a judo match that has rules."
  • "Ban her from the judo world for life for this."
  • "That 'Did I do something wrong?' look on her face."
  • "This is too awful. I've never seen it."
  • "She probably doesn't even understand what she did wrong."
  • "What is this, Showa-era pro wrestling? lol Too bad for her, since the ref was watching it couldn't be waved off as a no-count lol."
  • "This is bruising internally; it'll probably turn purple later."
  • "She bit through the judogi? If the arm got yanked out hard, wouldn't her teeth break?"
  • "It's a big deal, but they'll only report it in a small way, right?"