Why This Topic Landed in Japan

The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games have drawn daily reports of operational trouble since the opening — an anthem played incorrectly, lodging and meal complaints — and criticism had been piling up. On Sept. 22 the organizing committee posted a rebuttal on its official site: it said the delayed boarding of the cruise ship serving as the athletes' village was due to delegations' incomplete paperwork rather than the committee failing to transmit lodging information, and it attributed the meal problems to the relevant sport federation. That "it's the delegations' fault" framing was widely read as buck-passing and drew fresh anger. Onto that landed a separate story: a South Korean outlet (Monthly Chosun), followed by Japanese media, reported that two North Korean athletes at the Games want to defect to Japan. That asylum claim has not been confirmed by reliable reporting, Japanese authorities, or the organizing committee, so it should be read as a report rather than a settled fact. With the two threads combined, debate overheated across both security angles — fears of spying and of the abduction issue being reignited — and humanitarian ones, such as the safety of family left behind.

Key Reaction Themes

  • Calling the rebuttal buck-passing — The largest share attacked it as "quick to shift blame even as trouble mounts" and "amateur-hour operation."
  • Some acceptance of the rebuttal — A counter-view that if the paperwork and the federation were at fault, blaming the organizing committee is misdirected.
  • Heavy opposition to accepting the asylum — On the defection report, most reactions opposed taking the athletes in, citing fears that North Korea would call it "abduction," suspicions of spying, and the view that South Korea should host them instead.
  • Humanitarian worry over families — A smaller strand feared reprisals against relatives left in the North.

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

The organizing committee's rebuttal to operational criticism

Facing reports of poor lodging and meals, the committee argued the causes lay with the delegations' paperwork and the relevant federation, not with itself.

Sources: Yahoo! news, 2ch

Comments:

  • "Nice sloppy operation, lol. Amateur-hour sloppy operation, lol."
  • "I see. On lodging, the delegations hadn't properly followed the designated procedures to begin with; on meals, an event that wasn't originally scheduled got crammed in at the last minute, so there was an agreement that the relevant federation would handle that side. So then it's just the anthem mistake and the night-game lighting shortfall, huh."
  • "The meals are supposedly the Teqball federation's responsibility, but of course when something goes wrong there, the criticism and complaints land on the organizing committee — so it's the host side's duty to check properly and, if there's a problem, to guide and support them. Snapping back in anger is unseemly."
  • "Maybe out of deference to the idiots who chant 'skimming' without understanding it, but this time they didn't use the big agencies like Dentsu or Hakuhodo, right? An event this size ultimately can't be run smoothly without relying on the majors."
  • "Amazing — every single thing they do is a bad move. So this is Aichi quality, is it."
  • "They recklessly added events, then settled it with 'you handle the meals yourselves,' so bashing the organizing committee is misdirected."
  • "The cause is that the country has gotten poorer. Soon we'll be pitied not just by Asia but even by Africa."
  • "Just send them some miso-nikomi udon and chicken wings, come on."
  • "This event is run by the French company that ran the Paris Olympics. Remember that the Paris Olympics were called worse than the Tokyo Olympics, and this outcome is only natural. The Tokyo Olympics got trashed, but the venue operations there were actually handled properly."
  • "Well, they spend two to three times this amount, so of course. The rip-off operators should be barred from ever being involved again."
  • "Honestly, given the chaos at the time, just pulling off the Tokyo Olympics at all was a miracle. People mock it, but the situation back then was as absurd as being told to build a house in a week; the people in charge must have been through hell."
  • "Nagoya folks are show-offs, so this is what happens when they try something they're not used to, like a cruise ship."

A report that two North Korean athletes seek asylum

A South Korean outlet reported that two North Korean athletes at the Games want to defect to Japan; the claim has not been confirmed by reliable reporting or officials.

Comments:

  • "If we allow this, they'll definitely start saying Japan abducted their athletes. You must not get involved with North Koreans."
  • "South Korea, on the same peninsula, will take them in, right? Go ask them instead."
  • "The people calling them spies are so peace-addled. There's no use for a spy that conspicuous."
  • "As for spying — there's… no information in today's Japan that North Korea would want. (I'm certain of it.)"
  • "It would set a bad precedent. Japan is sensitive to precedent. Absolutely NOOOOO."
  • "If they actually did it, their families in the North would likely be made an example of — a frightening thought."
  • "That kind of thing really does happen, doesn't it? Where they defected, but relatives back in the North — or even non-blood neighbors they were close with — end up…"
  • "Wait, surely we're not going to accept them? Do your best back in your own country."
  • "Knowing Japan, they'll probably send them back bureaucratically. And then they become anti-aircraft-gun target practice back home."
  • "If this happens, from now on we won't be able to let them in even for a sporting event."
  • "If anything, their own government will stop sending athletes to Western countries."
  • "They're spies, aren't they. Send them back, and quick."