When Matsui went to play Major League Baseball, the Japanese media went into a feeding frenzy. A similar kind of furor surrounded Nakata when he first went to ply his trade in Seria A.
Now these two are both professional sportsmen and media celebrities, and whether right or wrong, the famous have come to expect such attention. Many of them indeed openly courting the media.
But now the Japanese Ground-Self-Defence Force (GSDF) have arrived in Iraq, they are being accompanied by an equal (if not greater) degree of hysteria and harassment.
From all accounts the tracking of the GSDF has been similar to a car chase. Like the paparazzi following a movie star. Apparently two cars amongst this trailing pack actually collided with each other, and another vehicle almost ran over an Iraqi child.
Due to Japan’s constitution, this is admittedly a historic (and very controversial) occasion, but similarly a very dangerous one. In this respect it certainly warrants in-depth coverage, but not the kind generally given to sport stars and singers.