Football diplomacy, post-colonialism and Japan's quest for normal state status

The peripheral status of Asian football in the world's global order is rooted in the historical experience of military, political and economic dominance of the West. Since football reached the Far East at a time when European colonialism was giving way to growing US American influence in the region, it never acquired significant meaning in the relationship between the West and the East. However, within the post-colonial world of the North Pacific, football has become a powerful cultural resource for the purpose of representation over the past decades. This essay examines the way in which football has been appropriated by Japan, as well as by its former colonies Korea and China, to express and negotiate ideas of identity, power, status and global norms in international relations. Particular attention will be given to the Japan/Korea World Cup 2002 and other regional tournaments, the emerging media discourses, and new political formations initiated by parliamentarians and bureaucrats from the North Pacific.