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From the Olympics Toward Tomorrow
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The power of reconciliation seen again Nagano
- North and South Korean athletes practice "ping-pong diplomacy"
"The talks between Pyongyang and Seoul have been settled. All that's left is to make arrangements for a training camp. Could I have you call the Nagano City mayor and get his approval?"
The clock had just passed 11pm. In February 1991 Takashi Koiwai (age 64), who runs a lodge in Matsumoto City received a telephone call with a hint of excitement from International Table Tennis League President Ichiro Ogimura. Koiwai, who was on the International Exchange committee of the Japan Table Tennis Association, contacted Mayor Tsukada, who just happened to be an old college acquaintance.
"A unified North and South Korean team will be taking part at the World Championships in Chiba. We would like your approval for the team's first training camp to be held in Nagano." Koiwai reminded the mayor of one thing, "The Olympic bid is in its final stages..."
The realization of a unified "Team Korea" comprising athletes from the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) was an historic event. With the 1989 collapse of the Berlin Wall and 1990 reunification of Germany, and the fall of the East-West Cold War structure, Ogimura saw success with his "Ping-pong Diplomacy" between the Koreas.
"It will be a plus for the Olympic bid if Nagano gets involved. Nagano's good image will be strengthened in the eyes of nations friendly to both countries." According to Koiwai, Ogimura thought that a unification of Team Korea would help the Olympic bid and therefore chose Nagano to be the site of the first training camp.
In March 1991 athletes from North and South Korea swung their paddles together for the first time at the Higashi-Wada sports park gymnasium in Nagano City. At first there was for some reason a rather awkward atmosphere.
Strangely enough a soccer ball changed all that. Athletes put down their paddles and played soccer together for half the day. Players from both countries cheered each other on. Koiwai, who was making sure the practice ran smoothly, remembers seeing the power of sport tie hearts together. "Thanks to that (soccer game) the feelings of tension were relieved."
Among other people living in Japan from both Koreas an atmosphere of reconciliation was born thanks to the team's unification. The "North Koreans in Japan Coalition" administrative offices in Nagano, along with those from the regional offices of the "South Korean Nationals Association" together went to Nagano Station to greet arriving athletes with floral bouquets. Representatives from the local offices of both groups also held their first joint flower-viewing party in Nagano City.
At the championships Team Korea was very active. The women's group beat China in nine consecutive matches, eliminating the Chinese team. Athletes from both countries embraced one another. Fans in the stands drew a blue outline of the entire Korean peninsula on a flag of white, waving it to a chorus of the Korean national anthem.
Ogimura was among the top of all international competitive groups, attending and winning 12 individual and group world championships. But some athletes and coaches from overseas have over the years been tossed about at home by war and other disturbances, causing them to pull away from their game. Ogimura himself as a boy had to live through the confusing defeat of war.
It goes without saying that "sport and culture do not develop without peace." Such grappling problems in recent years such as the improvement of China-Taiwan relations and Apartheid in South Africa have caused people of sports, according to Koiwai, to "become persistent" in their pursuit of peace. Ogimura died suddenly in December 1994. He was 62.
North Korea communicated its intentions to participate in the Nagano Olympics to the International Olympic Committee. If they go through with those intentions it will be the first time for them to participate in the Winter Olympics in six years. But the heightened "reconciliatory" air of six years ago has lessened-- there has been no change to the tense international situation on the Korean peninsula. The two Korean support groups in the prefecture still have no plans to jointly welcome or attend to the teams when they come next winter.
However, because the situation is as it is, doesn't it mean that Nagano has another chance to become the stage for a festival of peace through the reconciliatory power of sport?
An anonymous third-generation Korean living in Japan, who is currently a 19 year-old junior college student living in southern Shinshu, registered to be a Nagano Olympic volunteer. Upon hearing an explanation that the "Olympics are a place to think of peace" at a training meeting, she thought, "That is really true."
She also says that although there may be times at the Games when the North and South compete head to head, "I don't really care who wins. It's not about which country comes out ahead. It's about how hard the individuals and teams try, and that is how I will cheer them on."
Another Korean immigrant woman living in Nagano City says, "I would like to support both sides as a member of the same ethnic background." Most people in Japan now are awaiting the Nagano Olympics with similar feelings.
No part of the article, photographs, or illustrations presented here may be printed or used without permission.
Copyright 1999 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun