‘Japanese Only’ banner at J League stadium stirs public

Saitama Stadium in Japan spotted this controversial banner on Saturday hung across an entrance to seating area. (Courtesy of Seoul Shinmun)

By Ko Dong-hwan

Headlines today raved over a Japanese football league stadium with an ethnicity-sensitive banner reading “Japanese Only” inside the building on a match day.

The banner was found Saturday in Saitama Stadium, where Urawa Reds and Sana Tosu played a match. According to a photo released by Asahi Shimbun, the banner is flanked on the left by a Japanese national flag.

Asahi Shimbun said fans of Urawa Reds discovered the banner 20 minutes into the first half. They requested officials at the stadium after the first half to take it down but it remained as it was for another hour. The media said some also shouted ethnically provocative words during the match.

Netizens suggested on SNS the banner targeted fourth Korean-Japanese generation football player Lee Chung-sung. Lee, 28, whose Japanese name is Tadanari Lee, recently transferred from English Premier League club Southampton to Urawa Reds.

Urawa Reds president Keizo Fuchita apologized to the league chairman Mitsuru Murai as the controversy’s scale grew online.

The troubled club eventually nabbed a person responsible for the banner. The person, according to the media, said he had no intention of ethnic discrimination.