Japan women's national soccer team "Nadeshiko Japan"

Yamato Nadeshiko (やまとなでしこ/大和撫) is a Japanese term meaning "personification of an idealized Japanese woman", "ideal" in the historical context of the patriarchal, traditional culture of Japan.

This floral metaphor, combining Yamato, an ancient name for Japan and nadeshiko "Dianthus superbus, large pink", or frilled pink carnation, literally translated as "Japanese Dianthus".

So, "Nadeshiko" is a Japanese woman (with all the traditional graces), or an ideal Japanese woman, and it is a figure of speech for the beauty of Japanese women who are neat and tidy.

 

 

Nadeshiko Japan league's financial hardships

In Japan, women's soccer has never been popular, and oftentimes attendances at games have been lower than 1,000 people.
Very few of the members have pro contracts.
Sponsorship was not worth the cost in terms of raising company profiles.

Many scrape by on part-time jobs.

When the national team was preparing for the World Cup they start practice until after 7 every night, because most of the members had part-time jobs during the day at convenience stores and other small businesses.

Many stalwarts of the national team who played central roles in Germany, including captain Homare Sawa, have suffered from the league's financial hardships.

Their salary there is "very small."

Nadeshiko Japan was winning in spite of their meager remuneration.
Nadeshiko Japan players do receive small daily stipends and will get bonuses for their victories.

Yet the monetary rewards are modest -- only 1.5 million yen each for winning the World Cup.

 

 

Homare Sawa - Japan's best female soccer player

If you watched the Women's World Cup soccer tournament held in Germany in July, you probably remember at least one of the brilliant Japanese players.

Her name is "Homare Sawa" － she scored five goals during the tournament, and was awarded the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player.

Sawa was born in Tokyo in 1978.

She practiced hard among other boy players, and joined a team in the women's soccer league soon after entering junior high.

Ever since then, Sawa has been making a lot of effort not only to improve her own game, but also to make women's soccer more popular.

From 1999 to 2004, Sawa played in the U.S., where women's soccer is much more popular than it is in Japan.

In one interview, she said she was "jealous" to see how well-established women's soccer was in the U.S.

Now that Japan has won the Women's World Cup for the first time in its history, the popularity of women's soccer in Japan is bigger than ever.

A lot of media reporters and fans have been chasing the players, and Sawa has decided to move house for reasons of security and privacy.

Still, she has been trying to do as many media interviews as possible to make sure that this popularity is long-lasting and not just a flash in the pan.

When the boom is over , if there are still a lot of people who remain fans of women's soccer, then Sawa will truly be able to enjoy the pleasure of victory.

And, I think given what these women have done for Japan, not to mention the Japanese media, they deserve to be paid big money.

 

Hararie