Metropolitan Governor Shinji Shinjuku Attends Naite Town Sports Festival
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Son defeats festival champion in exhibition match
by Norberto Scritte
Y93 M01 D20
Yesterday afternoon, Sarashi City Metropolitan Governor Shinji Shinjuku and his family attended the annual sports festival in Naite. Students from around the town participated in various events, including a friendly football game between the two local high schools, an open martial arts competition, and a bicycle race around the perimeter of the town.
“I am proud to see our youth taking such an interest in sports,” Mr. Shinjuku said during the opening ceremony. “Modern life can be very distracting to young people, so it is good that so many are still focused on more traditional ways of entertaining themselves while building up their strength and learning new skills.”
In what is thought to be an attack on the All Westward Card Tournament being held in Sarashi City that same day, he went on to say, “Maybe I am just growing old, but I cannot help but think that we—that is to say, parents like myself—often allow our children to spend too much time on amusements that keep them inside, sitting on sofas, and learning nothing. There is a time and place for simply relaxing, yes, but it pains me to see how some of these hobbies can waste a child’s time and a parent’s money without providing anything of value. These are games that do not require players to be clever, skilled, or strong. They only require money and good luck. I hope that fathers and mothers across the country will take a lesson from the parents of the fine young men and women in Naite, who have pushed their children to invest time in more worthwhile pastimes.”
Mr. Shinjuku has long been an opponent of popular card games like Lamentation, which he has publicly called a gateway to gambling. In more recent years, he has also expressed concerns about the trend of students spending less time socializing out in the world and more time communicating with strangers on bulletin board systems and online chat rooms. Several publications aimed at the sorts of parents who share his concerns have used the governor’s own son, Shimei Shinjuku, as an example of how older styles of parenting can produce well-rounded, healthy children.
The Shinjuku family seems to have embraced the way they are depicted by such media outlets, as Shimei Shinjuku agreed to fight the winner of the boy’s branch of the sports festival’s martial arts competition in an exhibition match. His match with Kyouya Kaito lasted less than one minute, during which time Mr. Kaito landed only one blow on his opponent. Shimei Shinjuku proved himself to be gracious in victory, as he bowed and thanked Mr. Kaito for the opportunity to participate in the festival.
Not everyone reacted well to the Shinjuku family’s visit to Naite, however. Ms. Yua Sato, the winner of the girl’s branch of the competition and two-time champion of the Sarashi High School Fighter’s Cup, Girl’s Division, expressed frustration that Shimei Shinjuku would not accept her own challenge on the grounds that he is uncomfortable fighting a woman.
“This traditionalist [nonsense] doesn’t belong in our government,” she told reporters. “The highest level of the Sarashi Fighter’s Cup doesn’t separate fighters based on gender, and it shouldn’t separate the youth divisions either, if you ask me. That little [coward] Shinjuku’s gotta know that, right? I know he fights in the boy’s division! So why does he feel like he can come here and pretend I’m less of a fighter? He can act like he’s got a big [ego] because he beat up Kyouya, but I won’t believe he’s anything more than a sexist [jerk] until he fights someone from our town who actually competes in the same regional competitions as him.” [Original quote altered to remove expletives].
It remains to be seen if the Shinjuku family will take Ms. Sato’s criticism to heart. The Naite Town Sports festival is the first of many sporting events taking place in the metropolitan area during the academic spring semester. Usually, Mr. Shinjuku attends at least one event in each of the towns making up the region he governs. For the last twenty years, he has always finished his tour with the Haramaki Town Sports Festival, which is the last to be held before students go on summer break. This means that there will be plenty of opportunities for him and his family to reconsider this policy of not competing directly with female fighters.