The Japanese were the first Asian people to turn from the ceremonial, protocol-stiff sports (sumo, jujitsu) of their past to more competitive Western athletics. They have also consistently produced the only
Asian athletes to come really close to Western records. Last week at Manila, 18 Oriental nations (not including Red China) competed in the Second Asian Games and the Japanese again ran off and swam off with most of the honors. But competition from other Asian nations seemed to be getting stiffer
Manila's Rizal Stadium was the scene of the Second Asiad, and a few Filipinos had trouble forgetting that the Japanese had...