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From the New York Times archives: extraordinary racism

by Josh

On November 24, 1901, the New York Times published an article (with the mysterious byline: “From Cassell’s Little Folks”) claiming that a version of football “very different from ‘Rugger’ or ‘Socker‘” existed in 17th-century Japan.

Actually, the whole thing (all two paragraphs) is interesting insofar as it hints at a monarchical origin for Asian football. Interesting, that is, except for one sentence that begins, “Considering how averse most Orientals are to hard work…”

japan-soccer.jpg

For as much as we (yours truly included) rail on the modern media for their innumerable follies, we aren’t today exposed to media dripping with racist overtones. It was a very strange and different world then, friends.

Oh, and about Cassell’s Little Folks? The only thing I could find after a cursory googling was this eBay auction.

2 comments

1 Soccer Dad { 10.21.07 at 9:21 pm }

It was called Kemari and many Japanese households would plant the four trees used to designate a pitch to have their own on their property. A pine, maple, willow, and cherry tree were used to designate the corners. Amazing what Google can spit out when you’re bored and trying to answer questions like ‘Why is it called a pitch?‘ :)

2 Josh { 10.22.07 at 8:33 am }

Fantastic, SD!