When Japan and Korea met at the Olympics, baseball became the nationalist pastime

For about three hours Wednesday night, enthusiastic fans in Japan and South Korea tuned into a sporting event that for many represents something more than a just a part of competition during the Olympic Games. Times sports columnist Dylan Hernández, a Japanese Salvadoran American Angeleno, and foreign correspondent Victoria Kim, a Korean American Seoulite, watched a baseball game between two bitter rivals in Tokyo’s Koreatown to explore questions of identity and historical baggage and why this matchup was much more than a game. The Koreans who are here are here because they like Japan, so nothing bad happens.” — Masakazu Hasegawa, who was watching the South Korea-Japan Olympic baseball game in Tokyo’s Koreatown When I think of Japanese-Korean relations, I often think of an incident at the most recent Winter Olympics in Korea. “I’m sure this ski lift was made in Japan or Germany, and not in Korea.” Victoria: We strolled down Okubo-dori, Tokyo’s equivalent of Wilshire Boulevard in Koreatown, around dusk. “How Japanese of you,” I told my friend, “using logic to suck the fun out of something.” Victoria: At the top of the sixth, when South Korea scored two runs, tying the game, it’s like a jolt of electricity has gone through the restaurant and the disparate diners are abruptly cheering as one.