No littering, no loud music: Indian athletes get Japan etiquette guide ahead of Asian Games

The Asian Games will get underway from September 19. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Don’t litter; carry a trash bag until you find a bin; don’t show visible tattoos; queue properly; use earphones; don’t play loud music in public; and don’t hug or touch strangers.

As India’s top athletes arrive in Nagoya, Japan, and prepare for the Asian Games, they’ve also been given a list of etiquette guidelines. “You are not just travelling to Japan as an athlete; you are representing India. Respect the rules, respect the people, respect the culture,” says a video made by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) that’s been shared with participants at the Games.

While Indian athletes have previously also been advised on the need for being culturally sensitive ahead of international sporting events, deputy Chef de Mission and Indian table tennis great Achanta Sharath Kamal says even more care has been taken this time. “Japan is very, very strict in terms of how you behave, how you dress and how you manage your waste. For example, you don’t want to have a large tattoo visible in public.

“There are very few dustbins, but you can’t throw stuff; you can’t litter the place anywhere. You need to carry the trash back to the place where the dustbin is. We are also very clear about educating athletes about things like sexual harassment or abuse. There’s no excuse for it. You can’t touch anybody for any reason.

“These are things that the organising committee wanted all athletes to be educated about, and we on our end have tried to carry it forward to athletes and officials,” Sharath told Sportstar.

Sharath was part of five Asian Games contingents during his time as one of India’s top players before transitioning to an administrative role as vice chairperson of the IOA’s (Indian Olympic Association) Athletes’ Commission. He has said athletes and officials were sensitised through videos but would also be educated again once they arrive.

Different conditions

Etiquette, though, isn’t the only thing the athletes have been prepped on. “We also informed all the athletes who will be staying in containers and cruise ships that there’s going to be a shortage of space. We did put up some container prototypes in Bengaluru, Patiala and other centres where there are national training centres. We even had athletes sleep in those containers so that it won’t be as if they are thrown into the deep end,” Sharath said.

Sharath, who has travelled thrice to Nagoya in the build-up to the Games and is currently there, says the conditions are very different from those he encountered when he first visited this time last year. “The biggest change is the weather. Last year it was 40 degrees and clear skies. I remember thinking we probably didn’t need any cold weather clothing at all. This year there have been typhoons! It’s still cloudy here, and there was flooding a few days back. But right now the roads are quite clear.”

But Sharath admits things are going to be far more challenging than at the last Games in Hangzhou. “In Hangzhou the Games were almost centrally located. What’s different in Nagoya is that it’s spread over a very wide area. It’s almost as if the Games are happening across Delhi’s National Capital region. So you will have some events in Ghaziabad, some in Gurgaon, some in Noida, some in Meerut and then a lot happening in central Delhi,” he says.

As a result, not everyone will be centrally located in Nagoya’s dock area, where a cruise ship and shipping containers have been repurposed to serve as a Games village. Others will be staying in hotels closer to their competition venues around Nagoya. “For certain sports, say, for example, hockey, it is going to be an Asian Championships of sorts. They are going to stay by themselves because the venue is an hour and a half away from the village.”

Logistically challenging

Sharath also believes coordination is going to be a challenge. “I think logistically things are going to be very difficult. This is something SAI and the IOA have been preparing for the last year. I knew these Games were not going to be like in China, where everything was centralised in one village. One of the things we have to sort out is the medical team. When you have just one village, it’s very easy to build a central medical team. But for now, we broke it down to see which sports can have a doctor by themselves. We are trying to decentralise things so that we have doctors and physios across different locations so that all players are attended to,” he says.

Although India’s athletes are going to be based in different parts of the city, the goal, Sharath says, has been to ensure everyone gets as similar an experience as possible. “The majority of our athletes are going to be in the pier area of Nagoya, but we are ensuring that things like food will be the same across athlete housing.”

That has meant pressing the Organising Committee in Nagoya on certain issues. “There were some things the organisers were already aware of, like how certain athletes need *halal* options, but we also suggested some changes on the menu. There are usually multiple food stations in the village, but we requested them to please ensure that at least some basic comfort food like plain *daal* was also available. Even if there’s not much else available, at least athletes should have that comfort factor that they’ve been taken care of and can give their best.”

Plans were also made, he says, to map out Indian restaurants around the city, particularly those near hotels where athletes are staying. “Of course athletes who are eating here will be doing so at their own risk, but we’ve made a pdf document of these places that’s been shared with team managers,” he says.

The local committee, he says, has also adapted to most of the suggestions made over the past year. “Initially the plan was for four athletes to stay in each 12-foot by 18-foot shipping container. However, not just India but other countries also objected and said that that would just be too cramped, especially with athletes bringing in their luggage and kit. So eventually they settled on two athletes per container. We’ve also tried to get the boxing weigh-ins to take place at the hotel where the team was staying rather than at the docks or the venue, and that’s been agreed to as well,” he says.

Despite all that has been done to prepare the team for the Continental event, both on and off the field, Sharath admits he’s nervous as the final countdown begins. “I hope that we will perform as well as we are capable of during the Games. There is a lot of expectation on our players, and I believe we will represent both our sport and our country well,” he says.