Miwa Asao Misunderstood
Kyodo News reported a very sad story recently. Apparently the Japanese star Miwa Asao is complaining about lack of professional respect:
“My main job is beach volleyball. I get frustrated when someone says I am not as good at beach volleyball as I am as a TV personality.”
Apparently the Japanese public is not taking seriously enough her considerable skills as a professional athlete.
This is surely a shocking state of affairs–beach volleyball is an official Olympic sport, you know, and takes years of dedicated training to excel at.
Japanese audiences it seems must be very narrow minded and possibly even perverted to give this talented young athlete such short shrift? An outraged Lee in the Tokyo Times blog was even moved to comment:
Whilst 21-year-old Miwa Asao may well have made numerous television appearances, released a DVD that has sold over 20,000 copies and a book of photographs that has been even more successful, it’s perhaps predictable that Japan’s shallow and celebrity obsessed media is intent on peddling titillation instead of talent. A situation that understandably irritates the young lady in question, especially as she has dedicated so much time honing her skills in such an honourable sport. Something that surely shouldn’t be overshadowed just because she happens to look rather good in a bikini.
How well put. And just because she happens to look OK in a bikini should definitely not draw attention from her highly-developed athletic skills and shrewd game strategy. As proof, Lee offers the photo you see here showing Miwa Asao in action on the beach volleyball court–doing what she does best.
Who is this person? Has she actually won anything significant in her sport (like an Olympic medal)? If not, she reminds me of that tennis player who got married to Julio’s son (can’t be bothered at the moment to look up their names).
June 15th, 2007 at 4:28 amInteresting. Who is this person? Has she actually won anything significant in her sport (like an Olympic medal)? If not, she reminds me of that tennis player who got married to Julio’s son (can’t be bothered at the moment to look up their names).
June 15th, 2007 at 4:29 amBeach volleyball is *hard*, man. You try running around in mud and see how fun that is.
On the other hand, a couple of Canadian beach volleyball champs (women) I met really… really… really hate having to wear those stoopid bikini things. But the sponsors want skin, the league wants the sponsors, they’re the ones paying and I don’t ever foresee those erstwhile Islamic or conservative countries fielding beach volleyball teams at the Olympics anytime soon… .
The only positive to those stoopid bikini things is that people see that athletic female bodies don’t show bones or have over-muscled pecs and abs and are curvey and sometimes wobbley and not perfectly proportional and a many splendored thing, indeed.
However, I still want to see the men in thong bottoms, then. Or at least competitive swimmer’s suits. Karma, ya know? It evens out all the karma.
June 15th, 2007 at 5:12 amA sport that sounds the same as “bitch volley” can’t be taken too seriously, can it?
Well, she looks like she is 35 instead of 21. Too much UVs maybe …
And where are her muscles??
June 15th, 2007 at 5:19 am“Japan’s shallow and celebrity obsessed media is intent on peddling titillation instead of talent.”
Indeed. For them, it’s “Bitch Ballet” like Japanese pronunciation(bihchi balei) for Beach Volleyball.
June 15th, 2007 at 6:12 amIIRC, she’s on one of the top Japanese teams in beach volleyball, but her pair hasn’t won anything of note.
So she has a second career as a model, appears as a talent on tv and ads, puts out an idol video and photobook, then complains that people focus on her modeling rather than volleyball? The irony is killing me…or perhaps that hypocrisy. Maybe she and Shinjo can have a heart to heart and compare notes.
June 15th, 2007 at 7:50 amShe does look good in a stoopid bikini though, which is kind-of-a community service in it’s own right
June 15th, 2007 at 9:50 amI’m with RTN. Not quite sure if this original post is meant to be sarcastic or what, but Miwa-san is undoubtedly making a lot more money as a “TV personality” than a pro volleyball player. She chooses to go on TV, put out sexy photo books and DVD’s and then complains about it?!
June 15th, 2007 at 3:13 pmI think her pair is ranked somewhere between 50 - 100 in the world, which isn’t enough to make a living off of just volleyball or enough to make it to the olympics. Maybe she is just frustrated at herself or her partner for not being good enough to get to the top 10 or even top 50!