“Human life is heavier than the Earth”

These are the words of Mr. FUKUDA Takeo (1905–1955), former Prime Minister of Japan.

Following the hijacking of a Japan Airlines plane in the autumn of 1977, Prime Minister Fukuda, at the airport in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, gave this explanation for his decision to accede to the extremists' demands for ransom payments and the release of imprisoned accomplices. Although this response was criticised internationally for being too soft on terrorism, his words reflecting the value of human life continue to strike a chord with many Japanese people.

There was an incident that made a lasting impression during a J1 match between Nagoya Grampus and Avispa Fukuoka on June 11 in matchweek 17. It occurred in the 82nd minute with the home side leading 2-1.

Seeking to score the equaliser, Fukuoka played a short corner kick on the right side, but the cross delivered by KONNO Kazuya sailed over the heads of his teammates and struck the left goal post before passing over the sideline. As Nagoya’s IZUMI Ryuji prepared for a throw-in, Referee KAWAMATA Shu blew his whistle, moved towards the corner with his hands raised, and then ran down the sideline pointing to the stand with his right hand to alert that something had happened there.

A few fans in the stands were on their feet and appeared to be concerned about the condition of someone lying diown. Kawamata stopped the match when he saw a fan about ten rows up in the stands suddenly collapse, and requested the Nagoya bench to send their doctor.

Soon after, Nagoya's Dr. SAKAI Tadahiro was seen running towards the corner with his bag alongside team trainer KONDO Hiroki and others. There were no steps from the pitch to access the stands. The fence was about one metre high and with handrails on top. With no time to waste, Sakai and Kondo started to climb the fence with the help of Nagoya defender NAKATANI Shinnosuke, who was shortly joined by Nagoya goalkeeper Mitchell LANGERAK and Fukuoka forward WELLINGTON. Fukuoka's Dr. USHIO Tetsuro arrived shortly afterwards to provide further assistance.

The referee’s actions were truly admirable, as he showed no hesitation in putting “human life first.” But I was equally impressed with the attitude of the players and staff of both teams, and the spectators. Every player paused and looked anxiously up into the stands. Coaches HASEGAWA Kenta from Nagoya and HASEBE Shigetoshi from Fukuoka also quietly observed the situation.

Kawamata summoned the captains of both teams to explain the situation and spoke to both coaches to get their consent. I believe he explained his intention to resume the match only after proper medical attention had been completed, rather than resuming in the middle of a medical emergency.

It was also admirable how the spectators handled themselves, as they understood the situation and remained silent while the collapsed fan was being treated. All of this occurred during the last match of the first half of the J1 season, when Nagoya was trying to stay among the league’s top teams and Fukuoka was trying to gain ground from middle of the table. As the game heated up with less than 10 minutes remaining, it would not have been surprising to see the players and fans express their frustration in this situation, but no such reactions were seen, presumably because most Japanese people concur that “Human life is heavier than the Earth.”

It was more than 11 minutes after the stoppage when all medical attention was completed, and the players started getting ready to play. A minute later, Kawamata called the captains of both teams to announce the resumption of the match, and after giving them another five minutes to prepare, he finally blew the whistle to restart the match.

Because the interruption was caused by an external factor, rather than time wasted on the pitch, the clock was reset to 81 minutes 40 seconds, and the game ended at 97 minutes 15 seconds, including additional time. In total, the second half lasted nearly 70 minutes. After the restart, a fierce battle ensued, but Nagoya managed to escape Fukuoka with 2-1 victory.

It was one of the most memorable matches in J. League’s 30-year history, as the referee, teams, and supporters all came together to save one human life.

In case you were wondering, the rescued fan is reported to have had no life-threatening symptoms and was discharged from the hospital safely, so please don't worry.

Written by OSUMI Yoshiyuki (Football Journalist)

*This article was originally posted on the Japan Football Association Newsletter, “JFAnews,” July 2023 edition.

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