The NFL in Japan: An Interview With a Tokyo-Based Houston Texans Blogger

Yohei Hori is a system engineer who lives in Tokyo. He is also a huge Houston Texans fan who writes a Japanese language blog focusing on the team. As he explained to me, he knows English, but the translation plug-in for his blog that translates from the Japanese leads to really messed up, humorous results.

The translated name for his blog is "Da Bull Pen - TEXANS cheering blog: Houston Texans and the NFL that, and I love it."

Admittedly, I must confess I enjoy reading the silly Japanese to English translations of all things Texans and NFL. Check his blog out and find your favorite odd, yet somehow accurate account. It's like bizarre poetry.

Discussing the Texans' defensive line after the first week loss to the Steelers:

Mario [Williams] is wonderful. Is, Marvel Smith, not more Willie Colon on the side of the line-up I'd have to be. Richard Smith's campaign to question. Amobi [Okoye] Where is it? Travis Johnson? The two will run unstoppable inside. Inactive [Frank] Okam of the game was to keep up hope.

I discovered Yohei posting as "texamaniac" at the I'm a Texans Club website (the above graphic spells "Houston Texans" in Japanese). He agreed to answer a few questions about what it is like to follow the NFL in Japan, and how he became a fan of the Texans.

Q: How popular is the NFL in Japan?

A: American football is a very minor sport in Japan. It is a pity, but most Japanese don't even understand the rules.There aren't many chances to get to know the sport. I've heard that only 4.5% of junior high and high schools have football teams, and there are approximately 18,000 players through out the nation. On the contrary, there are millions who play baseball or soccer, our two most popular sports.

But though in a slow pace, interests are growing, mainly among young children. A comic book named "Eyeshield 21" (http://www.eyeshield21.com/) is said to have a big influence to this. I've never read it before, though. I've heard some elementary schools are installing flag football for PE class.

Q: How hard is it to watch games in Japan?

A: TV broadcasts were very limited, but nowadays, we can watch a fair amount of games on "Pay TV". Not much Texans' games, though. I think we see a lot of Colts, Patriots, Raiders...There are also live broadcasts. We can follow playoffs and Super Bowls real-time. As long as we wake up early, that is...

Q: How did you become a fan of the Texans?

A: I spent 7 years of my childhood in Houston, in the 80s. Simply awesome days, I have tons of great childhood memories, and Houston is truly my hometown! And of course, I was an Oilers fan back then. The energy of our "House of Pain", the pain of our heartbreaking playoff losses - I bled Oiler blue, and can still feel all the excitement.

But as I came back to Japan, I spent few years away from chasing NFL. A big reason is that football is not that popular in Japan. Media exposures were limited, and there weren't many chances to watch games. And to tell the truth, my interest shifted to NBA for a while, as I started playing basketball myself, and it was truly a nice era to cheer for the Rockets, you know. But on hearing the founding of Texans, I've recalled my passion and love for the sport, and have come back to become a fan of our great new franchise!

Q: So why did you decide to start a Japanese language Houston Texans' blog?

A: Well, it was just for my self-satisfaction at first. But as powerless as I am, I'm willing to continue writing, to introduce to our nation how great our franchise is, and the excitement of the sport. Hopefully someday, maybe when we win the Super Bowl, my little blog will earn a bit more love from my nation.

Q: I hope your wish becomes true, and that you can see the Texans in person sometime..

A: I'm definitely coming back someday! I desperately need to take a look at our Texans in live action. I also want to see what has changed and what hasn't in Houston. I haven't had the chance to visit since I flew back to Japan, which was nearly 20 years ago! Pretty hard to believe it's been that long. Time flies ...

Also, my wife has never been to the States, so it would be great to take her along and show her around my hometown/country.

[I want to thank Yohei for this interview and giving us a better sense of what it is like to follow his favorite NFL team abroad, especially for a team that doesn't have any fairweather fans as there has been little fair weather for the franchise. Especially lately.]