Japan footballers tackle food concerns in China

Chongqing - Food has become a concern for the Japanese squad at the East Asian championships here, but not because of a simmering scare at home over pesticide-tainted Chinese-made dumplings.

Rather, they are simply fed up with the international buffet served at their five-star hotel in this inland hub known for spicy Sichuan cuisine.

So Japan coach Takeshi Okada took the Blue Samurai to a Korean barbecue restaurant Monday night and defender Akira Kaji was thankful.

"It was a welcome change of atmosphere," the 27-year-old Gamba Osaka full back said ahead of a potentially volatile match against hosts China on Wednesday.

"It gave us a break. It made us feel ready to go all out for the next match."

The Korean barbecue, featuring spicy-flavoured beef or pork grilled over burning charcoal, is a hugely popular delight in Japan as a stamina booster.

All four men's teams, including China and two Koreas, are staying at the same downtown hotel and eating the same buffet while the women's squads are based in suburan Yongchuan.

The Japanese arrived here amid a food poisoining scare at home in which thousands of people complained of feeling ill after eating dumplings imported from China.

Authorities confirmed that 10 of them were lasced with pesticide.

It has yet to be determined where the products were contaminated, but the incident has added to concern over deep-rooted anti-Japanese sentiment in China dating to the country's wartime aggression in Asia.

Chinese football supporters booed and jeered the Japanese men's squad in a 1-1 draw with North Korea on Sunday, as they did at 2004 Asian Cup matches here.

They started a near riot in Beijing when Japan beat China in the Asian Cup final at that time.

Okada's squad was told by a national football association executive before coming here: "If they serve dumplings at a party and such, eat as many as possible to help promote bilateral relations."

"Dumplings are served regularly and we eat them normally," Japanese team spokesman Futoshi Nagamatsu added.

"Basically we ask the players to refrain from eating something too stimulating or perishable. Nobody has been taken ill due to what they ate."

But a team official said the international buffet, mainly Chinese but not excessively hot Sichuanese, tasted fatty and was seasoned in a way unfamiliar to Japanese.

"We must eat what they eat in the host country and experience its culture," outspoken veteran centre back Yuji Nakazawa said on arrival here.

"I eat what they serve," added the 30-year-old on camera later, although he admitted he did not like it much. -- AFP

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