SAITAMA ¨C For nearly two decades, Shunji Usui has been a fixture at Urawa Red Diamonds matches at Saitama Stadium in the suburbs of Tokyo, a face in the crowd among the most avid ¡ª and sometimes rabid ¡ª fans of any Japanese soccer club.
In recent weeks, though, Usui¡¯s pride in the former Asian champions has been tempered by embarrassment at seeing the team he loves held up as a symbol of the kind of intolerance critics say has been emboldened by the conservative politics of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
On March 8, a banner with ¡°Japanese Only¡± scrawled on it was hoisted on a stadium gate behind goal one, an area packed with thousands of the club¡¯s hard-core fans. Despite complaints from onlookers, it remained in place until the end of the game.
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