Playing with grace

A piece of beautiful kimono cloth that we brought home from Japan.

We watched Japan beat Denmark as the World Cup enters the knock out stage. Ahead of the game we were wondering how soccer could be reconciled with some of the values we tend to associate with Japanese culture, like a quest for perfection in every task and every detail, like respect and understatement. This may be fanciful but I think you could see a difference in the way the Japanese players conducted themselves, compared to some of the other teams we have watched. If you can say this of soccer, they played with grace.