Pro wrestling heads submit requests on behalf of the industry.
An organization having to do with mixed martial arts and professional wrestling held a meeting in Japan for the first time since 2020. From the pro wrestling space, NJPW President Takami Ohbari, Naoki Sugabayashi (NJPW Chairman), Sanshiro Takagi (CyberFight President) and Tetsuya Koda (Co-Founder of TJPW) were in attendance.
From the MMA side, the RIZIN CEO and a producer from ONE Championship were among the many MMA reps that were present.
約2年ぶりに議員会館で「超党派 格闘技振興議員連盟」が開催
大張社長からの質問は「『１、２、３、ダー！』や単発の選手の声援は、定義上の“大声”に該当するのか？」
「100％収容時の“全面的声出し応援”」等の要望も提出!!
詳細
⇒https://t.co/ltHbL0r2lC#njpw pic.twitter.com/AwkGjSrfOO— 新日本プロレスリング株式会社 (@njpw1972) December 6, 2022
Takami Ohbari spoke on behalf of NJPW and the pro wrestling industry and submitted requests. Two requests were read from CyberFight and TJPW. NJPW submitted one question and two requests. One of Ohbari’s requests had to do with lifting the ban on vocal crowd noise in venues that are filled to 100 percent capacity. His second request was to ask local governments and venues to relax their restrictions.
Further speaking about the request about governments and venues relaxing their restrictions, Ohbari said the following:
There is a rule that says that if there is no vocal crowd noise, then the venue can accommodate 100% of the audience, but I would like you to reintroduce such a rule set by the government. There are venues and municipalities that do not accept the new rule, which states that areas with shouting can be accommodated at 50 percent capacity, while areas without shouting can be accommodated at 100 percent capacity, and these can coexist.
Public agencies are no longer tracking people who have come into close contact with the public. Many venues are still required to have the contact information of individuals. The handling of personal information is very sensitive and burdensome.
The group’s lead representative noted that they’ve stressed that it is not necessary to have visitors’ information when they come to events since the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare does not currently require the identification of persons in close contact with visitors. They are consulting with experts when it comes to ‘shouting’ and vocal crowd noise.
They hope to continue studying the situation scientifically and COVID protocols such as wearing masks could change as time progresses.
