Japanese volleyball player’s ‘extreme apology’ to female referee hit by ball racks up 10 million views

[Financial News] During a Japanese men’s volleyball All-Star match, a player who accidentally hit a referee with the ball has gone viral for dramatically throwing himself onto the court to apologize.
According to the British daily The Guardian on the 4th, a video of 26-year-old Yuji Nishida of Osaka Blazers Sakai apologizing during the men’s All-Star Game of the SV League, Japan’s top professional volleyball league, held in Kobe on January 1 has been spreading rapidly. It has already surpassed 10 million views.
In the footage, Nishida sends a left-handed spike serve during halftime to warm up. The ball flies out of bounds toward a female line judge standing off the court and hits her squarely in the back.
As soon as he sees this, Nishida sprints toward the staff member without a moment’s hesitation, then dives forward and slides across the court on his stomach. His pose closely resembles dogeza, a traditional Japanese form of apology in which a person prostrates themselves flat on the ground.
Startled by his sudden action, the referee instinctively steps back, then quickly breaks into a smile and repeatedly bows to signal that she is fine. Spectators and players nearby respond with applause and laughter.
The apology does not end there. Kneeling down, Nishida presses his palms together and bows his head several times, then stands up and continues to bow deeply over and over to show his remorse. The referee watching him responds with a warm smile.
Japanese TV commentators covering the game joked about the scene, saying things like, "I’m worried the friction will burn his hair," and "He looks like a freshly caught tuna."
The clip has spread quickly across social media, racking up millions of views. Online commenters wrote, "He’s really so polite," "That sliding form is a work of art," and "He looks like a human curling stone."
The Guardian wrote that "a Japanese volleyball player delivered an extreme performance, sliding headfirst across the floor," and jokingly added, "If Nishida ever quits volleyball, he should consider taking up skeleton," referring to the head-first ice track sliding sport.
Online, some people have linked Nishida’s behavior to Japan’s unique apology culture, describing it as a dogeza-style apology in which a person kneels and bows until their forehead touches the floor. Dogeza has long been known as a symbolic act used by politicians and public figures to show contrition when caught up in scandals.
Nishida later wrote on his social media, "I was truly surprised by the reactions from so many different countries. I apologize for my poor ball control."
He added, "I tried to bring ‘Haikyu!!’ (the popular Japanese volleyball manga) to life on the court, so I hope everyone had a fun day watching it."
moon@fnnews.com Moon Young-jin Reporter