Legend of Shuzo Matsuoka The God of Sun

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The Legend of Shuzo Matsuoka The God of Sun (Japanese: 松岡修造太陽神伝説, Matsuoka Shuzo Taiyoushin Densetsu), refers to an internet legend that sports commentator and former tennis player Shuzo Matsuoka has the power to change the weather anywhere he is. The legend has circulated Japanese Twitter since 2014 after abnormal weather changes during his visit to the Winter Olympics in Russia.

Origin

Since late 2000s, Shuzo Matsuoka has been called the "God of Sun" (太陽神, Taiyoushin) for his energetic and positive personality. On February 18th, 2019, after abnormal weather in both Russia and Japan during Matsouka's reporting visit to the 2014 Winter Olympics Twitter user @sokuhou_yuki^[1] claimed that there were relationships between Matsuoka, whose official site announced he had been in Sochi since the 7th^[2], and recent abnormal weather in both Japan^[3] and Russia^[4] (shown below).^[4] His tweet gained over 40,000 retweets and 22,000 likes in a day and was covered by online news site ITmedia.^[5] The tweet reads:

[Shuzo Breaking News]
Shuzo Matsuoka flied to Sochi.
↓
Sochi temperature soared 10 degrees.
↓
Japan had the heaviest snowfall in 47 years.
↓
Shuzo Matuoka is now 46 years old.
↓
Sochi became 10 degrees cooler just after Shuzo left there.
↓
Shuzo returned, and a snow forecast has been cancelled. ← NEW!!

修造速報 Follow @sokuhou_yuki 【修造速報】松岡修造ソチへ飛ぶソチの気温を10度高める日本では47年ぶりの大雪現在の松岡修造は46歳 J 松岡修造がソチを離れて即、気温が10度下がる松岡修造帰国、雪の予報が消えるーNew!! 4:10 AM-18 Feb 2014 46,421 Retweets 22,959 Likes

Spread

Following the Sochi Olympics in February 2019, Japanese Twitter users like @shuzo_no_ichi^[7] and @syuzo_imadoko^[8] began creating accounts which reported on Matsuoka's whereabouts and the weather internet users were getting interested in the relationships between Shuzo Matsuoka's movement and weather.^[6] On December 16th, 2014, Twitter user @KAZ343434^[9] uploaded a graph showing Tokyo's below average temperatures that year during Matsuoka's absence (shown below)had been actually below to the average during his absence.^[9] His tweet garnered over 49,700 likes and 28,500 retweets in five years was featured in an ITmedia NetLab^[10] article.

2014年と平年の気温差に見る松岡修造氏の影響 6 4 2 0 ГАОТ -2 2014年の気温-平年気温のグラフフィギュアスケートブランプリ inバルセロナツチ五輪バンバシフィック水泳選手権 -6 LO co. T/I 6/T 9/+ 4/14 4/22 4/30 8/S 5/16 5/24 T/9 6/9 6/17 6/25 8/20 8/28 9/13 IZ/6 9/29 L/OT 10/15 I0/23 TE/OT 8/TT 11/16 11/24 12/2 OT/ZT

Matsuoka's Commentary

In April, 2015, Shuzo Matsuoka official site was down due to a heavy traffic caused by people who wanted to know his location due to a rare snowfall in the Kanto area. On April 9th, Matsuoka to his blog saying that he had been sick in bed a the time.^[11] A translation of his blog post reads "I was in bed for 2 days because of strained back and stomach cramp after bringing out all of my power for the event on the 6th." On April 11th, during a press conference Matsuoka responded to a question relating to the weather with "It's too heavy responsibility for me if weather gets changed by such a thing. If it's a (simple) story like that weather goes good when I'm fine, I want to be so. But, there are also people embittered in the weather. I'd like to decline to comment about it."^[12]^[13]^[14] Following his statement, many internet users accused some of cyberbullying by forcing the legend upon Matsuoka.

Teru Teru Shuzo

Teru Teru Shuzo (てるてる修造) is a Teru Teru bozu, a Japanese traditional paper-made talisman for good weather which features Matsuoka's face.^[16] Since the legend arose in 2014, pictures of homemade Teru Teru Shuzo been uploaded to Twitter by people wishing for sunny days (shown below).^[17]

Notable Events

In January, 2015, when Shuzo was visiting Melbourne for Australian Open, the city's temperature doubled from 17.8℃ (64.04℉) to 34.9℃ (94.82℉). In the meantime, Japan's temperature dropped 7 degrees.

In November,2015, when Shuzo was visiting Lethbridge, Canada for ISU grand prix series of Figure Skating, Japan was hit by an abnormally cold wave for that month.

In January, 2016, Melbourne, again, suffered extremely hot over 30℃ (86℉) during Shuzo's stay for the tennis tournament. Meanwhile, a heavy snow struck Japan.

In August, 2016, when Shuzo was visiting Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the Summer Olympics, the host city suffered on extreme heat throughout the event.

In October, 2017, when Shuzo was visiting Moscow, Russia for Grand Prix of Figure Skating, the city's temperature was as twice as that of usual. Meanwhile, Japan was hit by the coldest wave for that month in the past 60 years during his absence.

In February, 2018, Shuzo went to Pyeongchang, South Korea for the Winter Olympics. The host city's temperature rose over 10℃ (13.6℉) just after his arriving, and the olympic venues, again, suffered on shortage of snow. Meanwhile, Japan was hit by a record cold wave and heavy snows during his absence.

In December, 2018, when Shuzo was visiting Vancouver, Canada for Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, Japan was hit by a cold wave for the first time in that winter season.

In May, 2019, when Shuzo visited Sapporo to make a guest appearance for a tennis lesson event, the Japan's northernmost prefectural capital, located at 43 degrees north latitude, suffered an extremely hot day for that month, which recorded 39℃ (102.02℉).

In October 2019, when Shuzo was visiting Stuttgart, Germany for World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, the city suffered on abnormally high temperature. Meanwhile, a largest-ever scale typhoon Hagibis^[15] ripped through Japan during his absence.