News stories don't exist in a vacuum. What often makes them "news" is a confluence of factors that provide a context of interest. Though the public thinks the current story about 15 female judo athletes (jūdōka) demanding fundamental changes to the way the national team is structured and run is a self-contained news item, it wouldn't have been treated with the same seriousness had it not been bookended on the one side by a different scandal involving the high school basketball player in Osaka who committed suicide after being beaten by his coach, and on the other by the pending visit of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding Tokyo's bid for the 2020 summer games.