 The scandals led many fans in Japan to abandon the sport, and also to the sale of such illustrious teams as the Nishitetsu Lions and Toei Flyers (now the Seibu Lions and Hokkaidō Nippon Ham Fighters).The term "black mist" was a reference to a political scandal that had enveloped the administration of Prime Minister Eisaku Satō just a few years earlier; "bribery was said to envelop politics like a black mist.