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Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 
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Philosophy of Sport and Physical 
Education in Japan: Its History, 
Characteristics and Prospects 
Takayuki Hata & Masami Sekine 
Version of record first published: 19 Jan 2012. 
To cite this article: Takayuki Hata & Masami Sekine (2010): Philosophy of Sport and Physical 
Education in Japan: Its History, Characteristics and Prospects, Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, 
37:2, 215-224 
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Its History, Characteristics and Prospects 
Japan had closed the country to foreigners from 1639 to 1868 during the Tokugawa 
shogunate government of Edo period.1 She opened her door to foreign trade and 
diplomatic relations and made a new start to become a modern nation, when a 
national policy of isolation ceased during the Meiji Restoration,2 which spanned 
both in the last years of Edo period and the early Meiji period (i.e., roughly begin-ning 
in the mid-19th century).3 The Restoration led to enormous changes in 
Japan’s political and social structure. People were busily occupied introducing 
Western civilization. In those days, sport was brought into Japan. It was intro-duced 
into high schools as well as colleges and universities and began to spread 
among young people. Sport was in fashion particularly among the elite groups of 
college and university students. Physical education as a school curriculum was 
also introduced into elementary and secondary schools. Gymnastics was mainly 
used as a method of physical education in schools. Sport and physical education 
through gymnastics was brand new to Japanese society. 
215 
Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, 2010, 37, 215-224 
© 2010 Human Kinetics, Inc. 
Philosophy of Sport and 
Physical Education in Japan: 
Takayuki Hata and Masami Sekine 
In this article, we examine philosophy of sport as a field of study in Japan, its 
history, characteristics, and future prospects, as part of a contribution to the inter-national 
development of the discipline of sport philosophy. The Japan Society for 
the Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education has been holding an annual sport 
philosophy conference every year since its inception in 1978. Nevertheless, the 
trends of sport philosophy in Japan have not been conveyed abroad. The lan-guage 
barrier between Japanese and English as an international communication 
tool makes it difficult to spread our work on the philosophy of sport throughout 
the world. The question arises as to whether the philosophy of sport in Japan has 
the same trends as those in the Western countries. Is it reasonable to assume that 
it has different aspects and interests than philosophy of sport in English-speaking 
countries? We will also try to address these questions for our audience. 
Sport and Physical Education Were Introduced 
Into Japan in the 19th Century 
The authors <hata@nagasaki-u.ac.jp> are with Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan. 
Downloaded by [University Of South Australia Library] at 06:32 10 March 2013
216 Hata and Sekine 
The system of production in Western countries, as Kataoka (7: p.79) put it, 
was characterized by the division of labor. Similarly, a division of institutions was 
established by that time. To divide was the most useful method at that time and 
influenced every field of organized social activity. Sport was separated from festi-val 
in order to pursue its full enjoyment. Gymnastics was separated from the 
methods of human education to pursue its purely physical components for their 
own sake. 
According to Kataoka (7: p.80), such division, was brand new in Japanese 
thinking about, and manner of dealing with, human activities. In sport, for exam-ple, 
the annual regatta in the Sumida River in Tokyo exhibited purely the power of 
students who enjoyed it very much, and gymnastics had a purely physical aim. 
Each of them had its own aim. Sport had its formal style of playful social behav-iors, 
such as playful competition, playful contest, playful conquest and playful 
game, that were designed originally for a playful and festive space where we play-fully 
dedicated human performances to God. To put a dance on a stage also 
belonged to this playful and festive space. Gymnastics had no rules and playful 
elements. It had its own method of training, exercise and practice for physical 
improvement. We can understand from what has already been stated that there 
were two separate attitudes and related methods regarding physical activity in 
Japan around the turn of the 19th century. One was the method of playful physical 
activities, and the other was the method of serious physical activities. Of these two 
methods of physical activities, the former developed as the sport culture for stu-dents 
and latter developed to form the most important content of school physical 
education until World War II finished. 
Philosophy of Physical Education Went Before 
Philosophy of Sport 
From the time that sport was introduced into Japan from the Western countries in 
the 19th century, the Japanese have accepted it and have been developing it as a 
means of physical education. This fact explains why sport philosophy in Japan has 
its origins in school physical education. To be more precise, in Japan, philoso-phers 
did not introduce or develop the field of sport philosophy. It was the experts 
in teaching sport and physical education that founded and have been administer-ing 
the academic society of sport philosophy. It was their interest in philosophy, 
not philosophers’ interests in sport, that established this field of study. 
At the beginning, when sport was introduced in Japan, it did not immediately 
infiltrate the entire nation, but university students played a vital role in encourag-ing 
it in the broader society. Sport, however, was not considered to be culture in 
spite of being played by an elite group of university students. Nobody regarded 
sport as having intellectual value in Japan before World War II. Both the students 
who played sport and also the professors and administrators in the universities, 
considered it to be the conduct opposed to academic studies and scholarly attain-ments. 
The manner of not considering sport to be an intellectual activity or an 
activity worthy of serious academic attention was a common attitude among phi-losophers 
toward sport. Indeed, this appears to have been a common attitude 
around the world. At this time, it seemed that philosophers paid little attention to 
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Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education in Japan 217 
sport whether in the East or in the West. In the United States, for example, Weiss 
(34) wrote: 
Yet philosophers, as a rule have not looked carefully into the topic. They have 
neglected sport. Sport, of course, is not the only wide-spread activity that they 
have slighted. Sex, work, play, and worldly success never won the steady 
attention of eminent philosophers. They have given considerable thought to 
the nature and desirability of achieving pleasure; they have occupied them-selves 
with the idea of excellence and with desire for it; they have been appre-ciative 
of the fact that in many basic ways men everywhere are men, with 
similar natures and appetites. But this has not led them to devote their time 
and energy to studying some of the most universal occupations of men. (p.4) 
This situation was the same in Japan for a long time. In 1933, however, Japa-nese 
philosopher, Nakai (19), wrote an article in Shisô, “The Structure of My 
Feelings When Playing Sport,” which was at that time the only work by a Japa-nese 
philosopher who treated sport philosophically. In this article, he gave phe-nomenological 
consideration to his personal aesthetic experiences gained by 
rowing. The same kind of philosophical interpretation, unfortunately, did not 
spread to other Japanese philosophers. Nakai himself stopped any further philo-sophical 
studies on sport after 1933. 
On the other hand, physical education was introduced into school when the 
educational system was established at the Meiji Restoration, and it became an 
essential part of the school curriculum in Japan. It was important as a means to 
make the strong body, or the strong nation, until World War II finished. Postwar 
physical education made much of sport as a means to improve the people’s health 
and was meant to be character building. We had a good grounding in Japan in 
studying physical education philosophically so that the development of philo-sophic 
study was easier in the field of physical education than in the field of sport. 
The following are the reasons why philosophy of physical education went 
before sport philosophy in Japan. Firstly, physical education was guaranteed in 
the national education system, so that, secondly, there were a constant number of 
researchers in the field of physical education who studied sport philosophically. 
The study of sport philosophy in Japan, as the philosophic study of physical edu-cation, 
became popular after World War II. We would like to consider the reasons 
that sport philosophy widened its object from physical education to sport. 
From Philosophy of Physical Education to 
Philosophy of Sport 
There were several reasons why sport philosophy widened its object from physi-cal 
education to sport after World War II. One of the reasons was the Japanese 
social context in 1960s. Competitive sport was recognized in Japan because of the 
holding of the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964. As a result, the nation became 
strongly interested in sport as competition. At this juncture, the object of sport 
philosophy focused on the social meaning of competitive sport, and an ethical 
problem arose when competitive sport came to have recognized social value. The 
Olympic Games in Tokyo promoted Japanese economic growth. Its influence 
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218 Hata and Sekine 
extended not only to the economy but also to sport as a social and cultural phe-nomenon. 
As a result, people came to enjoy sport in places other than in school 
sport facilities. In addition, it was recognized to be important to play sport after 
completing school. Also, the idea of lifetime sport spread quickly in Japan, after 
being introduced the idea of lifelong integrated education, on which Lengrand 
(11) made a speech at one of the meetings held by UNESCO in Paris. In this way, 
thoughts and conditions of both lifetime sport and lifelong integrated education 
were introduced into Japan at the same time, and sport was largely accepted by the 
nation and gained a lot of popularity. Thus, the requirements for considering sport 
philosophically were fulfilled. 
The other reason is a change of Japanese mental outlook. It changed, to put it 
concretely, from common consciousness to self-consciousness. This made sport a 
matter of personal meaning that was influenced by the understanding of human 
beings in the West. Originally there was no Japanese word corresponding with the 
English concept of “individual.” This English word was translated into Japanese 
word “kojin.” Since this Japanese word started being used for the English concept 
of individual after 1850, establishment of the subject has been at the core of 
modern Japanese thought, and consequently sport has come to be thought of as a 
creative individual activity in Japan. The Japanese have established their character 
and have come to discover the pleasure to live through sport. The recognition of 
the possibility of individual personal discovery through sport was an important 
reason why modern Western sport became prevalent in Japan. This was formally 
and spiritually different from the nonindividualist culture of the traditional Japa-nese 
martial arts. 
These were the Japanese social phenomena on sport in the age of lifetime 
sport. At that time, sport and the concept of self-realization were linked in parallel 
with the social changes in Japan (24: p.53). Niwa (20) grasped the social situation 
in Japan at that time and said that “Sport had more important meaning for self-actualization 
and self-assertion” (p.43). 
Philosophy of Sport and 
Physical Education After 1950 
We had leading figures in academic circles who tried to consider physical educa-tion 
philosophically. It was hard to say that they achieved a brilliant success, but 
their challenge to make clear the meaning of physical education was an important 
attempt in order to establish the philosophy of physical education (21). It was the 
establishment of the Japan Society of Health and Physical Education as an aca-demic 
society in 1950 that led to nation-wide recognition of physical education as 
a subject of serious academic research. A section of this Society that has now over 
200 members was organized for the philosophic study of physical education in 
1955. The name of this section, in spite of its object and method of study, was the 
Principles of Physical Education until it changed its name to the Philosophy of 
Physical Education in 2005. It was in 1978 that the Japan Society for the Philoso-phy 
of Sport and Physical Education was established. After that, several books 
written by the Western sport philosophers were translated into Japanese (1; 12; 13; 
14; 18; 33; 34; 36; 37). They had an important influence on the development of 
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Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education in Japan 219 
sport philosophy in Japan. Several professors among the founders of the Japan 
Society for the Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education were influenced by 
those Western sport philosophers. Kataoka for example was much influenced by 
Zeigler (36; 37) and others. Their achievements in sport ethics, especially those of 
Fraleigh (1) and Lenk (13; 14), spread to the graduate students who studied sport 
philosophy. The most influential philosopher was Weiss (34). Sport: A Philo-sophic 
Inquiry has been one of the most influential works on sport philosophy in 
Japan. 
Characteristic Themes in Japanese Journal Articles 
Researches into theories of the body currently represent a main emphasis of sport 
philosophy in Japan. Articles concerning the body have been published constantly 
in several journals. In 1980s two articles on the human body were accepted by the 
Journal of the Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education. Kato (8) considered 
the concept of subject and clarified the concept of identity as a way of studying 
human movement. Takizawa (27) studied the problem of consciousness in physi-cal 
activities, and clarified the work of our consciousness in action using a phe-nomenological 
analysis. 
From the 1990s to present, studies concerning theories of the body have 
developed using phenomenological methods. Takizawa (29) presented a paper 
entitled “A Process of Forming One’s View of the Human Body” and clarified the 
differences in approach between Japan and the Western countries. He presented a 
paper on the human body from a phenomenological standpoint in 2006, the title 
of which is “The Present State of One’s View of the Human Body in Japan,” and 
not only showed clearly what our view of the human body in Japan was, but also 
considered how the view of the human body was constructed (30). He also devel-oped 
a comparative cultural study in “Formation Process of One’s View of the 
Human Body through a Comparison between Japan, Germany and England.” The 
results of questionnaires on one’s view of the human body in this paper were com-pared 
and clarified that its formation depended on one’s culture (31). Takamatsu’s 
(26) “A Study of the Mode of Existence on the Body in Sport,” addressed whether 
the human moving body, which is the medium of expression in sport, is retreated 
behind the expressed meanings. The medium of expression vanishes and leaves 
the expressed meaning like the spoken language. He also described the mode of 
existence of the body through comparison with the mediums of language and art. 
It was described that the human moving body is not retreated behind the expressed 
meanings and showed sensuous characteristics of its existence, and that the mean-ings 
expressed in sport were not tightly combined with the human moving body. 
Katafuchi (6) clarified how the modernization in Meiji era influenced the 
change of traditional Japanese view of the body. From educational viewpoint, 
Takizawa (28) raised new questions about the relationship between body and soci-ety, 
and emphasized the educational value of the body culture different from the 
modern sport culture. As concerns the social problems and the body of the present 
age, Yamaguchi (35) wrote an article on the lack of sense for one’s life in our time, 
“An Inquiry into Physical Freedom as It is Related to the Transfiguration of the 
Eye to Human Body.” She investigated in this article how to restore one’s life and 
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220 Hata and Sekine 
concluded that physical freedom had a key to the solution of this difficult 
problem. 
Thus the characteristics of the Japanese journal articles are that many of them 
take the human body as an object of study. 
In recent years, articles in the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, have often 
focused on ethical problems in sport, and the ethical study of doping in particular 
has been an ongoing important theme (3; 4). When we turn our attention to the 
Japanese journal articles, ethical studies on sport have been carried out by Kondo 
(9; 10), Masumoto (15; 16; 17) and other researchers like Sekine and Hata (22). 
Kondo (19) considered ethically gender verification regulation in order to propose 
an ethically rational means of gender categorization. He also clarified, in one of 
his papers, the issue of an individual’s sovereignty over his/her own body and 
person in the field of professional boxing (10). Masumoto’s (15; 16; 17) studies 
clearly brought out the ethical issues make a strict interpretation of the opening 
ceremony of the Olympic Games. Sekine and Hata (22) considered the influences 
which doping brought sport and examined a means for conquering the crisis of 
sport. 
In the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education, however, 
papers on ethical problems concerning sport are few. The difference of percentage 
as regards the ethical studies on sport between these two journals may be the 
result of editorial policy. 
Future Prospects for Sport Philosophy in Japan 
We would like to suggest some future lines of development of sport philosophy 
in Japan. In recent years, a resurgence of interest in of Japanese traditional spiri-tuality 
is spreading within Japan. This represents a re-emergence of communities 
called ‘us’ away from the modern self called ‘me.’ Japanese sport philosophers 
have been dealing with this theme as a problem of communication. Theories of 
communication have been developed in relation to the theory of the body and its 
relationship to mind. One of the examples is a theory that enables us to commu-nicate 
with each other by playing sport or by enjoying physical activities. It is not 
too much to say that this research aims to investigate our mutual consciousness 
in terms of sport. On this point, ethical behavior arises from a body-based com-monality 
with others (23). By proposing the viewpoint of others, Sekine and 
Ishigaki (23) examine the way in which sympathies and common understandings 
are established among athletes. They research mutual consciousness through the 
body.S 
everal articles studied solidarity or communication with others in the con-text 
of sport. Ishigaki (5) emphasized that it is important for the person who 
performs physical activities to be able to sympathize with other performers, in 
order to reproduce the performance. He tried to clarify the structure of sympathy, 
and to indicate the method of performance reproduction. Fukasawa and two 
others (2) considered the possibility of understanding the human being in sport. 
He also discussed the mutual understanding of sport between different com-munities. 
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Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education in Japan 221 
There are several articles about possibilities of making relations with others 
not only through the language, but also the body. Tanaka (32), for example, in her 
paper entitled “Education for ‘Consideration to Others’ in Physical Education,” 
reconsidered a general idea of “consideration to others,” in order to clarify one’s 
relation to others in physical education. She concluded that “consideration to 
others” is not just a feeling, but an ability to interpret a situation from certain 
viewpoint, as well as producing the necessary action. Takahashi (25) clarified 
how we understand and practice “connection as action” with other players in 
movement. He concluded that “connection as action” is the practical ability to 
make an intersubjective communication, and that movement should be grasped 
not from “mental connection,” but from “connection as action.” 
Why have the studies of such tendencies increased in Japan recently? The 
recent social context is identified as one of the reasons. We Japanese have a cul-ture 
which has characteristics of harmony with others and community, as has 
been pointed out by the past Japanese cultural theory. We have developed a soli-darity 
awareness of ourselves rather than awareness of oneself or individual 
found in the West. However, recently, attitudes and the culture of such a com-munity 
are becoming extinct at a social level. Nevertheless, sport and physical 
education may play an important role in promoting respect for others and for 
community. To recover such a community, it is expected that the issues of ethics 
are going to develop not as personal ethics, but as group ethics or ethics of mutual 
relations. The rebuilding of the community becomes an issue across various 
areas in modern Japanese society, such as education, administration, medical 
care. Sport is expected to be one of the important elements in this community 
rebuilding. 
Since English is an international official language, if we do not write an 
article in English, it will not be read worldwide. An author in non-English coun-tries 
must write his/her work in English for readers in the world. What is the 
point of journals and books that are published in non-English languages like 
Japanese if that is the case? Nevertheless, there is a market for sport philosophy 
even in non-English countries. For example, the Japan Society for the Philoso-phy 
of Sport and Physical Education has about 150 members, and the potential 
demand for sport philosophy can be recognized among those who belong to the 
Japan Society of Physical Education, Health and Sport Sciences, which has a 
membership of over 6,000. Many of these members have interests in sport phi-losophy, 
like others who give thought to different areas of sport sciences outside 
their specialty. It might not be continuous interest by any means but represents 
potential demand for sport philosophy. 
As well, for the present Japanese philosophers do not have much influence 
on sport philosophy. Not many of them take an interest in sport philosophy or 
write their articles in English when they present their work. Unfortunately, infor-mation 
is seldom available on their work in English. 
For the time being, Japanese scholars’ work on sport philosophy will be 
published in Japanese. However, it is desirable for them to be written in English 
if they wish to contribute to the general advance of knowledge in philosophy of 
sport at an international level. 
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222 Hata and Sekine 
Conclusion 
The study of sport philosophy in Japan has many relations with themes about 
others and communication with them. The study of sport ethics is focused on 
interpersonal relations rather than on personal ethics. These are important main 
characteristics of sport philosophy and sport ethics in Japan. It is thought that in 
the background there is a social quest to recognize a sense of community. Sport 
philosophy in Japan may develop in this direction to spread this sense of 
community. 
Until now, sport philosophy in Japan has often developed by relying impor-tantly 
on translations of foreign works. Although it is uncertain in future whether 
this will be maintained in the same way or not, translations into Japanese will have 
an important role in the future. The reasons are as follows. It is important and 
effective for the person who has interest in sport philosophy to read documents in 
Japanese rather than in a foreign language. As long as Japanese is taught as an 
official language in Japan, the Japanese market in sport philosophy is maintained, 
and the translations into Japanese from foreign languages will play an important 
role particularly in the future for young researchers on sport philosophy. 
Acknowledgment 
We are most grateful to Professor John Russell for his helpful suggestions on an earlier 
draft of this paper and constructive comments and suggestions to improve the paper. We 
also would like to thank the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. This work was 
supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (22300209). 
Notes 
1. The Edo period, or the Tokugawa shogunate period, is a division of Japanese history run-ning 
from 1603 to 1868 and is the premodern era. The period marks the governance of the Edo 
or Tokugawa shogunate, which was officially established in 1603 by the first Edo shogun, Ieyasu 
Tokugawa. The period ended with the Meiji Restoration, the restoration of imperial rule by the 
15th and last shogun, Yoshinobu Tokugawa. The Edo period is also known as the beginning of 
the early modern period of Japan. 
2. The Meiji Restoration, also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution or Renewal, was a chain 
of events that led to enormous changes in Japan’ s political and social structure. It occurred in 
the latter half of the 19th century, a period that spans both the late Edo period (often called Late 
Tokugawa shogunate) and the beginning of Meiji Era. 
3. The Meiji period, or Meiji era, denotes the period in Japanese history during the 45-year 
reign of the Meiji Emperor (from 23 October 1868–30 July 1912). During this time, Japan began 
its modernization and rose to world power status. Meiji means ‘Enlightened Rule.’ 
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31. Takizawa, F., Tanaka, A., and Takahashi, K. “[Formation Process of One’s View of the 
Human Body through a Comparison between Japan, Germany and England].” Journal 
of the Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education, 29(1), 2007, 29–45. 
32. Tanaka, A. “[Education for ‘Consideration to Others’ in Physical Education: For Clar-ification 
of ‘Relation with Others’].” Journal of the Philosophy of Sport and Physical 
Education, 27(1), 2005, 35–44. 
33. Thomas, C.E. Sport in a Philosophic Context. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger, 1983. 
34. Weiss, P. Sport: A Philosophic Inquiry. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University 
Press, 1969. 
35. Yamaguchi, J. “ [An Inquiry into Physical Freedom as It Is Related to the Transfigura-tion 
of the Eye to Human Body].” Journal of the Philosophy of Sport and Physical 
Education, 25(1), 2003, 1–11. 
36. Ziegler, E.F. Philosophical Foundations for Physical, Health and Recreation Educa-tion. 
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1964. 
37. Ziegler, E.F. Physical Education and Sport Philosophy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Pren-tice- 
Hall, 1977. 
Downloaded by [University Of South Australia Library] at 06:32 10 March 2013

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Article review sed 407 (1)

  • 1. This article was downloaded by: [University Of South Australia Library] On: 10 March 2013, At: 06:32 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Journal of the Philosophy of Sport Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjps20 Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education in Japan: Its History, Characteristics and Prospects Takayuki Hata & Masami Sekine Version of record first published: 19 Jan 2012. To cite this article: Takayuki Hata & Masami Sekine (2010): Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education in Japan: Its History, Characteristics and Prospects, Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, 37:2, 215-224 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00948705.2010.9714777 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
  • 2. Its History, Characteristics and Prospects Japan had closed the country to foreigners from 1639 to 1868 during the Tokugawa shogunate government of Edo period.1 She opened her door to foreign trade and diplomatic relations and made a new start to become a modern nation, when a national policy of isolation ceased during the Meiji Restoration,2 which spanned both in the last years of Edo period and the early Meiji period (i.e., roughly begin-ning in the mid-19th century).3 The Restoration led to enormous changes in Japan’s political and social structure. People were busily occupied introducing Western civilization. In those days, sport was brought into Japan. It was intro-duced into high schools as well as colleges and universities and began to spread among young people. Sport was in fashion particularly among the elite groups of college and university students. Physical education as a school curriculum was also introduced into elementary and secondary schools. Gymnastics was mainly used as a method of physical education in schools. Sport and physical education through gymnastics was brand new to Japanese society. 215 Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, 2010, 37, 215-224 © 2010 Human Kinetics, Inc. Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education in Japan: Takayuki Hata and Masami Sekine In this article, we examine philosophy of sport as a field of study in Japan, its history, characteristics, and future prospects, as part of a contribution to the inter-national development of the discipline of sport philosophy. The Japan Society for the Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education has been holding an annual sport philosophy conference every year since its inception in 1978. Nevertheless, the trends of sport philosophy in Japan have not been conveyed abroad. The lan-guage barrier between Japanese and English as an international communication tool makes it difficult to spread our work on the philosophy of sport throughout the world. The question arises as to whether the philosophy of sport in Japan has the same trends as those in the Western countries. Is it reasonable to assume that it has different aspects and interests than philosophy of sport in English-speaking countries? We will also try to address these questions for our audience. Sport and Physical Education Were Introduced Into Japan in the 19th Century The authors <hata@nagasaki-u.ac.jp> are with Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan. Downloaded by [University Of South Australia Library] at 06:32 10 March 2013
  • 3. 216 Hata and Sekine The system of production in Western countries, as Kataoka (7: p.79) put it, was characterized by the division of labor. Similarly, a division of institutions was established by that time. To divide was the most useful method at that time and influenced every field of organized social activity. Sport was separated from festi-val in order to pursue its full enjoyment. Gymnastics was separated from the methods of human education to pursue its purely physical components for their own sake. According to Kataoka (7: p.80), such division, was brand new in Japanese thinking about, and manner of dealing with, human activities. In sport, for exam-ple, the annual regatta in the Sumida River in Tokyo exhibited purely the power of students who enjoyed it very much, and gymnastics had a purely physical aim. Each of them had its own aim. Sport had its formal style of playful social behav-iors, such as playful competition, playful contest, playful conquest and playful game, that were designed originally for a playful and festive space where we play-fully dedicated human performances to God. To put a dance on a stage also belonged to this playful and festive space. Gymnastics had no rules and playful elements. It had its own method of training, exercise and practice for physical improvement. We can understand from what has already been stated that there were two separate attitudes and related methods regarding physical activity in Japan around the turn of the 19th century. One was the method of playful physical activities, and the other was the method of serious physical activities. Of these two methods of physical activities, the former developed as the sport culture for stu-dents and latter developed to form the most important content of school physical education until World War II finished. Philosophy of Physical Education Went Before Philosophy of Sport From the time that sport was introduced into Japan from the Western countries in the 19th century, the Japanese have accepted it and have been developing it as a means of physical education. This fact explains why sport philosophy in Japan has its origins in school physical education. To be more precise, in Japan, philoso-phers did not introduce or develop the field of sport philosophy. It was the experts in teaching sport and physical education that founded and have been administer-ing the academic society of sport philosophy. It was their interest in philosophy, not philosophers’ interests in sport, that established this field of study. At the beginning, when sport was introduced in Japan, it did not immediately infiltrate the entire nation, but university students played a vital role in encourag-ing it in the broader society. Sport, however, was not considered to be culture in spite of being played by an elite group of university students. Nobody regarded sport as having intellectual value in Japan before World War II. Both the students who played sport and also the professors and administrators in the universities, considered it to be the conduct opposed to academic studies and scholarly attain-ments. The manner of not considering sport to be an intellectual activity or an activity worthy of serious academic attention was a common attitude among phi-losophers toward sport. Indeed, this appears to have been a common attitude around the world. At this time, it seemed that philosophers paid little attention to Downloaded by [University Of South Australia Library] at 06:32 10 March 2013
  • 4. Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education in Japan 217 sport whether in the East or in the West. In the United States, for example, Weiss (34) wrote: Yet philosophers, as a rule have not looked carefully into the topic. They have neglected sport. Sport, of course, is not the only wide-spread activity that they have slighted. Sex, work, play, and worldly success never won the steady attention of eminent philosophers. They have given considerable thought to the nature and desirability of achieving pleasure; they have occupied them-selves with the idea of excellence and with desire for it; they have been appre-ciative of the fact that in many basic ways men everywhere are men, with similar natures and appetites. But this has not led them to devote their time and energy to studying some of the most universal occupations of men. (p.4) This situation was the same in Japan for a long time. In 1933, however, Japa-nese philosopher, Nakai (19), wrote an article in Shisô, “The Structure of My Feelings When Playing Sport,” which was at that time the only work by a Japa-nese philosopher who treated sport philosophically. In this article, he gave phe-nomenological consideration to his personal aesthetic experiences gained by rowing. The same kind of philosophical interpretation, unfortunately, did not spread to other Japanese philosophers. Nakai himself stopped any further philo-sophical studies on sport after 1933. On the other hand, physical education was introduced into school when the educational system was established at the Meiji Restoration, and it became an essential part of the school curriculum in Japan. It was important as a means to make the strong body, or the strong nation, until World War II finished. Postwar physical education made much of sport as a means to improve the people’s health and was meant to be character building. We had a good grounding in Japan in studying physical education philosophically so that the development of philo-sophic study was easier in the field of physical education than in the field of sport. The following are the reasons why philosophy of physical education went before sport philosophy in Japan. Firstly, physical education was guaranteed in the national education system, so that, secondly, there were a constant number of researchers in the field of physical education who studied sport philosophically. The study of sport philosophy in Japan, as the philosophic study of physical edu-cation, became popular after World War II. We would like to consider the reasons that sport philosophy widened its object from physical education to sport. From Philosophy of Physical Education to Philosophy of Sport There were several reasons why sport philosophy widened its object from physi-cal education to sport after World War II. One of the reasons was the Japanese social context in 1960s. Competitive sport was recognized in Japan because of the holding of the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964. As a result, the nation became strongly interested in sport as competition. At this juncture, the object of sport philosophy focused on the social meaning of competitive sport, and an ethical problem arose when competitive sport came to have recognized social value. The Olympic Games in Tokyo promoted Japanese economic growth. Its influence Downloaded by [University Of South Australia Library] at 06:32 10 March 2013
  • 5. 218 Hata and Sekine extended not only to the economy but also to sport as a social and cultural phe-nomenon. As a result, people came to enjoy sport in places other than in school sport facilities. In addition, it was recognized to be important to play sport after completing school. Also, the idea of lifetime sport spread quickly in Japan, after being introduced the idea of lifelong integrated education, on which Lengrand (11) made a speech at one of the meetings held by UNESCO in Paris. In this way, thoughts and conditions of both lifetime sport and lifelong integrated education were introduced into Japan at the same time, and sport was largely accepted by the nation and gained a lot of popularity. Thus, the requirements for considering sport philosophically were fulfilled. The other reason is a change of Japanese mental outlook. It changed, to put it concretely, from common consciousness to self-consciousness. This made sport a matter of personal meaning that was influenced by the understanding of human beings in the West. Originally there was no Japanese word corresponding with the English concept of “individual.” This English word was translated into Japanese word “kojin.” Since this Japanese word started being used for the English concept of individual after 1850, establishment of the subject has been at the core of modern Japanese thought, and consequently sport has come to be thought of as a creative individual activity in Japan. The Japanese have established their character and have come to discover the pleasure to live through sport. The recognition of the possibility of individual personal discovery through sport was an important reason why modern Western sport became prevalent in Japan. This was formally and spiritually different from the nonindividualist culture of the traditional Japa-nese martial arts. These were the Japanese social phenomena on sport in the age of lifetime sport. At that time, sport and the concept of self-realization were linked in parallel with the social changes in Japan (24: p.53). Niwa (20) grasped the social situation in Japan at that time and said that “Sport had more important meaning for self-actualization and self-assertion” (p.43). Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education After 1950 We had leading figures in academic circles who tried to consider physical educa-tion philosophically. It was hard to say that they achieved a brilliant success, but their challenge to make clear the meaning of physical education was an important attempt in order to establish the philosophy of physical education (21). It was the establishment of the Japan Society of Health and Physical Education as an aca-demic society in 1950 that led to nation-wide recognition of physical education as a subject of serious academic research. A section of this Society that has now over 200 members was organized for the philosophic study of physical education in 1955. The name of this section, in spite of its object and method of study, was the Principles of Physical Education until it changed its name to the Philosophy of Physical Education in 2005. It was in 1978 that the Japan Society for the Philoso-phy of Sport and Physical Education was established. After that, several books written by the Western sport philosophers were translated into Japanese (1; 12; 13; 14; 18; 33; 34; 36; 37). They had an important influence on the development of Downloaded by [University Of South Australia Library] at 06:32 10 March 2013
  • 6. Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education in Japan 219 sport philosophy in Japan. Several professors among the founders of the Japan Society for the Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education were influenced by those Western sport philosophers. Kataoka for example was much influenced by Zeigler (36; 37) and others. Their achievements in sport ethics, especially those of Fraleigh (1) and Lenk (13; 14), spread to the graduate students who studied sport philosophy. The most influential philosopher was Weiss (34). Sport: A Philo-sophic Inquiry has been one of the most influential works on sport philosophy in Japan. Characteristic Themes in Japanese Journal Articles Researches into theories of the body currently represent a main emphasis of sport philosophy in Japan. Articles concerning the body have been published constantly in several journals. In 1980s two articles on the human body were accepted by the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education. Kato (8) considered the concept of subject and clarified the concept of identity as a way of studying human movement. Takizawa (27) studied the problem of consciousness in physi-cal activities, and clarified the work of our consciousness in action using a phe-nomenological analysis. From the 1990s to present, studies concerning theories of the body have developed using phenomenological methods. Takizawa (29) presented a paper entitled “A Process of Forming One’s View of the Human Body” and clarified the differences in approach between Japan and the Western countries. He presented a paper on the human body from a phenomenological standpoint in 2006, the title of which is “The Present State of One’s View of the Human Body in Japan,” and not only showed clearly what our view of the human body in Japan was, but also considered how the view of the human body was constructed (30). He also devel-oped a comparative cultural study in “Formation Process of One’s View of the Human Body through a Comparison between Japan, Germany and England.” The results of questionnaires on one’s view of the human body in this paper were com-pared and clarified that its formation depended on one’s culture (31). Takamatsu’s (26) “A Study of the Mode of Existence on the Body in Sport,” addressed whether the human moving body, which is the medium of expression in sport, is retreated behind the expressed meanings. The medium of expression vanishes and leaves the expressed meaning like the spoken language. He also described the mode of existence of the body through comparison with the mediums of language and art. It was described that the human moving body is not retreated behind the expressed meanings and showed sensuous characteristics of its existence, and that the mean-ings expressed in sport were not tightly combined with the human moving body. Katafuchi (6) clarified how the modernization in Meiji era influenced the change of traditional Japanese view of the body. From educational viewpoint, Takizawa (28) raised new questions about the relationship between body and soci-ety, and emphasized the educational value of the body culture different from the modern sport culture. As concerns the social problems and the body of the present age, Yamaguchi (35) wrote an article on the lack of sense for one’s life in our time, “An Inquiry into Physical Freedom as It is Related to the Transfiguration of the Eye to Human Body.” She investigated in this article how to restore one’s life and Downloaded by [University Of South Australia Library] at 06:32 10 March 2013
  • 7. 220 Hata and Sekine concluded that physical freedom had a key to the solution of this difficult problem. Thus the characteristics of the Japanese journal articles are that many of them take the human body as an object of study. In recent years, articles in the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, have often focused on ethical problems in sport, and the ethical study of doping in particular has been an ongoing important theme (3; 4). When we turn our attention to the Japanese journal articles, ethical studies on sport have been carried out by Kondo (9; 10), Masumoto (15; 16; 17) and other researchers like Sekine and Hata (22). Kondo (19) considered ethically gender verification regulation in order to propose an ethically rational means of gender categorization. He also clarified, in one of his papers, the issue of an individual’s sovereignty over his/her own body and person in the field of professional boxing (10). Masumoto’s (15; 16; 17) studies clearly brought out the ethical issues make a strict interpretation of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Sekine and Hata (22) considered the influences which doping brought sport and examined a means for conquering the crisis of sport. In the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education, however, papers on ethical problems concerning sport are few. The difference of percentage as regards the ethical studies on sport between these two journals may be the result of editorial policy. Future Prospects for Sport Philosophy in Japan We would like to suggest some future lines of development of sport philosophy in Japan. In recent years, a resurgence of interest in of Japanese traditional spiri-tuality is spreading within Japan. This represents a re-emergence of communities called ‘us’ away from the modern self called ‘me.’ Japanese sport philosophers have been dealing with this theme as a problem of communication. Theories of communication have been developed in relation to the theory of the body and its relationship to mind. One of the examples is a theory that enables us to commu-nicate with each other by playing sport or by enjoying physical activities. It is not too much to say that this research aims to investigate our mutual consciousness in terms of sport. On this point, ethical behavior arises from a body-based com-monality with others (23). By proposing the viewpoint of others, Sekine and Ishigaki (23) examine the way in which sympathies and common understandings are established among athletes. They research mutual consciousness through the body.S everal articles studied solidarity or communication with others in the con-text of sport. Ishigaki (5) emphasized that it is important for the person who performs physical activities to be able to sympathize with other performers, in order to reproduce the performance. He tried to clarify the structure of sympathy, and to indicate the method of performance reproduction. Fukasawa and two others (2) considered the possibility of understanding the human being in sport. He also discussed the mutual understanding of sport between different com-munities. Downloaded by [University Of South Australia Library] at 06:32 10 March 2013
  • 8. Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education in Japan 221 There are several articles about possibilities of making relations with others not only through the language, but also the body. Tanaka (32), for example, in her paper entitled “Education for ‘Consideration to Others’ in Physical Education,” reconsidered a general idea of “consideration to others,” in order to clarify one’s relation to others in physical education. She concluded that “consideration to others” is not just a feeling, but an ability to interpret a situation from certain viewpoint, as well as producing the necessary action. Takahashi (25) clarified how we understand and practice “connection as action” with other players in movement. He concluded that “connection as action” is the practical ability to make an intersubjective communication, and that movement should be grasped not from “mental connection,” but from “connection as action.” Why have the studies of such tendencies increased in Japan recently? The recent social context is identified as one of the reasons. We Japanese have a cul-ture which has characteristics of harmony with others and community, as has been pointed out by the past Japanese cultural theory. We have developed a soli-darity awareness of ourselves rather than awareness of oneself or individual found in the West. However, recently, attitudes and the culture of such a com-munity are becoming extinct at a social level. Nevertheless, sport and physical education may play an important role in promoting respect for others and for community. To recover such a community, it is expected that the issues of ethics are going to develop not as personal ethics, but as group ethics or ethics of mutual relations. The rebuilding of the community becomes an issue across various areas in modern Japanese society, such as education, administration, medical care. Sport is expected to be one of the important elements in this community rebuilding. Since English is an international official language, if we do not write an article in English, it will not be read worldwide. An author in non-English coun-tries must write his/her work in English for readers in the world. What is the point of journals and books that are published in non-English languages like Japanese if that is the case? Nevertheless, there is a market for sport philosophy even in non-English countries. For example, the Japan Society for the Philoso-phy of Sport and Physical Education has about 150 members, and the potential demand for sport philosophy can be recognized among those who belong to the Japan Society of Physical Education, Health and Sport Sciences, which has a membership of over 6,000. Many of these members have interests in sport phi-losophy, like others who give thought to different areas of sport sciences outside their specialty. It might not be continuous interest by any means but represents potential demand for sport philosophy. As well, for the present Japanese philosophers do not have much influence on sport philosophy. Not many of them take an interest in sport philosophy or write their articles in English when they present their work. Unfortunately, infor-mation is seldom available on their work in English. For the time being, Japanese scholars’ work on sport philosophy will be published in Japanese. However, it is desirable for them to be written in English if they wish to contribute to the general advance of knowledge in philosophy of sport at an international level. Downloaded by [University Of South Australia Library] at 06:32 10 March 2013
  • 9. 222 Hata and Sekine Conclusion The study of sport philosophy in Japan has many relations with themes about others and communication with them. The study of sport ethics is focused on interpersonal relations rather than on personal ethics. These are important main characteristics of sport philosophy and sport ethics in Japan. It is thought that in the background there is a social quest to recognize a sense of community. Sport philosophy in Japan may develop in this direction to spread this sense of community. Until now, sport philosophy in Japan has often developed by relying impor-tantly on translations of foreign works. Although it is uncertain in future whether this will be maintained in the same way or not, translations into Japanese will have an important role in the future. The reasons are as follows. It is important and effective for the person who has interest in sport philosophy to read documents in Japanese rather than in a foreign language. As long as Japanese is taught as an official language in Japan, the Japanese market in sport philosophy is maintained, and the translations into Japanese from foreign languages will play an important role particularly in the future for young researchers on sport philosophy. Acknowledgment We are most grateful to Professor John Russell for his helpful suggestions on an earlier draft of this paper and constructive comments and suggestions to improve the paper. We also would like to thank the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. This work was supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (22300209). Notes 1. The Edo period, or the Tokugawa shogunate period, is a division of Japanese history run-ning from 1603 to 1868 and is the premodern era. The period marks the governance of the Edo or Tokugawa shogunate, which was officially established in 1603 by the first Edo shogun, Ieyasu Tokugawa. The period ended with the Meiji Restoration, the restoration of imperial rule by the 15th and last shogun, Yoshinobu Tokugawa. The Edo period is also known as the beginning of the early modern period of Japan. 2. The Meiji Restoration, also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution or Renewal, was a chain of events that led to enormous changes in Japan’ s political and social structure. It occurred in the latter half of the 19th century, a period that spans both the late Edo period (often called Late Tokugawa shogunate) and the beginning of Meiji Era. 3. The Meiji period, or Meiji era, denotes the period in Japanese history during the 45-year reign of the Meiji Emperor (from 23 October 1868–30 July 1912). During this time, Japan began its modernization and rose to world power status. Meiji means ‘Enlightened Rule.’ References 1. Fraleigh, W.P. Right Actions in Sport: Ethics for Contestants. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 1984. 2. Fukasawa, K., Sekine, M., and Ishigaki, K. “(Eassom, S.) [The Possibility of the Understanding on Human Beings in Sport: Four Perspectives and Suggestions of Dis- Downloaded by [University Of South Australia Library] at 06:32 10 March 2013
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