Japan, Sport and Society

Tradition and Change in a Globalizing World

Joseph Maguire, Masayoshi Nakayama

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2004
• ISBN:
  9781135762599
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Ethnic Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Evolving for centuries in relative isolation, sport in Japan developed a unique character reflective of Japanese culture and society. In recent decades, Japan's drive towards cultural and economic modernization has consciously incorporated a modernization of its sports cultures. Japan, Sport and Society provides insights into this process, revealing the tensions between continuity and change, tradition and modernity, the local and the global in a culture facing the new economic and political realities of our modern world. The book explores three broad areas of interest:

• sport and modern society in Japan
• current issues in social reconstruction and reproduction in sport
• modernization, globalization and sport in Japan.

Providing unprecedented access to new work from Japanese scholars, and raising key questions of globalization and cultural identity, this text represents a fascinating resource for students and researchers of sport and society.

Part I

Making of sport and modern Japanese society

Chapter 1

Innovation in martial arts

Yoshinobu Hamaguchi

Introduction

Bujutsu (arts and techniques in battle) is the collective term for traditional Japanese martial arts and includes kendo, judo, kyudo and sumo. It was one of the core values of the warrior class which was the ruling class before modernization. The warriors’ values, and the social system represented by the warrior philosophy (bushido), were the foundation of traditional Japanese culture. With the radical change in national policy to one that encouraged internationalization and modernization from the middle of the nineteenth century, the practical value of bujutsu techniques diminished. As a result its popularity waned. However, Bujutsu came to be considered as the central guide to traditional moral education and became more commonly known as budo. Judo was developed by Jigoro Kano as part of this transition from bujutsu to budo. With the internationalization of sports, judo continued evolving and became an Olympic ‘sport’. Judo continues to change as a result of globalization processes.

In this chapter an aspect of the Japanese modernization process will be examined with reference to the evolutionary process from bujutsu to budo. In addition, the transition of judo into a sport form and its subsequent global diffusion will also be considered. As part of this analysis, three components of sport in the broader cultural context are highlighted. These are cultural views of sports, the codes of behaviour in sports, and sports materials (Saeki, 1984: 67–98). Discussion of games as a specific example of a sport activity, as well as the structure of the sports world, which is a layered structure that contains the sport system as the whole, will be undertaken (Sugawara, 1980: 2–5). The components of sport activities will also be examined. These include: facilities; duration of time; prelusory goals; lusory means; allowable equipment and materials; the evaluation system; and, prescribed penalties for rule violations (Fraleigh, 1984: 68).

Japanese martial arts before modernization

The word bujutsu, the original term for Japanese martial arts, come from the Chinese character bu-, battle or martial, and jutsu, techniques or arts. Such arts were originally practised by bushi, or the warrior class in Japan. Bujutsu have a very long history. In Japan a unique system of bujutsu developed due to specific geographical and historical factors. In terms of geography Japan is isolated from the Asian Continent. Because of this, Japan had only rarely been exposed to cultural influences from neighbouring countries. Japan is composed of four rather large islands surrounded by smaller islands. Nearly eighty per cent of the country is mountainous and the rest is coastal plains. With these geographic characteristics the population shares limited living space and has developed life styles and social value systems different from those of continental Asia.

When the Yamato Court established and united the nation states between the fourth and fifth century, the chief of the tribe, who became an emperor, started ruling these states as one nation. He was assisted by the aristocrats who participated in politics. Although the emperor remained titular head of state until the nineteenth century, the warrior class actually ruled the nation from the twelfth to the middle of nineteenth century. Japanese martial arts developed within this historical context.

Bushi originated from landlords (jinushi) and families with the political power (gozoku) around the tenth century. Their work was to look after the land that was allocated to them by the government and they started to militarize in order to protect their lands (Todo, 2000: 35). These aristocrats soon formed groups and, aided by their warriors, started to gain greater power in society. In the twelfth century, a warrior group gained sufficient power to rule in places other than Kyoto where the emperor traditionally lived.

From the mid-fifteenth to mid-sixteenth century is known as the Warring States period. This struggle for power is best described by the term gekokujo (the overturning of those on top by those below). Bujutsu developed further in this period as practical defensive and offensive skills for survival and for gaining wealth and power. Bujutsu encompassed a range of skills including horse riding, archery, sword-fighting, and unarmed combat, involving grappling with and throwing an opponent down (Nakabayashi, 1987: 10). Although matchlock muskets were introduced as early as 1543, during this period battles usually involved hand-to-hand fighting, mainly with swords.

As the Warring States period ended, Japan started to gain political and military stability. The various skills that warriors were required collectively to master, as bujutsu, began to develop independent cultural identities. The sword-hunt decree of 1588 disarmed all the farmers and only warriors were granted the privilege of carrying swords. Thus, swords became a symbol of the warrior class and kenjutsu (swordsmanship) assumed an important role in bujutsu (Sakai, 2003: 29).

The Edo period, between 1603 and 1867, was a relatively stable age under the rule of a warrior family (the Tokugawas). The Tokugawa regime established a social hierachy and people were divided into four classes called shi-no-ko-sho, that is: warrior, farmer, artisan, merchant. In 1639, the Tokugawa regime also adopted a policy of national seclusion, the exception being highly restricted trade with the Dutch and Chinese. Because of this seclusion, Japan developed its own practices such as kabuki, ukiyo-e, sado and ikebana.

Martial arts in this period became less valued in terms of their practical use. Japan had political stability and members of the warrior class could no longer change their social status by using their combat skills. Instead, martial arts developed to be part of the warrior class’s education. In the same way as in other cultural activities, martial arts split into hundreds, or even thousands, of schools according to the different weapons used and the masters’ ideas. Each martial art was developed independently.

The main method of practice was kata (set form practice) with real swords, and after the middle of the eighteenth century, a practice method that used bamboo and wooden swords, with armour, became popular. Martial arts were less violent, and became more sport-like. Martial arts were becoming civilized. The late Edo period was socially stable and bujutsu thus took on an educational role. It had a philosophical dimension and a refined code of conduct (bushido) for warriors, as well as maintaining the skills formerly used in battle. This paved the way for it to develop and change to budo in the next period.

Japanese modernization and budo

After the arrival of American Commodore Matthew Perry, in 1853, Japan faced pressure to open the country up to the United States and European countries other than Holland. When in the Meiji period, after the Tokugawa regime returned political rule to the emperor in 1867, Japan opened its doors to the world and experienced rapid modernization. The government established factories and developed modern industry in order to build up military strength under its policy of ‘A rich country and a strong country’ and the slogan Increase production and promote industry’. The government also announced a Conscription Ordinance in 1873 and men had to do three years of military service. Moreover, the government introduced an Education Order, based on the European model, under the slogan ‘Civilization and enlightenment’ and combined this with the land tax reform of 1873. The warrior class was phased out with both the abolition of the status system and the prohibition of carrying swords. Bujutsu, therefore, declined. In 1889, the Constitution of the Empire of Japan was promulgated and, in 1890 the Diet (Parliament) was organized. Thus, Japan was developing as a modern country.

This rapid Westernization, however, ensured that the country was marked by internal friction and external conflict. These tensions led to a re-appreciation of budo in society. For example, the practical effectiveness of kenjutsu in close combat was acclaimed in the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. Japanese martial arts were also advocated as an educational tool for the cultivation of morals and strength of character in the Sino-Japanese war of 1894–95 and Russo-Japanese war of 1904–05. More concretely, kenjutsu became part of the compulsory training for the police in 1879 after the Satsuma Rebellion, and jujutsu began to be introduced as an element in the education and training of the police and the army in the 1880s.

In the process of modernization, Japanese martial arts were no longer of practical value in fighting battles. Spiritual education through a warrior way of life learnt through such training was, however, highly prized. With this change of attiude to martial arts, bujutsu became budo. Inoue (1998: 231) expresses this as the invention of budo. This involved a change from jutsu (battle skills) to do (the way of life). In addition, martial arts, which used to be the exclusive preserve of the warrior class and used as an educational medium in the hierarchical class system, started to be learned and practised by the whole nation, regardless of social status. This occurred in the context of the training associated with military service.

In 1895, the Japanese Martial Arts Federation, called Dai Nihon Butokukai, developed as a reforming organization for all Japanese martial arts. Dai Nihon Butokukai built Butokuden in Kyoto as its own training hall and, at the same time, established branch offices in every part of the country. Dai Nihon Butokukai became a foundational organization in 1909 which secured its social status. Moreover, in 1905, the Martial Arts teacher training school was established, and changed its name as it evolved: in 1910, Bujutsu Gakko (Martial Arts School); in 1912, Bujutsu Senmon Gakko (Martial Arts Special School) and, in 1919, Budo Senmon Gakko (Martial Arts Special School). In 1919, Dai Nihon Butokukai changed the name of all martial arts from bujutsu to budo. In 1926, in the school physical education (PE) curriculum, the term budo started to be used, differentiating it from team sports.

Dai Nihon Butokukai united all martial art schools that were then practising independently. This organization standardized Japanese martial arts: its proponents established a new kata form and developed and awarded common proficiency titles kyoshi and hanshi. This was different from the grading systems found in each school.

Dai Nihon Butokukai tried to develop budo by placing an emphasis on the spiritual and moral aspects of budo called zissenn teki shushin. To prevent budo becoming a competitive sport, it did not organize competitions but set up exhibition matches, in which there were no winning and losing sides. All the changes that Dai Nihon Butokukai developed were part of the innovative process involved in the transition from bujutsu to budo and Sakaue (1998: 180), who tried the same sort of innovation in kendo, notes that it was done only to eliminate the competitive aspects of kendo. This innovative view on budo became a common understanding in Japan, as budo has been differentiated from other sports subjects in the school PE curriculum.

Budo was adopted as a compulsory subject in 1931 as Japan moved towards militarism. Budo was used as an educational tool to encourage nationalism. After defeat in World War II, Dai Nihon Butoku-Kai was ordered to break up and budo was forbidden for several years. Soon after budo was resumed, the All-Japan Championships and the world cha...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Illustrations
• Series editors’ foreword
• Introduction
• PART I Making of sport and modern Japanese society
• PART II Social reconstruction, reproduction and sport
• PART III Modernization, globalization and sport: a critical examination
• Index