著者
薮 耕太郎
出版者
スポーツ史学会
雑誌
スポーツ史研究 (ISSN:09151273)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.25, pp.43-56, 2012-03-31 (Released:2017-03-18)

This paper is to inquire the whereabouts and significance for the diffusion routes of Jiu-Jitsu (traditional Japanese martial arts) since the turn of the last century from the 19^<th> to 20^<th> century, by viewing through the two Americans, Risher W. Thornberry and John J. O'brien, from the time of having learned Jiu-Jitsu in Nagasaki foreign settlement and to their 30 years of activities after returning to the U.S. One of the main assignments to examine in studies of sport and physical education in late years is to take stock of an ethnocentric interpretation by approaching to the history of propagation abroad of Budo (a collective term of modernized Japanese martial arts) with special focus on bilateral cultural relationship. This paper approaches the following two points accordingly: i) To inquire the chance of the foreigners to encounter Japanese culture, the first point is to analyze the meaning of cultural exchange on local level by looking into Nagasaki foreign settlement. ii) To inquire the social factor of O'brien to get comprehensive sphere of activities by looking into his movement after returning to the U.S. iii) To review into the actual conditions for acceptance of Jiu-Jitsu as military martial arts through the activities of Thornberry at the camp, and study about figuration of cultural succession on the basis of the relationship between after retired him and his pupil. The conclusions of this paper are shown as followings. Firstly, the particular social situation of Nagasaki foreign settlement provided an opportunity for the Americans to accept Jiu-Jitsu. Moreover, according to Thornberry's textbook he had retained cultural identity of Jigo-Tenshin-Ryu (one of the styles of Jiu-Jitsu), but on the other hand the potentiality for this identity to fade out was already there. Secondly, O'brien's textbook points out that a fusion of Jiu-Jitsu and Physical Culture, and this mixture was variously symbolized through the local media. Furthermore, his recreational activities contributed to construct various diffusion routes. Thirdly, Thornberry's Jiu-Jitsu was accepted as military martial arts as the camps demand. On the other hand the succession of Thornbery's Jiu-Jitsu to his disciple Samuel K. Linck indicates that the first did not quite lose the identity of Jigo-Tenshin-Ryu. However, Linck did not succeed Thornberry's Jiu-Jitsu entirely, thus there was a chance of resulting the alternatives. To sum up my main points, the successors were connected one another through Jiu-Jitsu, but the binding force was limited. Thus various requests from the local society were subsumed in the process of succession, and in this meaning its mechanism is not accumulated very easily. However, this kind of flexibility played a role of having made their Jiu-Jitsu well known into the local population.
著者
薮 耕太郎
出版者
社団法人日本体育学会
雑誌
体育學研究 (ISSN:04846710)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.53, no.1, pp.123-135, 2008-06-10

It has been considered that budo (the generic name for Japanese martial arts, reconstructed from bujitsu by the Meiji era) began to be spread overseas by elite budo experts from the 19th century, and this has now become a popularly held historical view. Meanwhile, bujitsu (the generic name for Japanese traditional martial arts) experts who had been overseas at that time were considered less significant. Because the difference between budo and bujitsu was fuzzy at the time, bujitsu was considered to lie within the same mission as budo in terms of being spread overseas. By focusing on Shotaro Fukuoka's mission in Paraguay, and particularly on the recipients there, this study reconsiders the mission of budo overseas by non-elite jiu-jitsu (one kind of bujitsu art) experts. The study highlighted three points. Firstly, in the local newspaper, jiu-jitsu was considered to be an effective discipline, both physically and mentally, similar to swordplay and gymnastics. Secondly, jiu-jitsu was adopted by the local sports club as self-defense training. The present study considers that adoption of jiu-jitsu was smooth in the sports club. Thirdly, jiu-jitsu was used for show at mixed martial arts contests organized by the sports club for entertaining the local public. The fact that jiu-jitsu was widely adopted by the local public in Paraguay suggests that Fukuoka's mission was not to seek a certain type of adoption but rather flexibility. Finally, the local sports club became not only a recipient of jiu-jitsu, but also a dispatcher by teaching public jiu-jitsu classes, which enabled various classes of people to participate in jiu-jitsu.