著者
一階 千絵
出版者
Japan Society of Sport Anthropology
雑誌
スポーツ人類學研究 (ISSN:13454358)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2002, no.4, pp.17-40, 2003-03-31 (Released:2011-08-16)
参考文献数
84

Women's Sumo wrestling was performed as a show from the middle of the 17th century (the middle of the Edo period) to 1950's in Japan. These women's Sumo show have been regarded as an obscene show.The purpose of this study is considering the cultural characters of the women's Sumo show of the Edo period by examining literature of those days.The factors that materialize women's Sumo wrestling as show are as follows. 1. Sumo wrestling has appeals as show. These are the outstanding physical strength and techniques which wrestlers have.2. Female wrestlers might be extraordinary beings by wearing the symbol of the gender of the opposite sex (Sumo wrestling) on her body.3. That female wrestlers expose her naked body and wrestle with a blind man attracted a spectator's sexual interest. The obscenity appears also in “Shiko-Na”.4. Since there was a sense of values that likes an active woman in Edo, it is thought that female wrestler's Sumo wrestling might exist as a show.So, the women's Sumo show of the Edo period was not a mere obscene or “erotic and grotesque” show.
著者
菱田 慶文
出版者
Japan Society of Sport Anthropology
雑誌
スポーツ人類學研究 (ISSN:13454358)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2005and2006, no.7-8, pp.13-26, 2007-03-31 (Released:2011-06-08)
参考文献数
5

Muay Thai is a martial art which is a root of Japanese Kick Boxing and K-1. It has become a famous sport among Thai as a martial art.However, there are two hierarchies; the low-income-class who support Muay Thai and the wealthy-class who do not. Muay Thai players are usually poor and even champions are not well known. Moreover, they do not live well off even after becoming a Muay Thai player. Most of them are from ISAN area which is rated as the poorest area. They usually chose to be Muay Thai players as their occupation. The supporters of the Muay Thai are not wealthy people such as university students or of the elites-class who have received a higher education, but the day laborers or lower paid workers.The Muay Thai stadium is used as a venue for gambling. There are various ways of gambling at the Muay Thai stadium. Audiences are if not tourists, are all gamblers. It is a bustling venue since Chinese promoters manipulate the poorest Thais at the stadium. Muay Thai stadium represents a microcosm of Thai society. Since Muay Thai involves such gambling, the wealthy-class and university students who have received a higher education look down on it rather than showing interest. This research is an analysis on why the wealthy people such as university students and the elite-class do not show any interest and conversely the low-income-class such as blue-color workers support Muay Thai enthusiastically.
著者
高橋 京子
出版者
Japan Society of Sport Anthropology
雑誌
スポーツ人類學研究 (ISSN:13454358)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2004, no.6, pp.1-26, 2005-03-31 (Released:2011-06-08)
参考文献数
40

Sickness can be diagnosed and treated in two contexts-medical and socio-cultural. This paper looks at the latter. One socio-cultural method for relieving pain and discomfort are therapeutic ceremonies-prayers to gods, spirits, and the souls of ancestors, and therapeutic trances. Kagura (sacred Shinto music and dance) is an example of such socio-cultural therapy. This type of therapeutic performance is one of the roots of Japanese folk dance. To my knowledge, no research of folk dance in Japan has been carried out from this perspective. Medical science has progressed, while socio-cultural therapy has been continuously practiced, but ignored by research. This paper aims to address the need for more research into the therapeutic functions of Japanese folk dance.The object of this research is hoso-odori (“smallpox dance”), a prayer dance for the cure of smallpox practiced by women in Kagoshima Prefecture. In my previous research, I had only identified the movements unique to hoso-odori. The goal of this research was to clarify the meanings of those characteristic movements. Motion analysis was used to reveal the characteristics, with special attention given to the arm movements.The research methods were : (1) interviews(2) fieldwork(3) motion analysis from images(a) of the dance structure(b) of the arm movementsIn (1), the objects of research were hoso-odori in 25 areas of Kagoshima Prefecture. In (2) and (3), I focused on the forms of the dance found in six areas- Tsuruta-cho, Satsuma-cho and Iriki-cho in the north, and Hiyoshi-cho, Oura-cho Sakaki, and Mishimamura Iojima in the south.Hoso-odori appeared in response to an epidemic of smallpox at the end of the Edo period. It originated as a form of worship to the god of hoso (smallpox). Pilgrimages to Ise shrine were popular, and hoso-odori was also practiced out of devotion to the god of Ise.A survey of spatial structures (in each of the six areas) showed that hoso-odori are held at festivities or religious ceremonies. Costumes and ornaments were also surveyed, and each showed distinct characteristics. Survey of lyrics revealed as content common to all six areas devotion to the gods of hoso and Ise. In (3), I analyzed the dance movements in on the basis of these results.In (3a), the analysis of the dance structure, I first illustrated with diagrams the movements (especially of the arms) of the dance forms from the six areas. Next, I identified the phrases. I defined “phrase” as a set of movements in a given time. Also considered as elements of a phrase were direction (which way the dancer faces) and formation (how many dancers in what configuration). As a result, I found that the characteristic arm movements manekite (“beckoning”) and gassho (“prayer”) that I had previously identified appeared frequently. I also identified, for the first time, another characteristic arm movement, harai (“expel”).In (3b) analysis of the arm movements, I measured the frequency of the three arm movements manekite, gassho and harai.Conclusion : From the analyses of space structure, costumes and ornaments, lyrics, and movements, and this analysis revealed that hoso-odori has two essential characteristics : a prayer structure, and prayer content, which differed between north and south. In terms of structure, the women use manekite to invite the god of Ise to bring happiness to the area Then they also beckon (maneku) the god of hoso. The power of Ise and their harai movements serve to repel the god of hoso and hoso.In the North, manekite movements to beckon the god of Ise appear more frequently. In the south, harai movements to repel the god of hoso appeared more frequently. This difference may be attributed to the fact that the god of Ise is thought to come from north of
著者
永木 耕介
出版者
Japan Society of Sport Anthropology
雑誌
スポーツ人類學研究 (ISSN:13454358)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2008, no.10, pp.1-17, 2009

Jigoro Kano (1860-1938) created Kodokan Judo based on the Jujutsu of the Edo period. Kano formed "The research institute of martial arts" towards the end of the Taisho era (early 1920s), and recommenced the study of practical Jujutsu. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate why he felt the need for advancing such research. <BR>As a hypothesis, during the Meiji Era (1868-1912) Judo was taught as a version of Jujutsu, being aimed for the most part as a form of education for the masses. However, he felt a range of different martial arts techniques should be taught in addition to competition oriented techniques. To this purpose Kano advocated an in-depth study of other forms of combat. It is also plausible that one of the reasons for this approach was due to the increasing popularity of Judo overseas, where it was perceived that it could be enhanced by maintaining continuity with combat effective techniques from traditional Jujutsu. <BR>First, I analyzed the timeframe for literature written by Kano in response to queries about "Judo as a martial art". Questions of this nature gradually became more frequent from the Taisho and subsequent eras. There was also more contact with martial arts such as Karate and Aiki-jujutsu from around from the end of the Taisho era. <BR>Investigating of the spread of Judo in Britain as an example of its international propagation, it became clear that modifications in thought succeeded in aiding Judo's popularity overseas. Jujutsu experts such as Yukio Tani and Gunji Koizumi were able to convert to Judo whilst maintaining their connection to traditional Jujutsu schools. Moreover, Kano concluded that it was necessary maintain the association with Jujutsu in order to highlight the individual characteristics of Judo compared to Western sports.
著者
岡田 桂
出版者
Japan Society of Sport Anthropology
雑誌
スポーツ人類學研究 (ISSN:13454358)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2004, no.6, pp.27-43, 2005-03-31 (Released:2011-06-08)
参考文献数
32

Jiu-Jitsu, the Japanese art of self-defence, was firstly introduced to Britain as “Bartitsu” by E.W. Barton-Wright at the end of the 19th century. Despite Barton-Wright and his school were quickly faded away from history, Jiu-Jitsu with Japanese experts started its fad for the British again in the early years of the 20th century. Meanwhile there was another intense fad for “Physical Culture” which was mainly promoted by Eugene Sandow who used to be a famous bodybuilder and was later published a magazine introducing his own fitness system. Those two fads were closely linked to each other because they took a similar route to success; from exhibitions in music halls to commercial objects practiced by ordinary people.Especially, in the beginning of its diffusion, Jiu-Jitsu wrestlers became popular by beating famous western wrestlers and bodybuilders in the music hall matches, who were regarded as the embodiment of Physical Culture at that time.Physical Culture flourished by increased currency of the discourse about “degeneration” or “deterioration” derived from Darwinism. The experience suffering from the Boer Wars were a shock to the British in those days, because it was clear that the bodies of British soldiers were inferior to Boer soldiers who used to be regarded as just “farmers” with Dutch roots. The sense of crisis for both human bodies and British Empire raised the necessity to improve working class people as potential soldiers. It seemed that Physical Culture could be the chief solution for this problem.The function of Jiu-Jitsu which enables smaller people to compete against larger ones was also linked by many Physical Culturists to the Japanese victories in the first the Sino-Japanese War and then the Russo-Japanese War. At least from the early years of the 20th century until the time of WWI, the image of Jiu-Jitsu and its practice was linked with Physical Culture and people could dissolve their fears about degeneration of their bodies. However after WWI, as relations between Britain and Japan changed, the representation of Jiu-Jitsu also altered from something inside Physical Culture to a potential threat to Britain.
著者
藤本 章
出版者
Japan Society of Sport Anthropology
雑誌
スポーツ人類學研究 (ISSN:13454358)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2000, no.2, pp.55-73, 2001-01-31 (Released:2011-06-08)
参考文献数
59

The religious festival called Kami-sumo has been handed down by Hachimankohyou-jinjya at Yoshitomi town in Fukuoka prefecture. Kami-sumo is acted by using puppet called Kugutsu. It is carried out every forth year. In the day of the festival, Kami-sumo is played on the sea in the morning, and in the evening, it is played on Shinbuden located in Hachimankohyou-jinjya.The subject of this study is to describe the story of Kami-sumo and the expression that composes them today, from a viewpoint of historical description in anthropology. The myths, the data of hearing investigation and the image materials were used in this study to describe Kami-sumo.The myths to deal with this study were found in Hachimankohyou-jinjya and Usa-jinguu. And the data of hearing investigation were collected in Hachimankohyou-jinjya in June and July, 1999. And the image materials were taken pictures in 1988 and 1996.The following conclusions were derived;1) Hatimankohyou-jinjya was originally composed of Okinaga-datjinguu and Kohyou-daimyoujin, but soon these two Shinto shrine were put together. The ritual for repose of souls in the sea was the first form of Kugutsu-sinji, and the transfer of the place of Kugutsu-sinji caused a change of meaning of Kugutsu-sinji.2) The change of social system caused gradual increase of manipulators who do not have religious relationship with Hatimankohyou-jinjya. And these changes have caused the situation that it must particularly give sacredness to religious festival. For these reasons, the practice of Kami-sumo has been composed of the contents to touch God and to succeed to how to manipulate Kugutsu today.3) The story to deepen and reconfirm faith in God Sumiyoshi is unfolding by Kami-sumo. The absolute strength of Sumiyoshi is expressed through his various techniques, his quick motion and his physical toughness. In other words, the various techniques, quick motion and physical toughness show the very important elements that composed God's sacredness.At the end, Kami-sumo has been continued in Hatimankohyou-jinjya as a Sinto ritual that is decorated with myths. The structure that sumo is closely concerned with a story about strength of god is maintained on Kami-sumo even today, while the ritual aspect is agitated by change of manipulators.
著者
永木 耕介
出版者
Japan Society of Sport Anthropology
雑誌
スポーツ人類學研究 (ISSN:13454358)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2008, no.10-11, pp.1-17, 2009-03-31 (Released:2011-08-16)
参考文献数
70

Jigoro Kano (1860-1938) created Kodokan Judo based on the Jujutsu of the Edo period. Kano formed "The research institute of martial arts" towards the end of the Taisho era (early 1920s), and recommenced the study of practical Jujutsu. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate why he felt the need for advancing such research. As a hypothesis, during the Meiji Era (1868-1912) Judo was taught as a version of Jujutsu, being aimed for the most part as a form of education for the masses. However, he felt a range of different martial arts techniques should be taught in addition to competition oriented techniques. To this purpose Kano advocated an in-depth study of other forms of combat. It is also plausible that one of the reasons for this approach was due to the increasing popularity of Judo overseas, where it was perceived that it could be enhanced by maintaining continuity with combat effective techniques from traditional Jujutsu. First, I analyzed the timeframe for literature written by Kano in response to queries about "Judo as a martial art". Questions of this nature gradually became more frequent from the Taisho and subsequent eras. There was also more contact with martial arts such as Karate and Aiki-jujutsu from around from the end of the Taisho era. Investigating of the spread of Judo in Britain as an example of its international propagation, it became clear that modifications in thought succeeded in aiding Judo's popularity overseas. Jujutsu experts such as Yukio Tani and Gunji Koizumi were able to convert to Judo whilst maintaining their connection to traditional Jujutsu schools. Moreover, Kano concluded that it was necessary maintain the association with Jujutsu in order to highlight the individual characteristics of Judo compared to Western sports.
著者
弓削田 綾乃
出版者
Japan Society of Sport Anthropology
雑誌
スポーツ人類學研究 (ISSN:13454358)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2008, no.10-11, pp.10-58, 2009-03-31 (Released:2011-06-08)
参考文献数
58

The purpose of this research is to explain the structure of the physical movements of the traditional dance “Hotoke-mai” in Japan, where the Buddha appears. I also examine the dramatics and stage effects with the idea of Raigo, where Bodhisattvas appear and lead the people into the paradise.I have analyzed Hotoke-mai by watching the movements on video, researching many dancing books, guidance documents and the support base of festivals. I chose to study the dance in the following temples and a shrine : Matsunoo temple in Maizuru city, Kyoto Prefecture, Itosaki temple in Fukui city, Fukui Prefecture and Oguni shrine in Mori town, Syuchi-gun, Shizuoka Prefecture.I have analyzed their movements from the following viewpoints. I. Moving sequences, poses and patterns during the routine. 2. The percentages of movements and poses. 3. The line of physical movements on the moving sequences. 4. The formation of the dancer's hands. 5. The formation changes of all the dancers. 6. The dynamics of the music frequencies and the movements.The results of the three Hotoke-mai studied are as follows.As for the festival of Matsunoo, which celebrates the birth of Shaka-Nyorai-identical with the Buddha-, the key word concerned with “death” is extracted. They make hand formations that means, Amida-Nyorai-who preaches the teachings-leading into the paradise. As for the change where 6 dancers point in 8 different directions, it suggest the symbol of 8 leafs Mandala with Dainichi-Nyorai-who preaches the truth through all creation-staying in the center. In other words, Buddhas who appeared for Hotoke-mai are the embodiment of the doctrine.In Itosaki, there is an old legend. People found a sculpture of the thousand armed Kannon in the sea, and it was niched in the temple. Then, some Bodhisa ttvas-identical to Buddhas who seek to save all living beings-and celestial maidens appeared and danced in the sky. The bounding steps of the dance and the formation that slowly turns clockwise, express floatingness in the sky. It expresses the force running through the sky and the joy of the 8 dancers that are gathered in the center.Hotoke-mai of Oguni is one of 12 Bugaku in the shrine festival. The first half are the sacred dances of “God's children”, the latter half are the civil dances of the adult men. Hotoke-mai is one of the sacred dances. It includes, the poses that are metaphors of sex organs, the movements that point at the heaven and earth, the formation of the left turn, the going straight and returning back to the formation, and the gold and silver disk adornments.The structures that are common to the three Hotoke-mai are the following points.The dancers do some movements that expression the Buddha's World. They express the Buddha's symbolic figures with their hands and the sacred centripetal force with their formation. And, it shows the audience the ways in which dancers walk into the stage from the dressing room, that is known as the religious action of “Gyo-do”.Performing the above, a scene of “Buddhas appear on the stage, they dance and then leave”. This is the same as the belief of Raigo, where various Buddhas go to and from the paradise and the human world. I consider the above the productions an extraordinary encounter of Buddhas and humans by portrayed by dancers, where by human bodies are a medium to setup the stage for an amazing festival.
著者
岡田 桂
出版者
Japan Society of Sport Anthropology
雑誌
スポーツ人類學研究 (ISSN:13454358)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2004, no.6, pp.27-43, 2005

Jiu-Jitsu, the Japanese art of self-defence, was firstly introduced to Britain as "Bartitsu" by E.W. Barton-Wright at the end of the 19th century. Despite Barton-Wright and his school were quickly faded away from history, Jiu-Jitsu with Japanese experts started its fad for the British again in the early years of the 20<SUP>th</SUP> century. Meanwhile there was another intense fad for "Physical Culture" which was mainly promoted by Eugene Sandow who used to be a famous bodybuilder and was later published a magazine introducing his own fitness system. Those two fads were closely linked to each other because they took a similar route to success; from exhibitions in music halls to commercial objects practiced by ordinary people.Especially, in the beginning of its diffusion, Jiu-Jitsu wrestlers became popular by beating famous western wrestlers and bodybuilders in the music hall matches, who were regarded as the embodiment of Physical Culture at that time.<BR>Physical Culture flourished by increased currency of the discourse about "degeneration" or "deterioration" derived from Darwinism. The experience suffering from the Boer Wars were a shock to the British in those days, because it was clear that the bodies of British soldiers were inferior to Boer soldiers who used to be regarded as just "farmers" with Dutch roots. The sense of crisis for both human bodies and British Empire raised the necessity to improve working class people as potential soldiers. It seemed that Physical Culture could be the chief solution for this problem.<BR>The function of Jiu-Jitsu which enables smaller people to compete against larger ones was also linked by many Physical Culturists to the Japanese victories in the first the Sino-Japanese War and then the Russo-Japanese War. At least from the early years of the 20<SUP>th</SUP> century until the time of WWI, the image of Jiu-Jitsu and its practice was linked with Physical Culture and people could dissolve their fears about degeneration of their bodies. However after WWI, as relations between Britain and Japan changed, the representation of Jiu-Jitsu also altered from something inside Physical Culture to a potential threat to Britain.
著者
神戸 周
出版者
Japan Society of Sport Anthropology
雑誌
スポーツ人類學研究 (ISSN:13454358)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2007, no.9, pp.1-28, 2008-07-31 (Released:2011-08-16)
参考文献数
79

Frevo is a popular spectacle of Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. Concerning the word “frevo”, three meanings were ascertained : 1) dance which is witnessed in the streets and dance parties during a carnival (Frevo as a street dance with characteristic steps is especially called Passo), 2) music which is characterized by its syncopated, violent and frenzied rhythm and 3) enthusiastic crowd which parades through the streets during a carnival. With these three meanings in mind, in this study the popular spectacle was examined from two points of view : 1) historical examination about the circumstances of Frevo's appearance in the streets of Recife's carnival and 2) analysis of Passo's steps (which are practiced at the pres-ent day) and performances. The first topic was examined by means of written materials which were collected in Recife by the author. The data utilized for examining the second topic were videotapes in which the steps and performances of Passo had been recorded by the author under the direction of Mestre Nascimento do Passo who was the leading expert on this dance. The video recording was held in Recife and Olinda in August, 2003. The eighty-six steps of Passo were classified from five points of view (which were found out by observing the videotapes closely) and the steps used by five passistas (Frevo dancers) in their solo performances were specified. The results of this study were summarized as follows. Frevo was appeared in the streets of Recife during a carnival early in the 20th century. It was considered that two social factors had had a great influence on its appearance. The first factor was a change of festival style in the street carnival (In Recife, after the 1850s, fancy dress parade gradually took the place of disorderly street carnival style called entrudo). The second was an large-scale influx of the black lower classes into the city of Recife as a consequence of the abolition of slavery in 1888. Carnival clubs which appeared successively in the 1880s and were called clubes pedestres impelled the residents of Recife to a new carnival diversion, that is, to make merry accompanying a parade of those clubs in large numbers. On that occasion, enthusiasm called Frevo appeared in the crowd. The mainspring which led the crowd to enthusiasm was music played by brass bands of carnival clubs. This music called marcha-polca (march-polka) was considered a principal source of Frevo as a music (There were two distinct points of difference between marcha-polca and Frevo : 1) presence or absence of the lyrics and 2) tempo of the playing). The roughs called capoeiras also accompanied the parade and practiced physical movements of capoeiragem (martial arts of African origin) brandishing weapons such as a stick or a knife (It was supposed that the abolition of slavery had made capoeiras' antisocial activities more lively). Concerning the appearance of Passo, a hypothesis was brought forward : to avoid attracting the attention of the police, capoeiragem was disguised as lively dance in the streets during a carnival (In the process of transition from capoeiragem to Passo, blows and kicks at other people and undisguised hand weapons disappeared). In this study, Passo was considered “a dance composed of various steps”. On the occasion of analysis of Passo, the effectiveness of this idea was considerably made sure (Mestre Nascimento do Passo had already applied the idea to his instructional method of Passo by inventing forty basic steps). As a result of motion analysis of eighty-six steps, five characteristics emerged : 1) two basic positions of Passo, that is, a standing and a squatting, 2) repetition of movement (which was found in seventy-three steps), 3) bilat-eral symmetry
著者
井上 邦子
出版者
Japan Society of Sport Anthropology
雑誌
スポーツ人類學研究 (ISSN:13454358)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2002, no.4, pp.1-16, 2003-03-31 (Released:2011-08-16)
参考文献数
35

They hold the horse racing in “_??_ (caGan sara) ” -New Year's festival in the old calendar and sometimes hold it for the tourism. Among these horse racing, it is the most popular that held in Naadam-festival the traditional summer festival with the horse racing, Mongolian-style wrestling and the archery in Mongolia.In a case of the horse racing in the national Naadam-festival at a capital, Ulan Bator, about 400 horses are entered for the race, the riders are children from 5 to 12 years old. The horses are classified according to their age, and run a race from10 to 30km. The horses are gathered at the goal point at first, then a herd of the horses are moved to the start point at a trot. Finally, they turn in that place, and come running back the goal point. The best five horses are named “the five of _??_ (ayiraG) ” - “a _??_ p _??_ _??_” is the liquor made from milk of horses-, they are blessed and are poured “_??_” on their back.At present, they held the horse racing as “the sports festival of nation”. The horse racing, however. has the aspects of the ritual, originally. The former researchers have interpreted the horse racing of Naadam games as “_??_ (obu) -festival” -the ritual for worship of the earth-or the ritual of sacrifice. It is true that Naadam-festival is held for “the sports festival of nation” nowadays, but, I think the element of the ritual in Mongolian horse racing is kept in Mongolian people feeling toward race horses, because they worship the racehorses as the especially animal. The racehorses are the objects of belief in Mongolia, because they are buried at “_??_ (obu) -mound” that is for worship of the earth, when they died.By the way, many case studies of holy animal reported from every corner of the world. But the aspect of holy may vary with the context in which the animal live. If that is the case, how do I grasp the concept of holy towards the racehorses in Mongolia?I examine this paper as follows; (1) making clear about horse culture in Mongolia and horse racing in Naadam-festival (2) report about the skill to select and train the racehorses (3) studying about the aspect of racehorses holy.By the way, I study this paper on the basis of the data for six times field works from 1995 July to 1998 July.In the first place, the nomads in Mongolia think the horse have closer relationship with human being than the other domestic animals. Based on the horse culture above mentioned, “y _??_ a q _??_ _??_ (uyaGCin) ”, he is a technical nomad keeping the racehorses, trains the horses most effectively according to the lineage and the character of each horse. For example, “_??_ (uyaGcin) ” gives the text of a sutra, “_??_ (geyin Goo) ” to the horses, and furthermore, he takes care of the horse by the special cloth for courtesy. After that, the simple horse becomes the racehorse. When the training succeed in this way, it gives full play to the racehorse's ability, and they thought the racehorse is given the holy.Interestingly holy of racehorse given by the skill of “_??_ (uvaGcin) ” doesn't maintain. The race-horse is put out to grass like the others domestic animals again after the Naadam-festival. This shows the fact that there is “holy cycle of racehorse”, they have their own way of training and giving holy to the horse on the basis of traditional view of Mongolian nomads. Accordingly, I think the racehorse may be defined as the animal for sacrifice while being alive at present.In current Mongolia, holy of the racehorse still exists through Naadam-festival, which is placed as the national sports
著者
竹村 嘉晃
出版者
Japan Society of Sport Anthropology
雑誌
スポーツ人類學研究 (ISSN:13454358)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2007, no.9, pp.29-52, 2008

This article intends to describe the contemporary dynamic situation of Yoga as a new "fitness" under the conditions of globalization, based on case studies in modern India. Particular attention will be paid to the question of how Yoga is relished and consumed by different people in different contexts, such as urban, rural, tourist spots and ascetic training places, called ashrams in modern society. Yoga, which was originally an ascetic training, including deeply religious ideas and practices, regards the body as a miniature version of the universe. Throughout its long history, Yoga training has tried to unite this universe by controlling the body. <BR>Even though Yoga was introduced to the Western world in connection with the counter-cultural movement, during the 1970's, its practice had been mostly confined to the Indian subcontinent. However, since the 1990's, people from Hollywood and the fashion industry, i.e. those who are the trendsetters in the world, have begun to give themselves up to Yoga. At the same time, there has been a general increase in the attention being paid to health and nature in the West. This has made Yoga popular as a 'new' fitness and its practice has spread dramatically all over the world. Today, due to the global Yoga boom, Yoga has been brought back from the West to India, where it has been reevaluated as the latest fitness trend. Consequently, it is now becoming popular in modern Indian society. An example of this popularity is the number of fitness clubs which have been established in urban areas, and whose Yoga classes are some of the most popular among many others. Furthermore, some Yoga journals, which are published in the West, are now available in bookshops, and many icons based on Yoga have been used for advertising in the commercial market. In addition, a Yoga camp organized by some religious leaders and held in a stadium attracts thousands of participants. At the same time, many yoga practitioners from around world come to India to learn Yoga deeply, under a Yoga Master, so as to obtain a Yoga teacher's license. <BR>This article will examine the flourishing movement of Yoga as a case study in the global flow of culture in multiple contexts in modern Indian society. The aim of this paper is, firstly, through a description of how local people enjoy and consume Yoga in urban areas, to deconstruct the monolithic image of the relationship between India and Yoga and to illuminate the flourishing of Yoga in modern Indian society, on the horizon of global movements. Secondly, with special attention to the enjoyment of Yoga in rural society and at tourist spots, this paper will clearly point out the situation of Yoga being enjoyed as a health practice and consumable good. Thirdly, while Yoga business and industry in post-industrial societies, including Japan, began to emphasize the connection of Yoga to India in terms of 'authenticity' and 'legitimacy', this paper will explore how Yoga is taught to the foreigners who take a Yoga teacher-training course at one of the most influential and popular yoga ashrams in India, namely Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Ashram, and how they enjoy the way of learning yoga and its process.
著者
一階 千絵
出版者
Japan Society of Sport Anthropology
雑誌
スポーツ人類學研究 (ISSN:13454358)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2002, no.4, pp.17-40, 2003

Women's Sumo wrestling was performed as a show from the middle of the 17th century (the middle of the Edo period) to 1950's in Japan. These women's Sumo show have been regarded as an obscene show.<BR>The purpose of this study is considering the cultural characters of the women's Sumo show of the Edo period by examining literature of those days.<BR>The factors that materialize women's Sumo wrestling as show are as follows. 1. Sumo wrestling has appeals as show. These are the outstanding physical strength and techniques which wrestlers have.<BR>2. Female wrestlers might be extraordinary beings by wearing the symbol of the gender of the opposite sex (Sumo wrestling) on her body.<BR>3. That female wrestlers expose her naked body and wrestle with a blind man attracted a spectator's sexual interest. The obscenity appears also in "Shiko-Na".<BR>4. Since there was a sense of values that likes an active woman in Edo, it is thought that female wrestler's Sumo wrestling might exist as a show.<BR>So, the women's Sumo show of the Edo period was not a mere obscene or "erotic and grotesque" show.
著者
神戸 周
出版者
Japan Society of Sport Anthropology
雑誌
スポーツ人類學研究 (ISSN:13454358)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2007, no.9, pp.1-28, 2008

<I>Frevo</I> is a popular spectacle of Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. Concerning the word "frevo", three meanings were ascertained : 1) dance which is witnessed in the streets and dance parties during a carnival (<I>Frevo</I> as a street dance with characteristic steps is especially called <I>Passo</I>), 2) music which is characterized by its syncopated, violent and frenzied rhythm and 3) enthusiastic crowd which parades through the streets during a carnival. With these three meanings in mind, in this study the popular spectacle was examined from two points of view : 1) historical examination about the circumstances of <I>Frevo</I>'s appearance in the streets of Recife's carnival and 2) analysis of <I>Passo</I>'s steps (which are practiced at the pres-ent day) and performances. <BR>The first topic was examined by means of written materials which were collected in Recife by the author. The data utilized for examining the second topic were videotapes in which the steps and performances of <I>Passo</I> had been recorded by the author under the direction of Mestre Nascimento do Passo who was the leading expert on this dance. The video recording was held in Recife and Olinda in August, 2003. The eighty-six steps of <I>Passo</I> were classified from five points of view (which were found out by observing the videotapes closely) and the steps used by five <I>passistas</I> (<I>Frevo</I> dancers) in their solo performances were specified. The results of this study were summarized as follows. <BR><I>Frevo</I> was appeared in the streets of Recife during a carnival early in the 20th century. It was considered that two social factors had had a great influence on its appearance. The first factor was a change of festival style in the street carnival (In Recife, after the 1850s, fancy dress parade gradually took the place of disorderly street carnival style called <I>entrudo</I>). The second was an large-scale influx of the black lower classes into the city of Recife as a consequence of the abolition of slavery in 1888. Carnival clubs which appeared successively in the 1880s and were called <I>clubes pedestres</I> impelled the residents of Recife to a new carnival diversion, that is, to make merry accompanying a parade of those clubs in large numbers. On that occasion, enthusiasm called <I>Frevo</I> appeared in the crowd. The mainspring which led the crowd to enthusiasm was music played by brass bands of carnival clubs. This music called <I>marcha-polca</I> (march-polka) was considered a principal source of <I>Frevo</I> as a music (There were two distinct points of difference between <I>marcha-polca</I> and <I>Frevo</I> : 1) presence or absence of the lyrics and 2) tempo of the playing). The roughs called <I>capoeiras</I> also accompanied the parade and practiced physical movements of <I>capoeiragem</I> (martial arts of African origin) brandishing weapons such as a stick or a knife (It was supposed that the abolition of slavery had made <I>capoeiras</I>' antisocial activities more lively). Concerning the appearance of <I>Passo</I>, a hypothesis was brought forward : to avoid attracting the attention of the police, <I>capoeiragem</I> was disguised as lively dance in the streets during a carnival (In the process of transition from <I>capoeiragem</I> to <I>Passo</I>, blows and kicks at other people and undisguised hand weapons disappeared). <BR>In this study, <I>Passo</I> was considered "a dance composed of various steps". On the occasion of analysis of <I>Passo</I>, the effectiveness of this idea was considerably made sure (Mestre Nascimento do Passo had already applied the idea to his instructional method of <I>Passo</I> by inventing forty basic steps). As a result of motion analysis of eighty-six steps, five characteristics emerged : 1) two basic positions of <I>Passo</I>, that is, a standing and a squatting, 2) repetition of movement (which was found in seventy-three steps), 3) bilat-eral symmetry
著者
富川 力道
出版者
Japan Society of Sport Anthropology
雑誌
スポーツ人類學研究 (ISSN:13454358)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2003, no.5, pp.19-40, 2004-03-31 (Released:2011-08-16)
参考文献数
43

This essay discusses physical culture and the establishment of the bukh system during Mongolia's socialist era and the reform of “traditional bukh” following democratization. It examines, in particular, the process through which traditional bukh wrestling has become a modern sport, focusing on the reforms the Bukh Federation has undertaken since 1990. Although this approach provides only a brief look at bukh during a short moment in its long history, it is distinguished by its emphasis on spontaneous and democratic modernization of the sport from the “inside” and from “below, ” in contrast to traditional studies, which have concentrated on the formation of a bukh system from “above” through the exercise of centralized power. The Bukh Federation, founded in 1990, took the position that “bukh is an ancient tradition that preserves in condensed form the essence of Mongolian culture.” By giving a precise definition to the concepts of “bukh wrestling, ” “wrestlers, ” and “spectators, ” and thereby reviving, revitalizing, and commercializing “traditional bukh, ” the Federation hoped to modernize the sport. This was intended, in the words of Federation leaders, to bring “traditional bukh” into the modern era. By setting up a modern bukh league with a large everyday following while stage-managing “traditional bukh” as a part of the Naadam national festival, the Federation skillfully merged this modernist discourse with the actual pratice of bukh. I call this process “the embodiment of tradition.” On the one hand, the modernization of bukh aimed not so much to internationalize the sport as to spread to other Mongolian-related groups a form of wrestling perfected inside Mongolia and reflecting a purely Mongolian ethnos. Thus, the modern reproduction of traditional bukh involves the construction of bukh culture as a symbol of a distinctly national or ethnic culture through the mutual interaction of the state and the Bukh Federation based on the twin concepts of nationalism and “tradition.”