2014 Volume 13 Issue 1 Pages 215-237
This study clarifies how a master of Japanese traditional dance teaches her skills through practice and the relationship between the master and her students. We specifically focus on the master’s concern about the skills that she teaches the students. The data collected were qualitatively analyzed revealing three categories: "concern for reinforcing important skills that have already been taught," "concern for enabling students to deepen their skills," and "concern for encouraging students to understand the meaning of their skills." In addition, we created the category "not concerned about lectures" to contrast with the three categories. The findings are summarized as follows. First, there are three areas of concern: "reinforcement," "deepening," and "encouragement." Second, the master teaches her skills that she wants to pass on through a caring relationship with the students. Finally, using the narrative approach, we describe that how the master teaches her skills as well as how the master serves as a mediator who combines the older and younger generations.