1993 Volume 32 Issue 3 Pages 241-258
The attitudes toward sports of 512 subjects, both athletes and non-athletes of Japanese university, were examined by t test, principal factor analysis and stepwise multiple regression analysis in order to clarify the cultural characteristics of sports formed in Japan, England and America which are now practiced in Japan from the viewpoint of norm, and the following conclusions have been reached: 1. The general attitudes toward sports of present-day university and college students tend to be spiritualistic. 2. The cultural characteristics of EG (English sports group) are fairplay (sportsmanship) and personalism supported by the sport philosophy of the“Gentleman Ideal”. 3. The cultural characteristics of AG (American sports group) are sports enjoyable to watch, amusement, power, victory and obedience to the judge. 4. The cultural characteristics of JG (Japanese sports group) are“fights with real swords”, self-training, spiritual cultivation, and self-restraint. 5. Sports are divided into three groups by their cultural characteristics: a) sports which have inherited the national characteristics of each sport group, i. e., badminton, tennis, table tennis in EG, American football and baseball in AG, and in JG Judo, Karate, Kendo and Japanese archery: b) sports which have not inherited the national characteristics of any sport group and which have been internationalized such as track and field: c) and sports which have come to take national characteristics of two groups such as baseball.
