Abstract
The purpose of this research was to explain the diffusion strategy in regards to the process
of diffusion and diffusion stages of windsurfing in Japan. This descriptive study was based on the
literatures relating to marine sports and leisure articles, for the target period of 1974 to 2010. In
order to analyze the diffusion process of windsurfing in Japan, the authors attempted to employ
Rogers＇s diffusion of innovation, and analyzed 5 stages of diffusion process from the 4 aspects
such as marketability, penetrability, organization, and exposure. For the diffusion process index
of ＂marketability,＂ the number of board sales was used. For ＂penetrability,＂ trends in the number
of sales outlets were used. For ＂organization,＂ the number of registered members of each sports
association were aggregated and used as an index. For ＂exposure,＂ the number of articles relating
to windsurfing and boardsailing in magazines collected in the Ōya Soichi Bunko and in 4 national
newspapers were the main source of information in this descriptive study.
The main findings of this research study were as follows;
(1) During the introductory stage, the effective diffusion strategy was organization. The supply of
equipment became more fluid, and media exposure had strong influence during the growth stage.
During the maturity stage, continuous innovation brought a variety of equipment.
(2) The characteristics of the diffusion process in windsurfing was the shift from seasonal leisure
sports to year-round leisure sports in the maturity stage. Even in the saturation stage, the number
of registered association members appeared to increase.
(3) In order to sustain the diffusion process of windsurfing, it is necessary to utilize various media,
including social media, after the maturity stage.
(4) The ideas of five diffusion stages seemed to be suitable for clarifying the relationship between thediffusion process and the diffusion strategy of windsurfing in Japan.
(5) The correlation among 4diffusion indices appeared to be sophisticated to analyze the diffusion
process of leisure sports so that more in-depth study will be recommended.
