2016 Volume 61 Issue 1 Pages 319-338
This paper describes a historical study of “Yamatobataraki”, a form of gymnastics that was devised by Professor Kakei Katsuhiko around 1920 in Japan. The main study aim was to clarify how the practice of Yamatobataraki spread in Imperial Japan from the 1920s to 1930s. The diffusion process consisted of 3 phases. The first was associated with the growth of the Folk High School movement. Around 1924, Kato Kanji introduced Yamatobataraki to the Yamagatakenjichikoshusho, which was the original model of the Folk High School. Kato then transferred to the Nihonkokuminkotogakko, which was the head institution of the Folk High Schools, and introduced Yamatobataraki as part of its educational program. Kato's educational systems, along with Yamatobataraki, were reproduced throughout Japan and Taiwan, because the Nihonkokuminkotogakko helped to found other similar institutions. In the second phase, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry promoted the foundation of a large number of Nomindojo, i.e. farmers' schools. As a result, 50 farmers' schools introduced Yamatobataraki, because they were modeled on the educational system of the Nihonkokuminkotogakko. In the third phase, the Ministry of Colonial Affairs promoted the policy of agricultural emigration to Manchuria, and delegated the training of the emigrants to Kato Kanji. In 1938, Manmokaitakuseishonengiyugun, a large group of young agricultural emigrants to Manchuria, was institutionalized. Many young emigrants trained under Kato's methods in Uchiharakunrensho, which were formulated for the Manmokaitakuseishonengiyugun. Yamatobataraki as a daily routine was practiced as a matter of course. Thus, as described above, Yamatobataraki spread mainly via farmers' schools and emigrant training all over Imperial Japan due to the promotion of farmers' schools and emigration to Manchuria by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Ministry of Colonial Affairs.
