2020 Volume 40 Issue 1 Pages 31-50
High school “sports strong teams” are a part of school education and serve as an important foundation of Japanese competitive sports. However, even though their importance has been pointed out, up to now there has been little research focusing on “sports strong teams.” Therefore, this study sheds light on the historical characteristics of the high school “sports strong team” formation process.
The results of our research are as follows:
1. During the period of the establishment of high school reforms, the first health and physical education classes in Japan were taught at Tokyo Metropolitan Komaba High School. The first baby boom
generation went on to high school. Later, when the number of high school students suddenly decreased, private high schools began to position sports as an important pillar of a “distinctive education.”
2. In the 1980s, while various high school educational reforms were taking place, the educational value of sports became recognized, and the number of high schools that used sports and operated in distinctive
ways increased. However, now that the declining birthrate society has arrived, simply using sports for their educational value is no longer enough to call something distinctive education. Therefore, under these circumstances, some high schools have begun to aim aggressively for “strong” extracurricular sports activities.
3. However, during this period, comments were beginning to be made about the adverse effects of “strengthening” extracurricular sports activities. Specifically, schools where extracurricular sports
activities are employed excessively by school management have received criticism from the standpoint of education.
