The Acceptance of Corporal Punishment in Japan:

The Japanese Culture of Physical Education as Case

Abstract

　This paper aims to find a solution to the tangled problem of corporal punishment in the field of Japanese sport, not by criticizing it directly, but by looking at the justification for violent discipline. Following the increase in human rights awareness in the recent past, it is hard to advocate the “spare the rod, spoil the child” policy anymore, even in Japanese education. However, in the Japanese sport field, you may easily find advocates of this policy, not only among coaches but also among young athletes and their parents. It can be explained by the fact that phrases like “human development” and “socialization,” which are commonly associated with sport, have different connotations in Japan compared to other countries.
　In the Japanese sporting realm, the styles of advocacy discourse can be classified into two parts. The first part is based on courtesy and manners. The second stems from the reasons for making athletes conquer obstacles, which are difficult to overcome alone, using the symbiosis between coach and athlete. These two discourses commonly contain a kind of collectivism and a mind and body monism. The former, Japanese collectivism, tends to give priority to the maintenance of the organization over the achievement in the sport field. The latter, a peculiar type of mind and body monism in Japanese culture, puts more emphasis on physical communication than language.
　In addition, the persistence of corporal punishment in the field of Japanese sport in the Heisei period came about as a result of the recommendation entrance examination for high schools and universities. However, with the advent of globalization, a change in this attitude is seen as desirable. So sport lovers in Japan have begun to explore a coaching system that does not allow corporal punishment.