Football and the eventisation of Japanese society

Abstract

The rise of football in late 20th century Japan cannot be grasped adequately without reference to the wider context of social and cultural change. In this article, football is conceptualised as an event which is produced and managed under very specific conditions for temporary groups of participating audiences. From an anthropological perspective, I argue that supporters and spectators occupy a central role in the ‘performance’ of sport events. From a sociological perspective, I show that due to its specific structure and contents (sport) events are well suited to fulfill the social needs of the inhabitants of late modernity. As the context of events in general changed from the extraordinary to the ordinary, while its core meaning continues to underline the outstanding particularity of its experience, football has come to play a typical role within the eventisation of Japanese society.