抄録
Swedish gymnastics were introduced into the Japanese education system in the early 1900s by Motokuro Kawase and Akuri Inokuchi, and have since developed as an integral part of school gymnastics in Japan.
The Swedish gymnastics introduced by Kawase and Inokuchi were based on Lingianism, one of the two mainstream methods of gymnastics in Sweden at the time, which takes a strictly formalistic approach. On the other hand, the natural method, the other mainstream form featuring more natural and sportive elements, did not take root in Japan.
This paper strives first to elucidate the key events that led to the introduction of Swedish Lingianism into Japan, and then to discuss the reasons why the other form, the so-called the natural method, did not become widespread or take hold in the country.
The study found that the Swedish gymnastics introduced by Kawase et al. had developed centering on Boston in the United States and were based on Lingianism, one of the two mainstream types of gymnastics at the time, which focuses on a formalistic approach. On the other hand, the natural method, which was introduced by Otani et al., was regarded and introduced as a new type of gymnastics different from Swedish gymnastics.
