The purpose of this paper is to investigate recent changes in the systems for producing and distributing sports equipment and their influence on material suppliers and production areas through a case study on kendo protectors in Japan. I used two methods to collect data: document survey and interviews. The interviews were conducted with 8 material suppliers and 3 local governments from August 2016 to November 2016.

Suppliers of kendo protectors are located in areas where there are raw materials, processing technologies, proximity to markets, and industrial promotion policies. They started producing materials for kendo protectors in response to increasing demand in the 1950s. To respond to this increase, most retailers and manufacturers of protectors had to adopt low cost operations due to customers preferring cheaper products. Manufacturers built mass production systems across Asia. In addition, they used artificial materials that are cheaper than natural ones. This change has caused a problem for suppliers who specialize in natural materials in Japan. Since the 2000s, they have had serious problems in terms of sales, raw material procurement, financing and securing of company successors. Most suppliers plan to discontinue their current products and produce new products including martial arts supplies, traditional crafts, and processed parts for growth fields.

Business organizations and local governments in these areas have supported the production and sales activities of material suppliers since the 1950s. At first, they supported production activities such as by giving subsidies to unions, constructing factory complexes, and treating wastewater. Such support encouraged suppliers to modernize their production systems but also placed a new economic burden on them. Next, organizations and governments began to support suppliers in developing technology and products. Recently, they have been supporting sales activities aimed at consumers directly, such as through exhibitions at trade fairs and certification of regional-brand products. However, such support has not always been successful due to differences in how suppliers think about manufacturing and sales and due to non-cooperation between suppliers. Therefore, organizations and governments have changed their support policy from equal support to selective and focused support for highly motivated suppliers with business strength. As a result, suppliers planning to discontinue producing materials for kendo protectors and instead produce new products tend to be supported by business organizations and local governments.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of the difference in the learning order on the learning outcome of students in the initial stage of junior high school judo classes. The study was conducted with 61 junior high school first grade students (boys: 35; girls: 26), who had to complete a questionnaire survey carried out after all classes during the 8-hour judo course between mid-October 2016 and December 2016. The participants were classified into two groups: “nage-waza precedence group” (NPG, n = 30) and “katame-waza precedence group” (KPG, n = 31). A psychosocial learning outcome evaluation scale (Yamamoto et al., 2017) was used to study participants after the completion of each unit in order to evaluate judo corresponding behavior, cooperative learning, martial arts manners, and compliance with class norms in judo class. Furthermore, a formative evaluation of the physical education class (Takahashi et al., 1994) was administered after each session. The scale proposed by Takahashi et al. (1994) is comprised of 4 subscales: motivation, outcome, ways of learning, and cooperation. The analysis showed that the score of KGP was significantly higher than that of NPG in “judo corresponding behavior” and “compliance with class norms”, with regard to psychosocial learning outcomes. Next, with regard to the formative evaluation of the learning content of each class, the class evaluation of NGP and KGP were almost the same. Based on the above, it was suggested that the learning outcomes of students differed slightly depending on the differences in the contents of the previous classes. Finally, the need to clarify the learning outcome of students in concrete skills in judo class was presented as a potential topic for future research.

Most studies on naginata movements, to date, cover a single striking movement, and studies that analyzed the continuous striking movements are rare. In this seminar, we will introduce detail analysis of the movements associated with the continuous striking, focusing on movements of the upper limbs.

The task was for experts and beginners to continuously strike from men to sune. Two conditions were set; one was switching of hand positions on the naginata, inserted between striking men and sune, and the other was without this movement. The movements of the subjects were recorded by using three high-speed cameras and analyzed in three-dimensional view. Moreover, to observe the movement between the joints in the upper limb, extension, flexion, pronation, and supination movements of the elbow joint and palmar flexion, dorsiflexion, radial flexion, and ulnar flexion movements of the wrist were recorded by using a goniometer. Furthermore, surface electromyograms were derived from the left and right finger flexors to examine the timing of muscle activity in both arms. We aim to discuss the continuous striking skill in naginata, on the basis of the results of this study, and pass it on to tutors and students in the instructional settings.