In recent years, with the decline of human relationships in Japanese society, the emotional solidarity generated by interpersonal connections has proven to be potent in addressing this issue. However, there is a lack of study on this research topic within the field of sport sciences in Japan. Therefore, it is necessary to review the existing research on emotional solidarity outside Japan to gain insights into this topic. Thus, the purpose of this study is to visually scrutinize articles related to emotional solidarity in sports by employing visualization analysis software, CiteSpace. We identified 82 articles published before December 31, 2023, from the Web of Science core database using the following keyword combinations: (1) emotional solidarity and sport^*, (2) emotional solidarity and leisure, or (3) emotional solidarity and physical activity. With these 82 articles, we utilized CiteSpace to examine the temporal and spatial structure of relevant studies, including research collaboration, keywords, and trends. The results revealed that (a) research collaborations were primarily led by the U.S. with limited international interactions, (b) seven key clusters were identified, namely economic benefits, revisit intentions, host attitudes, national symbols, artificial intelligence, community benefit, and identification, (c) the development of emotional solidarity scales was crucial for the transition from qualitative to quantitative approaches, and (d) studies on emotional solidarity related to sports were predominantly cited in tourism, sociology, leisure, and sports science journals. In light of these findings, we recommend that future research on emotional solidarity should focus on interdisciplinary knowledge in the field of sport sciences.

  The purpose of this study was to examining the influence of current sports involvement orientation on future sports involvement orientation. In order to obtain stable results, a secondary analysis using two citizen questionnaires from the same prefecture was conducted. A covariance structure analysis was conducted based on the model using Quality of Sport Life (QOSL) scale. QOSL scale consists of five orientations: health sports orientation, leisure sports orientation, masters sports orientation, sports consumption orientation, and sports support orientation. The results of covariance structure analysis showed the following three points. First, the current sports involvement orientation has a positive impact on the future intention to the same orientation. Second, leisure sports orientation and sports consumption orientation positively influence the intention to other four orientations. Third, masters sports orientation and sports support orientation have a negative impact on the intention to health sports orientation and leisure sports orientation. This study revealed that sports involvement orientation influences each other. In particular, leisure sports orientation and sports consumption orientation have high expectations for increasing the number of sports involvement people, as they lead to the continuation of the same orientation and have a positive influence on all other orientations. On the other hand, masters sports orientation and sports support orientation were found to have a negative impact on other orientations, suggesting the possibility that orientations become specialized. In the future, it will be necessary to carry out sports promotions that take into consideration the relationship between these sports involvement orientation.

  This study aimed to examine the impact of attitude toward teams of employees of a company supporting a sports team on their attitude toward their respective companies. To this end, a causal relationship between multiple variables was predicted, and a hypothesis was proposed and tested using modeling. The attitude factors of employees of companies that support sports teams toward the team: “Sports attachment,” “Player attachment,” “Fan community identity,” and “Team identity,” were used as an independent variable, and “Organization identity,” “Organizational commitment,” which are attitude factors toward their companies, were used as dependent variables．The subjects of this study were the purchasers of tickets for home games of employees of companies that support volleyball teams. The survey method was a questionnaire survey using the indwelling method, and 452 questionnaires were used for analysis. In STUDY 1, sample A (n=226) was used to verify the reliability and validity of the measurement scale, and in STUDY 2, sample B (n=226) was used to verify the hypothetical model. In STUDY 1, the reliability and validity of the measurement scale were confirmed, and a certain degree of model fit was obtained using exploratory confirmatory factor analysis. In STUDY 2, the results of verifying the hypothesis using structural equation modeling showed that the “Fan community identity” of the attitude factor toward the team significantly affected “Organization identity,” (.473, p<.05) and “Organization commitment,” (.369, p<.05). Based on the results of this study, companies that support sports teams can improve their employees' attitudes toward the company by providing opportunities for them to watch and support the team's games, and by promoting their recognition of the team's "Fan community identity."

  Place attachment is a factor that determines the ability and intentions to cope with community problems. In other words, in order to verify one of the social roles expected of comprehensive community sports clubs, "the development of individuals who can act independently and autonomously to improve their community through their involvement in the club", it is important to clarify whether the involvement of community members in the club developments place attachment. Based on the above, the following research questions were set for this study.

  RQ1: To examining the multi-dimensional place attachment construct.

  RQ2: Comparing the place attachment of comprehensive community sports club members and non-members.

  As a result of the analysis confirmed, 1) the validity and reliability of the four-factor structure of "Place identity", "Place dependence", Place affect", and "Place social bonding" as a concept of place attachment. 2) The results of the comparison of place attachment between comprehensive community sports club members and non-members confirmed that the values of all factors were significantly higher in the case of club members than non-members.

  The purpose of this study was to clarify the process of developing physical literacy throughout school age among adults who currently participate regularly in exercise and sports. As a result of snowball sampling until theoretical saturation was reached, 13 men and women were included in the study. Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection, and they were analyzed based on the M-GTA. We set two research questions: (1) how physical literacy is developed during school age, and (2) how it affects present sports involvement. The interviews were conducted both in person and online, averaging approximately 66 minutes each. The results revealed the following: (i) they began to participate in exercise and sports during childhood; (ii) the foundation of physical literacy, from both physical and mental aspects, was developed mainly through their athletic experiences in school athletic clubs; (iii) after entering adulthood, following the restructuring of exercise and sports orientation, the process of maturing physical literacy that supports current participation in physical exercise and sports was revealed mainly from internal aspects along with the experiences of school age. The overall athletic experience, mainly through athletic club activities, contributed most significantly to the development of physical literacy. Additionally, while athletic participation developed physical literacy during childhood, the opposite relationship was noticeable in adulthood, where mature physical literacy supported sports involvement. Furthermore, the reconstruction of exercise and sports orientation from late school age to adulthood suggests that school physical education and lifelong sports are internally connected in terms of maturing physical literacy.

  The purpose of this study was to develop Japanese versions of the Perceived Physical Literacy Instrument (PPLI) and the Adolescent Physical Literacy Questionnaire (APLQ), and to examine its reliability and validity. The subjects were 388 high school students who responded to the questionnaire. The survey items were personal attributes and items related to exercise and sports involvement, and two physical literacy assessment scales, Perceived Physical Literacy Instrument (PPLI) and Adolescent Physical Literacy Questionnaire (APLQ), translated into Japanese. The reliability of the scales was verified by examining the discrimination power using G-P analysis and internal consistency using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient, and the validity was verified by examining criterion-related validity using correlation analysis with external criteria and construct validity using confirmatory factor analysis. To validate the model, a covariance structure analysis was conducted on the three-factor structure of the original version, and multi group analysis was conducted for both males and females. As the results, regarding the reliability of the scales, the G-P analysis showed that the discrimination power of the subscales and the internal consistency of the reliability coefficients met the criteria. Additionally, no significant differences were found in the total scores of each factor and of each scale by gender and grade. Although there was a significant correlation between each scale and each external criterion, there was no correlation between the two scales and items related to sports participation. The results of confirmatory factor analysis indicated construct validity of the three-factor structure of the Japanese version of PPLI and APLQ, Furthermore, the results of the multi group analysis showed factor invariance and similarity in the construct models of both scales between males and females. In conclusion, we were able to develop useful Japanese versions of the PPLI and APLQ scales, although some issues remained in the criterion-related validity.

  A Symposium on “Toward the establishment of lifelong sport studies: Aiming at academic systematization” was held at the 25^th Anniversary Congress for the Japan Society of Lifelong Sport in 2023. The purpose of this study was to discuss the possibilities of establishment of lifelong sport studies from three perspectives as social sciences, natural sciences and practical sciences. First, a coordinator of the Symposium reviewed the historical facts and backgrounds of lifelong sport by using the Sport for All policies in both Europe and Japan. A panelist from a social science perspective reviewed the literature on the recent topics including diversity and inclusion in sport, regional and local developments, and mega sport events, children sport and sport clubs. She suggested that future research should further identify the constraints of sport factors that threaten integrity and the impact of sport on community development. A panelist from natural science perspective emphasized that although promoting leisure time-physical activity for health promotion may cause an increase in health disparities, lifelong sport research is required to develop programs to eliminate sport disparities. He also stressed the importance of cooperation between natural science and social science to develop programs for eliminating the sport disparities. A panelist from practical science perspective pointed that there have been reports of people suffering nerve and spinal cord injuries, while injuries caused by personal strength training have being increasing. He also emphasized the necessity to create a system that ensures instructors’ evidence-based practical expertise and high-quality teaching ability. Finally, a coordinator presented a hypothesized model which consists of social, natural and practical sciences toward the construction of lifelong sport studies.