In contemporary society, “connection” is seen not only in terms of relationships between people (peers), but also in terms of connections between the situations in which we are placed (space), such as home and school, and in terms of connections in time, such as the continuity of events. In this paper, I attempt to decipher these “connections” using play as a map.
　The narrative of “connections” in play space leads us to relativize the unification of values and to recognize their diversity. We recognize the value of play by viewing play space as a multidimensional reality. In the process of recognizing the value, there is a struggle between the values of each reality, but because of this, each value becomes clear, and by creating new values, a space of connection is created by recognizing the diversity of values in the end.
　The “connectedness” narrative in playtime is relative to modern time. Play, which is not limited by time, brings to light the modern person who is bound by time. Furthermore, play that instantly takes us back to the past raises questions about the meaning of “time as reversible” beyond “time as irreversible”. Play, which is governed by chance and indeterminacy, dissolving the linear time “connection” of past, present, and future.
　The narrative of “connection” in playgroups relativizes the nature of organization in contemporary society. In playgroups, roles and rules are changed in order to maintain the connections among members, but in contemporary society, the priority is to maintain the organization. In addition, the fact that all participants in play make decisions with awareness of the parties involved raises questions about the top-down decision- making in contemporary society. Furthermore, the fact that the act of donation in play builds a community provides an opportunity to consider the nature of organizations based on the donation in contemporary society.
　By carefully reading the “connections” in play and relativizing the “connections” in contemporary society, I believe that we can restore the “connections (sociality)” that children originally possess.

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　This paper focuses on the fact that there are instances when people are “connected” or “unconnected” to each other and society through sports. It addresses the issue of understanding the field where a relationship emerges, like the two sides of a coin. Rather than the perspective that “sports are competitive plays,” which is considered self-evident, this paper adopts the perspective that sports can be realized only by playing them as games in the first place. In this paper, the “act of playing sports” is discussed from the perspective of game theory, to reorganize the “connection” between the two.
　It was found that sports as a “game” is a spontaneous act of trial-and-error toward a lusory goal, a challenge created by a prelusory goal and constitutive rules that cannot be easily overcome. It was found that the place where “connections” are created in sports is an unstable place where others who understand the meaning of the game must constantly continue to reach a consensus on the lusory goal together.
　Modern sports also tend to create “strong connections” because they are practiced in physical space. In contrast, new sports are designed as games that people who have never met before can play through rules that change constitutive means while expanding the world to cyberspace and utilizing technology, but this was shown to generate “weak connections.”
　Finally, it was indicated that it is necessary to consider not only the idea that sports promote withdrawal from playing but also the idea of common amusement through sports as a “game.” In response to the situation wherein various “connections” in society are breaking up, creating new games with a playful spirit will open up possibilities for a strong sports culture.

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　As COVID-19 spreads on a global scale, we see a situation where people are being divided. Against this backdrop, the Third Sport Basic Plan was enacted, which called for the realization of a society where people from all walks of life can gather, work together, and engage in sports activities while gaining the sense of connections. Can people really feel connected through sports? This paper examines what it means for people to truly connect with each other. Specifically, it first confirms the cognitive method of thinking about the connections between people, relying on Georg Simmel and Norbert Elias. It then examines the true connections between people in the teaching of Christianity and clarifies what the Bible teaches about human connections. Next, the paper introduces an instructional model for teaching how to connect with others that can be introduced into physical education classes.
　First, regarding the relationship between the individual and society, the paper presents a way of viewing society as a network of interactions between people, rather than understanding society as an entity that confronts the individual and has no relationship with each of the individuals. Next, as true connections that can be interpreted from the Bible, the paper discusses that true connections are based on the spiritual connection to God and are the spiritual connections between people by the Holy Spirit that flows from there. It is a very beautiful and warm connection that seemed out of this world. Finally, the paper introduces an instructional model that teaches the knowledge and skills related to team building as a way to connect with others that does not depend on activities.

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　In this paper, the lived experiences of “connection” through parasports are considered in terms of intercorporeality. The concept of intercorporeality proposed by Maurice Merleau-Ponty is one of the most fundamental ideas in considering our experiences of interpersonal connection with others that occur in the lifeworld; Perceiving another's action prompts the same action (or its possibility) in the self, and vise versa. Intercorporeality is a potentially resonant relationship between self's body and another's body, which manifests through perception-action loop between them. Based on this concept, first, I would like to show how a spectator's body resonates with those of para-athletes by describing my own experiences of watching Tokyo Paralympic Games. Then, referring to the commentaries given by the assistants of parasports (especially the guide runners of blind marathon), I point out how assistants and para-athletes develop their intercorporeal relationship as the source of mutual understanding as well as shared emotional states. These observations would allow us to consider people's “connection” through parasports in a concrete manner, which possibly substantiate governmental policy related to them.

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　The purpose of this research is to discover the diversity of connections between blind runners and their guide runners and the difficulties they face. The Study uses a blind marathon as a case study, in combination with the authors' research and practical experience.
　The basic principles of guide running in a blind marathon are individually customized by guide runners to assist each blind runner in completing the race. Specifically, guide runners follow blind runners' wishes, introducing interactive communication that at first glance seems unnecessary for efficient and rational running, or omitting seemingly important information required according to basic principles.
　The results showed that guide requirments varied greatly depending on where and how the blind runner ran, and that guide runners continually searched for the most suitable guide for each blind runner depending on the situation. In addition, by matching blind runners and guides with similar running characteristics (e.g., width of arm swing), guides attempted to resolve the discrepancies caused by differences in physical characteristics and running habits.
　Nevertheless, the results show that it remains difficult for blind runners and guide runners to verbalize to each other in concrete terms what constitutes an effective running guide. This reality can sometimes lead to excessive intervention from guide runners in blind runners' desires and an asymmetrical relationship between blind runners and their guide.
　Although the connection between blind runners and guide runners during a blind marathon can only be described as a dynamic and processual relationship that is constantly changing and evolving, this process of exploration is essential for blind runners and guide runners who want to practice and enjoy running, and herein lies the fascination of this sport.
　This author concludes that the fascination of the sport can be found in this process and argues that it is important to carefully draw the connections that are actualized in the sport and accumulate the results, while turning a critical eye toward a philosophical and pre-established understanding of the sport.

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　The Olympic Games have rationally changed to adapt to the media and business environment since the 1980s, even though this has been criticized as ‘commercialism’, in order to help sustain the Olympic Games. Therefore, for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, many companies became sponsors in accordance with the domestic situation, and in the newspaper category, several newspapers signed on as sponsors as well.
　This paper summarizes the recent changes in the relationship between the Olympics, the media, and sponsors, and then discusses problems of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Additionally, through text mining analysis, editorial articles from sponsor and non-sponsor newspapers are compared to examine the topics and discourses of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
　The results show that although the editorials of the sponsor and non-sponsor newspapers referred to the same topics regarding the Olympics, there were differences in their points of view and discourse. In the non-sponsor newspapers, the issues of ‘infection’ and ‘reconstruction’ were discussed as being directly related to the Olympics, while in the sponsor newspapers, these issues were separated from the Olympics and discussed as events outside the Olympics.
　In addition, the issue of newspaper sponsorship was not mentioned in any of the editorials and was only mentioned a few times in general articles as an issue raised by outside individuals. Thus, the newspapers' reporting on sponsorship followed popular sentiment, and the sponsor newspapers in particular had a more ambiguous status of journalistic independence.

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　This study aims to examine the characteristics of sports spectators. Previous studies have discussed social characteristics such as household income, educational attainment, occupation, and gender in relation to cultural consumption. In this study, based on the theory of the relationship between cultural consumption and social stratification and gender, the characteristics of sport spectators were examined. Secondary data from the Sports Life Data 2018 were used to examine the relationship between these latent factors and social characteristics through latent class model analysis. The results showed the following. First, the following five types of sports spectators were identified: the high tolerant class, which watched many sports comprehensively; middle tolerant class, which watched various sports but was less tolerant than the high tolerant class; baseball univores class, which watched baseball intensively; event univores class, which only watched sporting events of high social interest; and inactive, which was reluctant to watch sports. The motivations behind watching sports differed, as the high tolerant class was subject to preferences toward sports, while the middle tolerant class, characteristic of women with more cultural capital, may have manifested as multiple differentiation strategies. Moreover, two types of univores were identified: those who consumed baseball in a univore-like way, and those who consumed only events that attracted passive interest, although their interest in sports was low. In conclusion, this study clarified some of the characteristics of sports spectators. Finally, the limitations and future directions of this research were discussed.

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