Japan Journal of Sport Sociology
Online ISSN : 2185-8691
Print ISSN : 0919-2751
ISSN-L : 0919-2751
Volume 31, Issue 1
Displaying 1-3 of 3 articles from this issue
Original
  • Why do mothers continue supporting children from the shadows on club teams?
    Sachiko MIYAMOTO
    2023 Volume 31 Issue 1 Pages 71-82
    Published: March 30, 2023
    Released on J-STAGE: April 26, 2023
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
     Parents often have to support their children's sports activities. On club teams, mothers especially play large roles in supporting children's activities, but their roles aren't directly related to playing sports. Instead, they support children from the shadows. Regarding this situation, various problems have been pointed out in previous research.
     Nevertheless, why do only mothers continue supporting children from the shadows? The purpose of this study is to clarify the mechanisms that reproduce the roles of mothers, using data from focus group discussions. In this research, two focus group discussions are conducted with 10 schoolchildren's mothers. One of these groups consisted of mothers who provided lots of support to their children's club teams. The other group consisted of mothers whose children didn't play sports on club teams.
     Results showed that the burden of “investment” was greater than the “benefit” for mothers. So they needed to collect informal information about their roles from other groups of mothers (“Mama-tomo”). Then they chose to join the club or not. Some mothers gave up on their children's participation in clubs. Others chose which clubs to join based on the extent to which they can bear the burden.
     Consequently, mothers built networks among other mothers with the same degree of burden, as roles in each club were entrenched. Information in the clubs was again brought to the “Mama-tomo” network. Study results indicated that the structure where mothers play a marginal role in their children's sports activities is reproduced by a mother's behavior to reduce the burden.
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  • Focusing on the Physical Dimensions of Bodybuilders
    Fumio HOTTA, Tetsuya MATSUO
    2023 Volume 31 Issue 1 Pages 83-99
    Published: March 30, 2023
    Released on J-STAGE: April 26, 2023
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
     This paper examines the logic and process of a certain person's becoming a bodybuilder and devotion to bodybuilding. While previous studies have reported the devotion of bodybuilders to bodybuilding [Klein 1993; Wacquant 1995; Brown 1999], the dynamics that lead to such devotion have not been adequately examined. Therefore, this paper aims to clarify the logic and process of a certain person's devotion to bodybuilding by focusing on the transformation of the physical dimension of the bodybuilder's existence, especially the physical experience.
     The results are as follows. First, the respondents in the study became bodybuilders driven by the belief that “muscles do not betray you”.
     Second, as they started with bodybuilding, they began to monitor the reactions of their bodies in order to make their muscles bigger and to discipline their daily lives in accordance with these reactions. In here, the body came to function as a transcendental other that provided absolute norms for daily lives, and it was inferred that in the above process, the respondents became devoted to bodybuilding.
     Third, the above-mentioned bodybuilders' practice of discipline creates norms of value and conduct in an uncertain reality where there are no absolute guidelines, and thereby creates a firm meaning and purpose in the life of the respondents. This logic, in which the more one devotes oneself to bodybuilding, the more the meaning of one's life become clear and certain, can be inferred to be the logic behind a certain person's devotion to bodybuilding.
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  • A Case Study of Ichinomiya Town
    Yushi MIYAZAWA
    2023 Volume 31 Issue 1 Pages 101-115
    Published: March 30, 2023
    Released on J-STAGE: April 26, 2023
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
     In surfing culture, which is characterized as an escapist and resistant culture, surfers have actively developed social movements for social change. However, conflicts arise between surfers and other stakeholders when they advocate for environmental conservation. When surfers advocate for environmental conservation, what causes the conflict between surfers and other stakeholders, and what logic is behind the conflict?
     Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the discussions between surfers, local residents, and experts regarding the environmental conservation movement by surfers, and to clarify the difficulties and possibilities of the movement by surfers themselves. Taking Ichinomiya Town as a case study, the paper will focus on the “Ichinomiya Attractive Coast Creation Conference.”
     The analysis in this article reveals the difficulties that surfers face when advocating for environmental conservation in their communities. Surfers are positioned in a double distinction from local residents and professional knowledge due to the historical background of surfing culture's association with resistance, and the experiential knowledge derived from physical sensations brought about by immersion in the ocean. Thus, surfers were doubly misaligned, making their claims difficult to be heard by local residents and experts.
     In addition, it can be confirmed that surfers' social movements triggered by their physical experiences through “play” have the potential to update the knowledge of experts. This paper is significant in that it reveals the difficulties surfers face when they develop social movements, as well as the possibility of being involved in the shifting scientific knowledge.
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