Japan Journal of Sport Anthropology
Online ISSN : 2186-1935
Print ISSN : 1345-4358
ISSN-L : 1345-4358
Volume 2007, Issue 9
Displaying 1-9 of 9 articles from this issue
  • A Study on a Popular Spectacle of Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
    Chikashi KAMBE
    2008Volume 2007Issue 9 Pages 1-28
    Published: July 31, 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: August 16, 2011
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Frevo is a popular spectacle of Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. Concerning the word “frevo”, three meanings were ascertained : 1) dance which is witnessed in the streets and dance parties during a carnival (Frevo as a street dance with characteristic steps is especially called Passo), 2) music which is characterized by its syncopated, violent and frenzied rhythm and 3) enthusiastic crowd which parades through the streets during a carnival. With these three meanings in mind, in this study the popular spectacle was examined from two points of view : 1) historical examination about the circumstances of Frevo's appearance in the streets of Recife's carnival and 2) analysis of Passo's steps (which are practiced at the pres-ent day) and performances.
    The first topic was examined by means of written materials which were collected in Recife by the author. The data utilized for examining the second topic were videotapes in which the steps and performances of Passo had been recorded by the author under the direction of Mestre Nascimento do Passo who was the leading expert on this dance. The video recording was held in Recife and Olinda in August, 2003. The eighty-six steps of Passo were classified from five points of view (which were found out by observing the videotapes closely) and the steps used by five passistas (Frevo dancers) in their solo performances were specified. The results of this study were summarized as follows.
    Frevo was appeared in the streets of Recife during a carnival early in the 20th century. It was considered that two social factors had had a great influence on its appearance. The first factor was a change of festival style in the street carnival (In Recife, after the 1850s, fancy dress parade gradually took the place of disorderly street carnival style called entrudo). The second was an large-scale influx of the black lower classes into the city of Recife as a consequence of the abolition of slavery in 1888. Carnival clubs which appeared successively in the 1880s and were called clubes pedestres impelled the residents of Recife to a new carnival diversion, that is, to make merry accompanying a parade of those clubs in large numbers. On that occasion, enthusiasm called Frevo appeared in the crowd. The mainspring which led the crowd to enthusiasm was music played by brass bands of carnival clubs. This music called marcha-polca (march-polka) was considered a principal source of Frevo as a music (There were two distinct points of difference between marcha-polca and Frevo : 1) presence or absence of the lyrics and 2) tempo of the playing). The roughs called capoeiras also accompanied the parade and practiced physical movements of capoeiragem (martial arts of African origin) brandishing weapons such as a stick or a knife (It was supposed that the abolition of slavery had made capoeiras' antisocial activities more lively). Concerning the appearance of Passo, a hypothesis was brought forward : to avoid attracting the attention of the police, capoeiragem was disguised as lively dance in the streets during a carnival (In the process of transition from capoeiragem to Passo, blows and kicks at other people and undisguised hand weapons disappeared).
    In this study, Passo was considered “a dance composed of various steps”. On the occasion of analysis of Passo, the effectiveness of this idea was considerably made sure (Mestre Nascimento do Passo had already applied the idea to his instructional method of Passo by inventing forty basic steps). As a result of motion analysis of eighty-six steps, five characteristics emerged : 1) two basic positions of Passo, that is, a standing and a squatting, 2) repetition of movement (which was found in seventy-three steps), 3) bilat-eral symmetry
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  • A Case Study of Modern India
    Yoshiaki TAKEMURA
    2008Volume 2007Issue 9 Pages 29-52
    Published: July 31, 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: August 16, 2011
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This article intends to describe the contemporary dynamic situation of Yoga as a new “fitness” under the conditions of globalization, based on case studies in modern India. Particular attention will be paid to the question of how Yoga is relished and consumed by different people in different contexts, such as urban, rural, tourist spots and ascetic training places, called ashrams in modern society. Yoga, which was originally an ascetic training, including deeply religious ideas and practices, regards the body as a miniature version of the universe. Throughout its long history, Yoga training has tried to unite this universe by controlling the body.
    Even though Yoga was introduced to the Western world in connection with the counter-cultural movement, during the 1970's, its practice had been mostly confined to the Indian subcontinent. However, since the 1990's, people from Hollywood and the fashion industry, i.e. those who are the trendsetters in the world, have begun to give themselves up to Yoga. At the same time, there has been a general increase in the attention being paid to health and nature in the West. This has made Yoga popular as a 'new' fitness and its practice has spread dramatically all over the world. Today, due to the global Yoga boom, Yoga has been brought back from the West to India, where it has been reevaluated as the latest fitness trend. Consequently, it is now becoming popular in modern Indian society. An example of this popularity is the number of fitness clubs which have been established in urban areas, and whose Yoga classes are some of the most popular among many others. Furthermore, some Yoga journals, which are published in the West, are now available in bookshops, and many icons based on Yoga have been used for advertising in the commercial market. In addition, a Yoga camp organized by some religious leaders and held in a stadium attracts thousands of participants. At the same time, many yoga practitioners from around world come to India to learn Yoga deeply, under a Yoga Master, so as to obtain a Yoga teacher's license.
    This article will examine the flourishing movement of Yoga as a case study in the global flow of culture in multiple contexts in modern Indian society. The aim of this paper is, firstly, through a description of how local people enjoy and consume Yoga in urban areas, to deconstruct the monolithic image of the relationship between India and Yoga and to illuminate the flourishing of Yoga in modern Indian society, on the horizon of global movements. Secondly, with special attention to the enjoyment of Yoga in rural society and at tourist spots, this paper will clearly point out the situation of Yoga being enjoyed as a health practice and consumable good. Thirdly, while Yoga business and industry in post-industrial societies, including Japan, began to emphasize the connection of Yoga to India in terms of 'authenticity' and 'legitimacy', this paper will explore how Yoga is taught to the foreigners who take a Yoga teacher-training course at one of the most influential and popular yoga ashrams in India, namely Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Ashram, and how they enjoy the way of learning yoga and its process.
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  • Chieko KUROIWA
    2008Volume 2007Issue 9 Pages 53-72
    Published: July 31, 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: June 08, 2011
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The purpose of this paper is to clarify the present condition of daily life for children in Bhutan, comparing the differences between districts, especially between a capital city and neighboring village or eastern Bhutan, and examining the influence of societal changes. The paper will report and consider, in detail, home education, children's play and work and how these facets of life are affected by the progress and change of the social economy and sense of values. Date for this paper was collated by conducting surveys and interviews.
    Results : Education is still fundamentally acquired through home education in Bhutan. On the other hand, it includes curriculum on environmental education, which reflects the communities, classes on religion and tradition. However these are simply set as policy to re-establish cultural identity, in the anticipation that young people 's mindset will change in the modernization. Children's play is almost always the basis of their work, where a part of work is changed into games or sports. The modern sports are in these years. Play, from an educational point of view is necessary for children's growth and advancement, and develop through the influence of the surroundings and human relations. Particularly, in local place, the belongings of children increased than before owing to the establishment of money economy, and have an effect on the way time is spent after school. According to work, children spending more time at school and in their house, in stead of in the fields and mountains, child labour in the 3rd world is still prevalent, and the in stances of which occur in greater numbers the further out of the city they live.
    Children provide an indirect means of studying an ethnic group, as their activities and daily life reflect the adult culture they live in. It is important to keep on an eyes on the influence of cultural and moral values on the changes in daily life, exposed in television programs. In doing so, one can compare such foreign cultures with those much closer to home.
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  • [in Japanese]
    2008Volume 2007Issue 9 Pages 73-75
    Published: July 31, 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: August 16, 2011
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • [in Japanese], [in Japanese], [in Japanese], [in Japanese], [in Japane ...
    2008Volume 2007Issue 9 Pages 77-90
    Published: July 31, 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: August 16, 2011
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • [in Japanese], [in Japanese], [in Japanese], [in Japanese], [in Japane ...
    2008Volume 2007Issue 9 Pages 91-101
    Published: July 31, 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: August 16, 2011
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • [in Japanese], [in Japanese], [in Japanese], [in Japanese]
    2008Volume 2007Issue 9 Pages 103-109
    Published: July 31, 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: June 08, 2011
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • [in Japanese]
    2008Volume 2007Issue 9 Pages 111-116
    Published: July 31, 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: June 08, 2011
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • [in Japanese]
    2008Volume 2007Issue 9 Pages 117-119
    Published: July 31, 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: June 08, 2011
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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