This paper aims at showing the latest information and financial data of the global sporting brands which contribute to the expansion of the global sport related market. In recent years, the sport related market has been expanding globally, which has been partly caused by the fashionable trend of “athleisure”. “Athleisure” is a newly-coined word which means wearing athletic wear for daily use, and there are three brand groups in the market: the global sporting brands such as Nike and Adidas, SPA companies such as INDITEX and Fast Retailing, and the Japanese sporting manufacturers. Financial data of these companies are shown and analyzed.

View full abstract

The purpose of this study was to clarify the impact of a rash guard on the likability of a swimming class from the perspective of the psychological difficulty of wearing a swimsuit. In study 1, 127 college students (20.35years old; 54 males, 73 females) completed a retrospective survey on the psychological difficulty of wearing a swimsuit in junior high school. The results revealed that psychological difficulty can be divided into four concerns: body shape, other people′s gaze, sunburn, and body hair. In study 2, 315 students (13.39years old; 165 males, 150 females) belonging to a junior high school that allowed them to wear a rash guard in swimming class and 290 students (13.93years old; 138 males, 152 females) belonging to a junior high school that did not allow them to wear a rash guard in swimming class completed a survey on the likability of the swimming class, requests for wearing a rash guard in future classes, and the psychological difficulty of wearing a swimsuit. The results revealed that wearing a rash guard impacted the likability of a swimming class by reducing students′ anxiety about sunburn.

View full abstract

The Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) developed extracurricular sports activities guidelines in 2018. The guidelines set out policies on the frequency of activities per week, the number of hours of activity per day, appropriate rest days, and other such matters. When reforming school extracurricular sports activities, parents′ understanding and cooperation with the policy is required. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influence parents′ attitudes toward the guidelines for junior high school extracurricular sports activities. A semi-structured interview survey was conducted with 16 parents (2 males and 14 females) whose children belonged to junior high school extracurricular sports activities, and an interview guide was created, consisting of: (1) impressions of the content of the guidelines when they first learned of them, (2) benefits and advantages of the guidelines, and (3) harms and disadvantages of the guidelines. After repeatedly reading the verbatim transcripts and identifying the content that may have influenced parents′ attitudes toward the extracurricular sports activities, codes were developed and classified into sub-categories, medium categories, and large categories. As a result, 194 codes, 31 small categories, 20 medium categories, and 9 large categories were identified, including: concern for leisure time due to activity guidelines, risk to children′s activities due to activity guidelines, private benefit due to activity guidelines, knowledge of activity guidelines, parents′ beliefs toward club activities, trust in advisor teachers, need to secure leisure time, need to secure opportunities for club activities, and parents′ experiences.

View full abstract

Although it is said that university graduates who belonged to an athletic club are mentally superior, there has been no quantitative data to support this issue. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the mental components of graduates who belonged to an athletic club while in university (“TAIIKUKAIKEI”) with those of non-athletic club graduates by means of a cross-sectional study. Participants of this study were 5,776 young workers within 10 years of graduation from a certain university in Tokyo. Half of the subjects had belonged to an athletic club in university and the other half had not. Participants were asked about demographic data and current subjective happiness, psychological stress, and work engagement. They were invited to participate in the survey through a mailed document containing the URL for the survey website, which could be accessed via a PC or a smartphone. The number of valid responses to the questionnaire was 521 (response rate of 9.0%). Excluding those who had left the club during their university years and those who were unemployed, the number of participants was 477 (246 athletic club graduates and 231 non-athletic club graduates). Results of the analysis of covariance, with gender, age, marital status, and current annual income as covariates, confirmed the hypothesis that athletic club graduates had higher current subjective happiness and work engagement and lower current psychological stress than non-athletic club graduates. Therefore, in the analyses of working graduates, the mental components of athletic club graduates were found to be relatively more favorable after graduation than those of non-athletic club graduates, although the sizes of the effects were small. However, it is worthwhile to note that empirical data revealed that the subjective happiness, psychological stress, and work engagement of athletic club graduates are favorable. In the future, it is expected that a longitudinal follow-up study of the same individuals will be conducted, and more qualitative characteristics of athletic club graduates will be investigated.

View full abstract

A longitudinal survey of university soccer competitions investigated whether competition results influenced Life Skills (LS) acquisition. We selected coaches in the second division (A-League) of the Kansai Student Soccer League that were similar in age, years of coaching, and coaching achievements for a longitudinal study. The study investigated the relationship between competition results and LS in participants coached by these coaches at three time-points in May, August, and December. Students from A and B universities (N = 90) participated in the study. The results indicated no significant differences between the two universities in the first-semester competition results, whereas large differences were indicated in the second semester. LS sub-factors′ mean values, “goal setting” and “always making one′s best effort” in December were significantly higher in University B than A. These results indicated that competition results temporarily increased LS. Previous studies have suggested that LS acquisition might determine competition results, and competition results and LS acquisition might influence each other. On the other hand, “appreciating others” in the two universities was significantly lower in August than in May, regardless of competition results, possibly because games are suspended in August. Having no family or friends to cheer the students might reduce their opportunities for thanking surrounding people. It is suggested that coaches take the initiative to teach students the critical role of feeling grateful to surrounding people at these times.

View full abstract

This research compared university student-athletes and other university students to analyze differences in attitudes towards COVID-19. The objective was to examine the impact of student-athletes′ attitudes on their future athletic activities and perform verification that will contribute to the deliberation and creation of university support measures for student-athletes. Google Forms were used to administer an online questionnaire to university students nationwide. The responses to questions on the questionnaire were recorded on either 5 or 8 point scales, as well as open-ended questions without word limitations at the end of the questionnaire. The results were analyzed by separating results into two cohorts; student-athletes and other university students, and then categorizing responses to each question as positive or negative. Cross-tabulation was used and then Fischer′s exact test was performed. To analyze the open-ended questions, KH-Coder3 software, which excels at Japanese analysis and is used in a great deal of research, was used. The analysis found a significant difference for some questions. In particular, a greater percentage of student-athletes than other university students felt unease regarding infection at university facilities, the impact of infection on university life, and the impact on activities from April 2020 onwards. Some of the reasons for the higher percentage of responses indicating unease were the lack of transparency in student life, with universities not defining clear approaches.

View full abstract

eSports refers to the overall cyber culture and related community activities, including participation and watching competitions or leagues that compete in games by utilizing mental and physical abilities in the games. We conducted a literature survey to clarify the development process and current status of eSports in Korea. Korea was the place of the origin of the terms and it has achieved the development of eSports in a short period. eSports has emerged and developed against the background of culture and industry such as the spread of PC Ban (PC Café), and the level of industrialization is high, and there is a high possibility that eSports will develop as a promising industry with a deep connection with media-related companies. In South Korea, eSports started a nationwide game league in 1998 with the spread of online games and the support of PC BAN. In addition, the marketing of companies has become active, and it has continued to this day with the support of the government and local governments. Compared to the United States, many leagues are in operation all year round, and the situation is characterized by an unspecified large number of tournament participations and high levels of commercialization and industrialization. Currently, there are 80 eSports teams in Korea. The number of registered players is 481. In addition, there are 92 formal educational institutions, including vocational schools, that have established game-related education courses in Korea. The Korea eSports Association officially joined the Korean Sports & Olympic Committee in 2019. Furthermore, eSports have been recognized as an official event of 2022 Asian Games which will be held in Hangzhou. In order for eSports to be recognized as an official Olympic sport it is necessary to enhance its contents and prepare for systematic sports management so that eSports can meet the requirements for establishing sports while solving socially adverse functions such as the violence of eSports.

View full abstract

One of the authors has analyzed the relationship between playing and spectating sports behavior during school-hood by setting adult sports spectating behavior as an explained variable, and confirmed a certain relationship. The purpose of this study was to clarify what timing of school-age the groups which come into contact with sports tend to continue or resume spectating sports in adulthood, based on the theory of carry over effect. The data was secondarily obtained from the research conducted by the Japan Volleyball League organization through an online survey. The respondents were asked whether or not they had experienced spectating or playing sports at each school-age stage (elementary school, junior high school, high school and university). Spearman′s rank correlation coefficients between spectating or playing sports in each school-age and the behavior modification stage of spectating were calculated, and Fisher's z-transformation and Bonferroni correction were used to evaluate the significance of difference in correlation coefficients for each school-age. As in the previous research on playing sports, the results revealed that spectating in university indicated significantly higher correlation with the behavior modification stage of current spectating, compared with other school-ages. In some cases of excluding the group that had been spectating since school-age, the correlation coefficients between spectating in elementary school/junior high school and the behavior modification stage of current spectating showed significant differences in comparison with other ages. This suggested that past experience may be carried over and facilitate resumption of spectating in adulthood, even when interrupted. Our results suggest that sports organizations are required to have a medium- to long-term perspective that takes into account the re-socialization of spectators while consciously targeting the school-age in which significant tendency is confirmed.

View full abstract