During the Meiji Era, Girls’ Miscellaneous Schools（Non-Government Controlled Schools, GMS） did not require its teachers to have a teaching qualification. Additionally, it was not necessary for a GMS to follow the curriculum set by the Girls’ High School Law. Just over half of the Japanese teachers at GMS were women. Coupled with this; almost all of the foreign teachers at GMS were women. Despite not being required to follow the Government Controlled curriculum, almost two thirds of all GMS taught Gymnastics as part of their syllabus. It is thought that the reason for this is because GMS wanted to be recognized at same level as Government Controlled Girls’ High School. Two thirds of the teachers who taught Gymnastics at GMS were women. In 1908, the Tokyo Women’s School of Gymnastics and Music produced its highest number Gymnastics teaching graduates. Due to this increase, the ratio of foreign teachers started to decrease. Female teachers who specialized in teaching Gymnastics gradually increased and eventually in 1908, the number came to occupy one third of all teachers who taught Gymnastics at GMS. GMS recorded on the List of Personnel of Secondary Schools for the first time in 1908, employed mostly female Gymnastics teachers, and of these teachers, the majority of them had graduated from Gymnastics schools. For teachers who taught more than two subjects, in conjunction with Gymnastics, Music was the most common second subject, followed by Japanese, Penmanship, Science and Sewing. All foreign teachers who taught Gymnastics taught English. In the case where three subjects were taught, Music was added. Female Gymnastic teachers were very highly regarded in the late Meiji Era. It’s thought that their existence was greatly respected by the Government Guidelines for Teaching, which recommended to Girls’ High School “to the best of their ability to have girls’ Gymnastics taught by female teachers”.

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The purpose of this study is to have a more comprehensive understanding of the status-quo and characteristics of sexual harassment (SH) in sport by comparatively examining both male coaches’ and female athletes’ awareness and experiences of SH in sport settings. Data was collected by questionnaire. Respondents were asked to answer whether or not they think appropriate 16 kinds of behavior that could be considered SH performed by male coaches against female athletes (including 1 behavior against male athletes). They were also asked how many times they had experienced such behavior by a 3-point scale. In addition, only athletes were asked whether or not such behavior is acceptable. Questionnaires were conducted with 3,734 coaches and 1,162 athletes older than 18 (both including male and female) from September 2007 to August 2008, and 1,406 (37.7%) coaches and 418 (36.0%) athletes responded. 577 male coaches and 144 female athletes who have competed at national level or higher were available for statistical analysis. The 15 behavior items were divided into 4 categories; ① Personal comments or approaches, ② Coaching related behavior , ③ Gender harassment, ④ Intimacy, and then analyzed ( 1 behavior was left out from this analysis). Female athletes tended to be more tolerant of those 15 kinds of behavior while male coaches tended to understand that such behavior could be SH. The both parties experienced more “Personal comments or approaches” than the ratio of the positive perceptions of them, and the female athletes accepted those kinds of behavior though they thought it inappropriate. “Coaching related behavior” tended to be positively understood as a part of coaching; however, this category could have been a gray zone that the both parties had ambivalent perceptions and experiences.

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The object of this research is to examine how gender and other variables influence perception of sexual harassment (PSH) in athletic settings. The data was collected through survey forms from July through November of 2003 and in October of 2006. The subjects were male and female college students from 23 universities and two-year colleges in Japan, to which 4,208 survey forms were distributed in total and 3,989 were collected. Nineteen words and behaviours from male persons toward female students in athletic settings were measured by 4 point scale and the total sum of 19 categories was calculated as a PSH score. For the basic attributes of those surveyed, 7 variables including gender, age, experience with belonging to sports clubs in elementary, junior high and high school, the academic department they are currently enrolled in and the type of sports club they currently belong to were measured. The obtained PSH ratio by gender proved that the difference in the ratio of low PSH score between male and female was statistically significant in 9 out of 19 words and behaviours. More male students were permissive to PSH in athletic settings than female students in all of these categories. However, the total sum of 19 categories as a PSH score showed that PSH score was significantly associated with five attributes except gender too. The categorical regression analysis was conducted, in which 7 attributes are independent variables and total score of PSH is a dependent variable. Analysis result indicated that it is the experience with belonging to sports clubs in high school, the academic department they are currently enrolled in and the type of sports club they currently belong to that influences PSH, rather than gender. In other words, it would appear particular norms in sports clubs influence PSH and it is necessary to reconsider organizational norms.

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Objective: Questionnaire surveys conducted to clarify the experiences of sexual minorities (gay/lesbian, bisexual and transgender etc.) during physical education classes and sports club activities at school. Method: Survey was held among Kansai-rainbow parade 2008 (274 effective answers). Questions about repressed experiences at school were asked. Then, the answers were compared by sexual identities. Results: ① 56% of sexual minorities heard about homophobic speech. 59% felt to be forced to act into gender roles and 80% felt classes were conducted in a heterosexist atmosphere. 25% experienced disregards and ridicules, and 6% were physically abused. 37% were felt uncomfortable about dividing the group by gender. 32% were felt uncomfortable about the uniform and 12% felt uncomfortable about dividing the locker room by gender. ② For sexual minorities, recognition of homophobic and heterosexist atmosphere had a deeper meaning than for sexual majorities; no differences by gender identity among sexual minorities were noticed. Sexual minorities felt uncomfortable about dividing female and male into groups about uniform and locker room by gender significantly stronger than sexual majorities; and female felt them significantly stronger than male among sexual minorities. Sexual minorities experienced disregard, ridicule and physical abuse more than sexual majorities; and male experienced them more than female among sexual minorities. Conclusion: In Japan, sexual minorities felt the heterosexist and homophobic atmosphere, and were even exposed to violence at school. It is important to acknowledge this situation regarding sexual minorities.

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