In this study, we analyze nationalism in the sense of its vague attachment to members of the same nation, also called “cognitive nationalism”. As pointed out in previous studies, the national stereotypes found in sports coverage play important roles in the construction of “cognitive nationalism”. Therefore, in this research, we look at the stereotype that “Japanese players are inferior in “physical ability”” in soccer magazines and analyze it quantitatively and qualitatively.
The first of the findings of this study is that the popular statement that “Japanese players are inferior in “physical ability”” was rarely seen until the early 1990s. These discourses were for the most part limited to the mid-1990s and early 2000s.
The second finding is that since the mid-2000s, Japanese players’ evaluation of “physical ability” has been highly consistent. In other words, discourses with the meaning “although Japanese players are inferior in the strength and size of the body, they compensate with superiority in momentum, quickness, and speed” continued to be produced over a long period of time.
Finally, the third finding of this study is that the consistent evaluation of the “physical ability” of Japanese players was possibly built by the slogan “Japanization of Japanese football” advocated by Ivica Osim, who was assigned to coach the Japanese national team in 2006.

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　In this study, we investigated the concept of nationalism as a vague sense of individual identity as belonging to a common nation, i.e. also-called “cognitive nationalism”, focusing particularly on how the latter is constructed in relation to sports.
　Previous studies of “cognitive nationalism” have focused mainly on football and have examined the stereotyped concept that Japan’s national teams or Japanese players are “organized”. However, no empirical research has ever attempted to substantiate this stereotype. Therefore, to clarify whether Japan’s national football teams and players can indeed be considered as “organized”, we evaluated this issue using quantitative and qualitative measures, focusing on players and teams featured in football magazines.
　Quantitative analysis revealed that the number of expressions affirmed by collective traits accounted for only about half of the total. Many expressions affirmed the personal and physical qualities of Japan’s national teams or Japanese players. A detailed analysis of the collective traits revealed that in the early days, many expressions centered on collective tactics, whereas in more recent times references to pass work increased.
　Furthermore, it was shown that in the early period, the term “organized” often had a qualitative connotation of “playing collectively to make up for lack of personal and physical traits”. However, the meaning gradually changed, and recently the word “organized” has been used in the sense of “personal qualities of the Japanese nation”, with a specific emphasis on unity or diligence.
　Consequently, we conclude that perceptions of Japan’s national teams or Japanese players as being “organized” are no longer dominant in articles featured in football magazines, and that the term “organized” has developed some ambiguity of meaning.

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