Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T11:15:15.521Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The sportification of judo: global convergence and evolution*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2013

Shohei Sato
Shohei Sato*
Affiliation:
Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article re-examines our understanding of modern sport. Today, various physical cultures across the world are practised under the name of sport. Almost all of these sports originated in the West and expanded to the rest of the world. However, the history of judo confounds the diffusionist model. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, a Japanese educationalist amalgamated different martial arts and established judo not as a sport but as ‘a way of life’. Today it is practised globally as an Olympic sport. Focusing on the changes in its rules during this period, this article demonstrates that the globalization of judo was accompanied by a constant evolution of its character. The overall ‘sportification’ of judo took place not as a diffusion but as a convergence – a point that is pertinent to the understanding of the global sportification of physical cultures, and also the standardization of cultures in modern times.

Keywords

cultural exchangeJapanmartial artsnon-westernsport
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Global History , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , July 2013 , pp. 299 - 317
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

This article would not have seen the light of day without the help and insights of Tetsuya Nakajima, Takumi Miyazaki, Joydeep Sen, Masayuki Ishii, Matthew Taylor, Neil Carter, Dai Nishimori, Naoki Murata, Hanako Motohashi, Kana Hoshi, Prashant Kidambi, James Disley, and the editors and anonymous referees of this journal. I am also thankful for the support and understanding of my former colleagues at the Organization for Islamic Area Studies, Waseda University, Tokyo.

References

1 IJF website, http://www.ijf.org/ (consulted 15 December 2012).

2 Carr, Kevin Gray, ‘Making way: war, philosophy and sport in Japanese judo’, Journal of Sport History, 20, 2, 1993, pp. 167–188Google Scholar

Shun, Inoue, ‘The invention of the martial arts: Kano Jigoro and Kodokan judo’, in Stephen Vlatos, ed., Mirror of modernity: invented traditions of modern Japan, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1998, pp. 163–173Google Scholar

3 Miarka, Bianca, Marques, Juliana Bastons, and Franchini, Emerson, ‘Reinterpreting the history of women's judo in Japan’, International Journal of the History of Sport, 28, 7, 2011, pp. 1016–1029CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Tetsuya Nakajima and Lee Thompson, ‘Judo and the process of nation-building in Japan: Kano Jigoro and the formation of Kodokan’, Asia Pacific Journal of Sport and Social Science, iFirst article, 2012, pp. 1–14Google Scholar

4 Murata, Naoki, The internationalization of judo: its history and challenges, Tokyo: Nihonbudokan ( $$$$ ), 2011Google Scholar

Sakaue, Yasuhiro, ed., Jujutsu and judo overseas: dynamism of Japanese martial arts, Tokyo: Seikyusha, ( $$$$ : $$$$ ), 2010Google Scholar

Ogata, Takashi, Komata, Koji, Sameshima, Motonari, and Suganami, Morio, The internationalization of judo as a sport: forty years until the introduction of coloured uniforms, Tokyo: Fumaido ( $$$$ : $$$$ ), 2008Google Scholar

5 Apadurai, Arjun, Modernity at large: cultural dimensions of globalization, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2003, pp. 89–113Google Scholar

6 Keys, Barbara J., Globalizing sport: national rivalry and international community in the 1930s, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006, p. 3Google Scholar

7 O'Brien, Patrick, ‘Historiographical traditions and modern imperatives for the restoration of global history’, Journal of Global History, 1, 1, pp. 4–7Google Scholar

Bairner, Alan, ‘When “East” meets “West”: reflections on cultural exchange’, Asia Pacific Journal of Sport and Social Sciences, 1, 2–3Google Scholar

8 Guttmann, Allen, From ritual to record: the nature of modern sports, New York: Columbia University Press, 1978, pp. 54–55Google Scholar

Dunning, Eric and Sheard, Kenneth, Barbarians, gentlemen and players: a sociological study of the development of rugby football, 2nd edn, London: Routledge, 2005, pp. 30–31Google Scholar

Dominic Malcolm, Jon Gemmell, and Nalin Mehta, ‘Cricket and modernity: international and interdisciplinary perspectives on the study of the imperial game’, Sport in Society, 12, 4/5, 2009, pp. 433–434Google Scholar

9 Foucault, Michel, The order of things: an archaeology of the human sciences, London: Routledge, 2002Google Scholar

10 Yamaguchi, Kaori, History and challenges of women's judo, Tokyo: Nippon Budokan ( $$$$ ), 2012Google Scholar

11 Ono, Katsutoshi and Mizuno, Hiroyuki, ‘Whether Japan is really the birthplace of judo ( $$$$ )’, in Sakaue, Jujutsu and judo, pp. 168–176Google Scholar

Kano, Jigoro, ‘Judo and its educational value’, Dainipponkyoikukai Zasshi ( $$$$ ), 87, 1889, pp. 446–449Google Scholar

Murata, Naoki, Learning from Master Jigoro Kano, Tokyo: Nippon Budokan ( $$$$ ), 2001, pp. 12–19Google Scholar

Tomiki, Kenji, ‘The history of classical jujutsu and the development of Kodokan judo’, Taiikugaku Kenkyu ( $$$$ ), 12, 5, 1968, p. 280Google Scholar

12 Inoue, Shun, Origins of budo, Tokyo: Yoshikawakobunkan ( $$$$ ), 2004, pp. 2–7Google Scholar

Jikishin-ryu-yawara-jo’, Budogaku Kenkyu ( $$$$ ), 43, 1, 2010, pp. 9–17Google Scholar

13 Yokoyama, Kendo, Biography of Master Kano, Tokyo: Kodokan ( $$$$ ), 1941, pp. 3–15Google Scholar

14 See his pictures in Kano Jigoro corpus, Tokyo: Kodokan ( $$$$ ), 1989, vol. 12.

15 Kano, Jigoro, Kano Jigoro: my life and judo, Tokyo: Nihontosho Centre ( $$$$ ), 1997, pp. 11–13Google Scholar

16 Kano, Kano Jigoro, p. 16Google Scholar

Murata, Internationalization of judo, pp. 24–27Google Scholar

17 Kano, Kano Jigoro, pp. 17–18Google Scholar

18 Inoue, Origins of budo, pp. 11–15Google Scholar

19 Kano, Jigoro, Kodokan Judo, rev. edn, Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1994, p. 16Google Scholar

20 Inoue, Origins of budo, pp. 16–17Google Scholar

21 Inoue, ‘Invention’, pp. 165Google Scholar

22 Kano, Jigoro, Writings of Kano Jigoro, Tokyo: Satsuki Shobo ( $$$$ ), 1992, vol. 2, pp. 11–55Google Scholar

Kano, Kano Jigoro, pp. 103–111Google Scholar

23 Kano, Writings of Kano Jigoro, vol. 2, pp. 55–66Google Scholar

24 Ogata et al., Internationalization of judo, pp. 10–11Google Scholar

25 Yomiuri Shimbun ( $$$$ ), morning edition, 8 February 1906, p. 3.

26 Kano, Writings of Kano Jigoro, vol. 3, pp. 373–387Google Scholar

27 Kano, ‘Judo and its educational value’, p. 471Google Scholar

Nakajima, Tetsuya, ‘The body as seen by Arinori Mori and Jigoro Kano: two characteristics of the body of the modern Japanese’, in Kunihiro Seto, Chizuru Sugiyama, and Nagako Hateruma, eds., Rethinking Japanese bodies, Tokyo: Meiwa ( $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ ), 2012, p. 87Google Scholar

28 Kano, Jigoro, ‘Patriotism’, Kokushi ( $$$$ ), 1901, 4, pp. 321–324Google Scholar

29 Kano, Jigoro, Teachings for youth training, Tokyo: Dobunkan ( $$$$ ), 1911, pp. 371–403Google Scholar

30 Kano, Jigoro, ‘The position of Japan's competitive exercise in the international scene’, Judo ( $$$$ 1964 $$$$ ), 3, 5, 1917, pp. 2–8Google Scholar

31 Kano, Jigoro, ‘Judo and competitive exercise’, Sakko ( $$$$ ), 8, 11, 1929, pp. 2–5Google Scholar

32 Jigoro Kano, ‘Speech of Master Kano’, Kano-sensei Kyoikukouroukinen Kaishi, Tokyo: Kano-sensei Kyoikukouroukinen-kai ( $$$$ ), 1937, p. 16Google Scholar

33 Kano, Jigoro, ‘Comments on the martial arts contests in front of the emperor’, in Ministry of the Imperial Household and Dainippon Yubenkai Kodansha, eds., Contests in front of the Showa emperor, Tokyo: Dainippon Yubenkai Kodansha ( $$$$ ), 1930, pp. 443–444Google Scholar

34 Sasaki, Kibizaburo, ‘On judo competition rules: a critique of the Kodokan rules’, Teikoku Daigaku Shimbun, ( $$$$ ), 11 October 1926Google Scholar

Mifune, Tomoko, ‘The characteristics of “Kosen-judo” as a subculture of pre-war Japanese high schools: a study of university judo competitions during the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa eras ( $$$$ )’, unpublished master's dissertation, Tohoku University, 2013, pp. 58–59Google Scholar

35 Ogata et al., Internationalization of judo, pp. 10–11Google Scholar

36 Kano, Kano Jigoro, pp. 211–231Google Scholar

Murata, Learning, pp. 228–235Google Scholar

37 Kanojuku Dosokai Zasshi, Kanojuku ( $$$$ ), 5, 7, 10, 16–17, 22, 37, 1894–1918, microfilm, accessible at Meiji Shinbun Zasshi Bunko, Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

38 Yokoyama, Biography, pp. 241–243Google Scholar

Murata, Learning, pp. 240–242Google Scholar

39 Murata, Learning, pp. 248–250Google Scholar

40 Bowen, Richard, ‘Origins of the British Judo Association, the European Judo Union, and the International Judo Federation’, in Thomas A. Green and Joseph R. Svinth, eds., Martial arts in the modern world, Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003, pp. 173Google Scholar

41 ‘Japan sports 100th anniversary ( $$$$ )’, commemorative postage stamp, Japan Post, 8 July 2011.

42 Kano, Kano Jigoro, pp. 188–193Google Scholar

43 Kano, Writings of Kano Jigoro, vol. 3, p. 386Google Scholar

44 Kotani, Sumiyuki, ‘Memories of Master Jigoro Kano’, Monthly Report Vol. 1 for Writings of Kano Jigoro Vol. 2, Tokyo: Satsuki Shobo ( $$$$ ), August 1983, pp. 5–8Google Scholar

45 Jigoro, Kano, ‘Olympic Games and Japan’, in Green and Svinth, Martial arts, p. 171Google Scholar

46 Kano, Kano Jigoro, pp. 282–298Google Scholar

47 Matsumoto, Yoshizo, Judo across the world, Tokyo: Nippon Shuppan Kyodo Kabushikigaisha ( $$$$ ), 1952Google Scholar

48 Yabu, Kotaro, ‘Jujutsu versus western wrestling: the evolution of judo and the transcendence of “Jiu-Jitsu” ( $$$$ vs. $$$$ “Jiu-Jitsu”⌋ )’, in Sakaue, Jujutsu and judo, pp. 15–24Google Scholar

Takagi, Isao, ‘Tomoenage in Paris: the path towards French-style judo ( $$$$ )’, in Sakaue, Jujutsu and judo, p. 122Google Scholar

49 Okada, Kei, ‘Sherlock Holmes the jujutsu master, Theodore Roosevelt the judo master: Anglo-American jujutsu; judo fad and physical culture ( $$$$ )’, in Sakaue, Jujutsu and judo, pp. 72–80Google Scholar

50 The National Archives, Kew (henceforth TNA), PCOM 9/214, ‘Use of judo by prison officers’, 23 August 1939.

51 Yerkow, Charles, Official judo: the authentic guide to sport judo and self-defense, rev. edn, London: Arco Publishers, 1958, pp. 7–8Google Scholar

52 Putin, Vladimir, Shestakov, Vasily, and Levitsky, Alexey, Judo: history, theory, practice, Berkeley, CA: Blue Snake Books, 2004Google Scholar

53 Koga, Toru, ‘Russian sambo: “a theory of jujutsu” ( $$$$ )’, in Sakaue, Jujutsu and judo, pp. 177–197Google Scholar

54 Nishimori, Dai, ‘Georgia, a hidden bastion of judo ( $$$$ )’, in Sakaue, Jujutsu and judo, pp. 198–205Google Scholar

55 Kodokan Judo Museum and Library, Tokyo, handwritten translation of the USA amateur wrestling competition rules (as of 1930), author unknown ( $$$$ $$$$ ).

56 For an analysis of judo's history in modern Japan, see Nakajima and Thompson, ‘Judo’. See also Carr, ‘Making way’.

57 Kano, ‘Judo and its educational value’, p. 471Google Scholar

58 Nakajima, Tetsuya, ‘Criticism of the concept of Kodokan judo after the Japan–China war: an analysis of Yasutaro Fujio's assertion of “Japanese spirit”’ (English translation of the title given by the author), Supotsushi Kenkyu ( $$$$ $$$$ ), 24, 2011, p. 34Google Scholar

59 TNA, BT/31/33903/292921, various documents.

60 Hasegawa, Junzo, Kano Jigoro's teaching and philosophy, Tokyo: Meiji Shoin ( $$$$ ), 1981, pp. 147–154Google Scholar

61 Ogata et al., Internationalization of judo, p. 29Google Scholar

62 Bowen, ‘Origins’, pp. 175–178Google Scholar

Ogata et al., Internationalization of judo, p. 16Google Scholar

63 Bowen, ‘Origins’, pp. 175–178Google Scholar

64 Murata, Internationalization of judo, pp. 329–351Google Scholar

65 Kano, Risei, Judo flourishing: eight years after the war, Tokyo: Toindo Shoten ( $$$$ ), 1954, pp. 91–93Google Scholar

66 A detailed list of world championships between 1956 and 2008 is available on the website of the All Japan Judo Federation, http://www.judo.or.jp/2009wjc/kiroku.pdf (consulted 1 November 2012).

67 Kodokan Judo Museum and Library, Tokyo, brochure, ‘Rules of judo contest in the Tokyo Olympic Games’.

68 Contest rules of the Kodokan judo, English translation by Kodokan from the original Japanese text in 1951, revised in 1953, Tokyo: Kodokan, 1954; Contest rules of the Kodokan, revised 1951, 1955, 1961, Tokyo: Kodokan, 1961.

69 Komata, Koji, Ogata, Takashi, Matsui, Isao, and Takeuchi, Yoshinori, Judo: rules and referee's officiating techniques, Tokyo: Daishukan Shoten ( $$$$ ), 2005, p. 13Google Scholar

70 International judo federation refereeing rules, 2011, Tokyo: All Japan Judo Federation ( $$$$ 2011 $$$$ ), 2012.

71 Angus, Ron, Competitive judo: winning training and tactics, Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2006, pp. 15–18Google Scholar

72 Handbook of the International Judo Federation, 1979; Handbook of the International Judo Federation, 1986.

73 Handbook: International Judo Federation, 1974, p. 57.

74 Komata et al., Judo, pp. 17–19Google Scholar

75 Handbook: International Judo Federation, 1974, pp. 56–7.

76 Contest rules and commentary, London: The British Judo Association, 1960, p. 18.

77 Komata et al., Judo, p. 17Google Scholar

78 Ogata et al., Internationalization of judo, pp. 83–84Google Scholar

79 Judo Shinbun, 10 March 1978, pp. 1, 3.

80 Okada, Hirotaka, ‘On the experimental introduction of new rules: comments on Grand Slam Paris ( $$$$ )’, Judo, 84, 4, 2013, pp. 83–85Google Scholar

81 Kano, Yukimitsu, ‘Foreword’, in Kano, Kodokan Judo, p. 11Google Scholar

Kaneto, Kuniomi and Tomiki, Kenji, ‘Judo matches and refereeing rules. part 1: the evolution of judo matches and refereeing rules in All Japan championships’, Nippon-taiikuyakkai Taikaigo ( $$$$ $$$$ ), 26, 1975, p. 596Google Scholar

82 Nose, Seiki, Nose, Eigo, Suzuki, Wakaba, and Miyake, Hitoshi, ‘Internationalization of judo and the challenges for Japanese judo, part 3: principles, internationalization and sportification of judo and the problems of its refereeing rules’, Saitama Daigaku Kiyo ( $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ ), 53, 1, 2004, pp. 252–254Google Scholar

83 Nose, Seiki, ‘Internationalization of judo and the challenges for Japanese judo, part 1: women's judo at the Atlanta Olympics and its problems’, Saitama Daigaku Kiyo ( $$$$ $$$$ ), 46, 1, 1997, p. 99Google Scholar

Nose et al., ‘Internationalization of judo, part 3’, pp. 70–71Google Scholar

84 IJF, Minutes of DC Meeting, no. 40, 7–9 May 1993, Manchester, UK. The IJF sources were originally downloaded from its former website (http://before.ijf.org/htmls/main_cong.html), which is now closed, before they were passed on to me. I thank Tetsuya Nakajima and Shusaku Kiryu for their cooperation.

85 IJF, Minutes of DC Meeting, no. 43, 22–23 November 1993, Lotte Hotel, Seoul, Korea.

86 IJF, Minutes of DC Meeting, no. 22, 12 January 1987, Tokyo, Japan.

87 IJF, Minutes of DC Meeting, no. 48, 20–22 May 1996, Austria Trend Hotel Bosei, Vienna, Austria.

88 IJF, Minutes of DC Meeting, no. 49, 7–8 October, 1996, Meridien Hotel, Oporto, Portugal.

89 IJF, Minutes of Extraordinary DC Meeting, 20 January 1997, Hotel Nankai South Tower, Osaka, Japan.

90 IJF, Minutes of DC Meeting, 23–23 May 1997, Hotel Meridien ‘Barbarons’, Mahe, Seychelles.

91 Russell Holden, ‘International cricket: the hegemony of commerce, the decline of government interest and the end of morality?’, Sport in Society, 12, 4/5, 2009, pp. 643–656Google Scholar

92 Yomiuri Shimbun, morning edition, 16 May 1889, p. 2. English translation quoted from Nakajima and Thompson, ‘Judo’, p. 10.

93 Journalist A, ‘Report on the Kodokan Headquarters Black-belt Council’, Judo ( $$$$ ), 8, 2, 1923, p. 48.

94 Kano, ‘Judo and competitive exercise’, pp. 3–5Google Scholar

95 IJF, ‘Refereeing & organizing rules and changes: explanations’, 11 December 2012, http://www.intjudo.eu/News/cikk2389 (consulted 17 December 2012).

96 Handbook of the International Judo Federation, 1992, p. 3.

97 Matsushita, Saburo and Fujita, Shinro, ‘Report of the IJF Congress’, Judo ( $$$$ ), 72, 9, 2001, p. 59Google Scholar

98 IJF, ‘Refereeing & organizing rules’.

99 Ibid.

100 I thank Prashant Kidambi for illuminating this point.

101 Bayly, C. A., The birth of the modern world: 1780–1914, Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004, pp. 12–21Google Scholar