SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The Handbook of Sport and Japan presents a fascinating collection of established and new scholarship, a valuable text for readers who want to use sport as lens to look more closely into a nation. The chapters in the handbook convey what taking part in sport feels and looks like, highlighting the sporting accomplishments of Japanese athletes and teams, while also reflecting how the sporting experience interacts with economics, diplomacy, media, culture, demographics, gender, ethnicity and identity. This book also provides an insight into Japan’s long history and engagement with sport, from the Meiji period until the present day. In this collection, contributions pose key questions about what conclusions can be made when sport is placed in the foreground of key events in Japanese history, including pre-war industrialization and empire building, to the post-war economic boom, the 2011 Tōhoku Disaster and the recent COVID-19 pandemic.