This article argues that the recent growth of interest in the body in Western social science has been largely based on Western assumptions of social development. In particular, studies of sport and body culture more generally have either ignored non-Western societies, such as Japan, or sustained stereotypical views of Japanese culture. As a small amount of research being developed by anthropologists
suggests, the study of sport and body culture in Japan reveals similarities and differences with the West. The pattern of Japanese social development is both a route to modernity and one of the roots of modernity. Reflections on three areas (body culture, physical culture and sport) illustrate this argument and suggest where further research is required. |