Women and Martial Art in Japan

1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-1-032-18784-6
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 200 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 316 g

Reihe: ASAA Women in Asia Series

This book, based on extensive original research, examines the practice by women in a university sport setting of kendo, the Japanese martial art which, using bamboo swords as well as protective armour, and descended from traditional swordsmanship, instils in its practitioners, besides physical skills, societal values of etiquette and resilience as well connecting them to a “traditional” outlook, which includes a gendered cultural identity. The book therefore illustrates an unexplored example of identity construction in Japan, one which legitimises women’s sport experiences within a male-centric physical culture, unpacks the notion of “tradition” in kendo and unravels its stultifying control over women’s kendo participation, and discusses the androgenicity of women’s participation to highlight its subversive potential to develop women as leaders in sport, politics, and other fields which continue to be very male dominated in Japan.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sylvester, Kate

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Sport | Tourismus | Freizeit Sport Kampfsportarten, Selbstverteidigung Ostasiatische Kampfkünste
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Regionalwissenschaften, Regionalstudien
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Stadt- und Regionalsoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Freizeitsoziologie, Konsumsoziologie, Alltagssoziologie, Populärkultur
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein Empirische Sozialforschung, Statistik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of figures

List of tables

Acknowledgements

Glossary

1 Examining culture through the body

2 Shared humanity and embodied ethnography

3 Legitimising martial women

4 Tradition gendering bodies

5 Women’s club culture: Building resilience

6 Conclusion: The future of sport for women in Japan

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Kate Sylvester is a Research Associate at Lund University, Sweden.