Understanding Japanese society through sport.

The study of sport tells us much about society where a sport is played. Understanding how sports are played gives you more profound knowledge about a given society. Japan has an unique character in terms of history and development of sport. Many sports were imported from the West in Meiji Period. On the contrary, some sports, such as Judo and Karate, were developed from traditional martial arts and are now played world-wide. How sports were transformed or modified in Japanese society would be a key to the better understanding of Japanese society.

At the end of this course, students should gain a insightful perspective on the relationship between sport and Japanese society. Students also should have a profound knowledge of Japanese traditional culture or value system like Bushido.

The lectures, visual materials and discussions are main components of this course. Interactive communications between the lecturer and students, as well as among students, will be highly encouraged.
If it is necessary for reasons, such as infection prevention, classes may be held on-demand.

Google Classroom is used for the communication between the lecturer and students.

Students are expected to complete assigned readings prior to the class. In addition, each student is required to pursue her/his own interest related to the designated topics.

In the case of online lectures, the assignments for those lectures will be equivalent to reflection papers to the lectures in the classroom.

＜No textbook required.＞