Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

The Construction of National Identity Contributed by Sports in Japanese Modernization--The Comparative Analysis of Baseball and Kendo

Jianing FuInternational High School Department, Suzhou Foreign Language School, Suzhou, 215000, China*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

In the progress of modernization, Japan experienced massive changes in society and culture, and the development of athletic sports was one significant factor that influenced the construction of national identity after Meiji Restoration. This work uses the methodology of comparative analysis and case study of baseball and kendo to discuss the different pathways of national identity construction. In this work, the development of baseball and kendo is first introduced respectively, then the significance of the two sports in a historical context is discussed with reference to the interdisciplinary concept of invented tradition and cultural reproduction, and finally the similarities and differences between the two sports’ role in Japanese national identity construction are discussed. The work concludes that the pathway of national identity construction is not constrained by specific factors of a sport.

Keywords: baseball; kendo; National Identity; Modernization; Japan
Published: May 17, 2023
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/4/20220913
Volume: CHR Vol.4
pp. 602-609
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References

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