ABSTRACT
Japan has a long and distinctive cultural history of sport. Prior to the Meiji modernization the strongest sporting tradition was associated with Bujutsu, the martial arts, and was confined to the warrior ruling class. In the nineteenth century, owing in part to the long period of political stability during the Edo period, many martial arts became more sport-like and assumed a greater educational and personal developmental role (Hamaguchi 2006). This evolution in the character of martial arts was accelerated during the Meiji period when budo was promoted as training in a ‘way of life’ and introduced into the education system (for those of higher social status) and gradually into the training of young conscripts for military service, thus spreading it more evenly across society.
