ABSTRACT
The sociological study of the institutionalization process of modern sport has been largely concerned with questions of agency, authority and control: Who has been involved in importing and disseminating the new body culture, and how has it been interpreted and repackaged to make it compatible with the social fibres of modern Japanese society? What has not been considered so far are material and spatial aspects of this body culture going global. Most, if not all, sports require more than just knowledge of rules, consent with the basic ethics and belonging to a social group or organization that provides sport opportunities. Highly specialized practices as they are need special equipment and particular spaces that have to be established. Yet space is a limited resource in modern society, particularly in its urban conglomerates, and the rationalization of space is a characteristic trait of modernity and capitalism alike (Bale 1993a:121).
