A Study of the National Strategy of Imperial Japan -The Politics of the Body and the People in the 1920s-

Abstract

This paper aimed to clarify the implications of the imperial encouragement of sports and its historical development, as well as its role and function, focusing on the sports and physical education physical management policies of imperial Japan in the 1920s. In Japan, this was manifested in the 1920s as a public management policy mediated by sports and physical education. The reasons for trying to manage Japanese citizens through sports and physical education included the unstable state of the country, the sense of crisis caused by the advent of the imperialist era as well as the colonial expansion of the Western powers, Japan’s isolation from the rest of the world owing to World War I, and the development of liberal social movements. The state’s interest in sports and physical education and full-fledged physical management was manifested in the active encouragement of sports by the Imperial Family, as seen in the creation of the Meiji Shrine Games and the presentation of the Emperor’s Cup and various other Imperial Cups at sports events. These policies were part of the strategy of opening up the imperial family and attempting to create a new relationship between them and the people. These activities are thought to have functioned strategically as a device to strengthen public consent to the national order and to promote a sense of unity with the state. From the 1920s, sports and physical education became a national policy with the strong support of the imperial family, while functioning as one of the vital devices to shape the nation.