Punishing coaching: bukatsudō and the normalisation of coach violence

Abstract

At the beginning of 2013 two independent cases made the headlines of Japanese newspapers. The first case involved the suicide of a high school student that was allegedly triggered after he received several beatings from his basketball coach for failing to perform well enough. The second case involved fifteen female judoka, including competitors in the London Olympics, who filed a letter with the Japanese Olympic Committee complaining of violence by two coaches, including the head coach of the women's team. Both these cases caused a national debate about the practice of taibatsu (corporal punishment) in sport in Japan. This article is based on the outcomes of focus groups that were conducted with students at ten universities from across Japan in 2013. In particular, we examine the ways in which students’ normalised acts of violence from coaches, accepting them as necessary forms of discipline and, in many cases interpreting such acts as indicative of caring coaching and kindness. Further, we consider the responses of students, which suggest that these forms of corporal punishment are necessary in producing a uniquely Japanese form of identity. The complex relationship between sport and education in Japan suggests that attempts to change the ways in which bukatsudō operate, including coach/athlete relationships, is problematic and may require major reconsideration of the role of sport in education.

Keywords:

• taibatsu
• violence
• coaching
• Japanese education
• school sport

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. We would also like to thank all those who contributed to the project and to conducting focus groups, especially Kazuo Uchiumi, Tomonori Ishioka, Osamu Takamine, Hiroshi Komuku, Lee Thompson, Isao Okayasu, Yoshihiko Onuma, Hitoshi Ebishima, Kaori Yamaguchi, and Satoshi Shimizu.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. In response to these situations, the Japan Olympic Committee (JOC) established an investigation team including four administration officers of the JOC and lawyers to start the fact-finding investigation. From the results of the reports from the investigation team, JOC decided not to grant the subsidy of 2013, which was about 25 million yen in 2012, to the All Japan Judo Federation. Additionally, the JOC recommended correction to the Federation on 13 issues, including an eradication of violence and harassment, and an introduction of a system that will allow players to openly state their opinions.

2. Originally, the students involved had tricked their homeroom teacher and gone off to play (and later home) during sketching time. The teacher later forced the students to stand in the hallway as punishment. Following this, a different teacher came up to the students and dealt each a blow to the head with his fist before sending them home. The case received much attention for its ruling, which stated in very clear and harsh terms that striking a student did in fact constitute assault and battery, regardless of whether or not it was considered necessary from an educational point of view.

3. The relative autonomy of members can be seen in two ways. First, attending training sessions, that is, getting there and back, is usually without adult supervision or assistance. Second, the actual day-to-day running of training in an organisational sense often starts in the absence of the coach. Senior students are encouraged and empowered to choose the ‘menu’ or style of training. Students may also control the budgets for their bukatsudō and manage many aspects of the day-to-day running of events.

4. Whilst the focus of this article is taibatsu there are also problems within sports clubs such as bullying and hazing. These tend to be directly linked to the hierarchical system of membership (joge kankei) that operate in the clubs and revolve around violence between students (see for example van Ommen 2015; McDonald and Sylvester 2014).

5. Coaching practices more generally are heavily influenced by high profile or successful professional coaches. Hence, the bushido style of coach that Miller (2011) refers to represents a hegemonic approach which itself arises from historic blocs. For example, Kelly (1998) points to the coaching styles of both the Waseda baseball team in the 1920s and the Yomiuri Giants of the 1960s as becoming dominant or hegemonic across Japanese baseball. Indeed, the influence of the brutal and highly disciplined training regimes of Daimatsu Hirofumi and the subsequent success of the Women's volleyball team at the Tokyo Olympics (Macnaughtan 2014) can be seen in the present day at any girls’ volleyball bukatsudō.

Additional information

Funding

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science [grant number 13118].

Notes on contributors

Brent McDonald

Brent McDonald is at Victoria University and the Institute of Sport Exercise and Active Living, Footscray Park Campus, PO Box 14428, Melbourne, Victoria 8001, Australia. He may be contacted at [email protected].

Keiji Kawai

Keiji Kawai is at Doshisha University, Faculty of Policy Studies, Karasuma Imadegawa, Kamigyo-ku Kyoto, Japan 602-8580.