As an attempt to address the paucity of research on sport in Asian settings, this paper uses a case-study approach to examine young Japanese men's participation in pre-game rugby rituals. Drawing on Durkheim's seminal work, it is argued that the pre-game ceremonies have much in common with rituals conducted in similar western settings. However, many of the ritual activities were performed in distinctly Japanese ways, suggesting that they also express and confirm dominant local values and mark rugby as a discrete cultural practice.
Abe, I. and Mangan, J.A. (1997) `The British Impact on Boys' Sports and Games in Japan: An Introductory Survey', The International Journal of the History of Sport14(4): 187-199.
2.
Armstrong, G. and Giulianotti, R. (1997) `Reclaiming the Game: An Introduction to the Anthropology of Football', in G. Armstrong and R. Giulianotti (eds) Entering the Field: New Perspectives on World Football.Oxford: Berg.
3.
Befu, H. (1986) `An Ethnography of Dinner Entertainment in Japan', in T.S. Lebra and W.P. Lebra (eds) Japanese Culture and Behavior: Selected Readings.Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
4.
Bourdieu, P. (1984) Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste.London: Routledge.
5.
Bourdieu, P. (1991) Language and Symbolic Power.Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
6.
Brendt, V. (1986) `Skiing Cross-Culturally', in T.S. Lebra and W.P. Lebra (eds) Japanese Culture and Behavior: Selected Readings.Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press.
7.
Connell, R.W. (1983) Which Way is Up? Essays on Class, Sex and Culture.Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
8.
Connell, R.W. , Ashenden, D., Kessler, S. and Dowsett, G. (1982) Making the Difference: Schools, Families and Social Division.Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
9.
Durkheim, E. (1976) The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life.London: Allen & Unwin (first published 1912).
10.
Eichberg, H. and El Mansouri, A.Y. (1998) `Sport in Libya: A Physical Culture as an Indicator of Societal Contradictions', in J. Bale and C. Philo (eds) Body Culture: Essays on Sport, Space and Identity.London: Routledge.
11.
Elias, N. and Dunning, E. (1986) Quest for Excitement: Sport and Leisure in the Civilizing Process.Oxford: Blackwell.
12.
Firth, R. (1996) Religion: A Humanist Interpretation.London: Routledge.
13.
Foley, D. (1990) Learning Capitalist Culture: Deep in the Heart of Tejas.Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
14.
Giddens, A. (1995) Modernity and Self Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age.Cambridge: Polity Press.
15.
Goffman, E. (1959) The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life.Harmondsworth: Penguin.
16.
Goffman, E. (1967) Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face to Face Behaviour.Garden City, NY: Anchor.
17.
Goffman, E. (1971) Relations in Public: Microstudies of the Public Order.Harmondsworth: Penguin.
18.
Gruneau, R. and Whitson, D. (1993) Hockey Night in Canada.Toronto: Garramond Press.
19.
Guttmann, A. (1978) From Ritual to Record: The Nature of Modern Sports.New York: Columbia University Press.
20.
Guttmann, A. (1994) Games and Empires: Modern Sports and Cultural Imperialism.New York: Columbia University Press.
21.
Hognestad, H. (1997) `The Jambo Experience: An Anthropological Study of Hearts Fans', in G. Armstrong and R. Giulianotti (eds) Entering the Field: New Perspectives on World Football.Oxford: Berg.
22.
Horne, J. (1998) `The Politics of Sport and Leisure in Japan: Global Power and Local Resistance', International Review for the Sociology of Sport33(2): 171-182.
23.
Horne, J. and Jary, D. (1994) `Japan and the World Cup: Asia's First World Cup Final Hosts?', in J. Sugden and A. Tomlinson (eds) Hosts and Champions: Soccer Cultures, National Identities and the USA World Cup.Aldershot: Arena.
24.
Jarvie, G. (1993) `Sport, Nationalism and Cultural Identity', in L. Allison (ed.) The Changing Politics of Sport.Manchester: Manchester University Press.
25.
Lebra, T. (1976) Japanese Patterns of Behaviour.Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
26.
Lebra, T. (1992) Japanese Social Organisation.Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press.
27.
Lever, J. (1983) Soccer Madness.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
28.
Light, R. (1999a) `Learning to be a Rugger Man: High School Rugby and Media Constructions of Masculinity in Japan', Football Studies2(1): 74-89.
29.
Light, R. (1999b) `Japanese School Rugby and the Reproduction of Hegemonic Masculinity', in T. Chandler and J. Nauright (eds) Making the Rugby World: Race, Gender, Commerce, pp. 105-127. London: Frank Cass.
30.
Light, R. (1999c) `A Comparative Study of Young Men's Experiences in and through Elite Level High School Rugby in Japan and Australia', unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
31.
MacAloon, J. (1992) `The Ethnographic Imperative in Comparative Olympic Research', Sociology of Sport Journal9(2): 104-130.
32.
McKay, J. , Messner, M. and Sabo, D., eds (2000) Men, Masculinities, and Sport.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
33.
Maguire, J. (1992) `Towards a Sociological Theory of Sport and the Emotions: A Process-Sociological Perspective', in E. Dunning and C. Rojek (eds) Sport and Leisure in the Civilising Process: Critique and Counter Critique.London: MacMillan.
34.
March, R. (1996) Reading the Japanese Mind.Tokyo: Kodansha.
35.
Messner, M. (1992) Power at Play: Sports and the Problem of Masculinity.Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
36.
Messner, M. and Sabo, D., eds (1990) Sport, Men and the Gender Order.Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
37.
Moeran, B. (1986) `Individual, Group and Seishin: Japan's Internal Debate', in T. Lebra and W. Lebra (eds) Japanese Culture and Behaviour.Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press.
38.
Nakane, C. (1970) Japanese Society.Tokyo: Tuttle Press.
39.
Nakane, C. (1986) `Criteria of Group Formation', in T.S. Lebra and W.P. Lebra (eds) Japanese Culture and Behavior: Selected Readings.Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
40.
Roden, D. (1980) `Baseball and the Quest for National Identity in Meiji Japan', The American Historical Review85(1): 511-534.
41.
Stevenson, T. and Alaug, A.K. (1997) `Football in Yemen: Rituals of Resistance, Integration and Identity', International Review for the Sociology of Sport32(1): 5-21.
42.
Stockwin, J. (1995) `Series Editor's Preface', in J. Van Bremen and D.P. Martinez (eds) Ceremony and Ritual in Japan.London: Routledge.
43.
Sugimoto, Y. (1997) An Introduction to Japanese Society.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
44.
Tucker, J. (1999) `Wallabies Have No Regrets', The Courier Mail (30 Aug.): 9.
45.
Whiting, R. (1990) You Gotta Have Wa.New York: Vintage Departures.
