Honolulu University of Hawai'i Press 2001; €30,99Japan ist eine der führenden Sportnationen. Es wurden hier nicht nur dreimal die Olympischen Spiele ausgetragen, sondern seit Jahrzehnten bringt die Inselnation mit ihren rd. 125 Mio. Einwohnern in verschiedenen Sportarten Weltklasse-Athletinnen und -Athleten hervor, z. B. in Turnen, Schwimmen, Leichtathletik und Skifliegen. Die Bewohner der westlichen Hemisphäre verbinden den Sport dieser asiatischen Nation jedoch meist weniger mit westlichen Sportarten als mit ,,traditionellen" Formen der japanischen Körper -k u l t u r ( , m a r t i a l a r t s " ) wie Sumo, Judo, Kendo, Aikido und Bogenschießen. Allerdings ist vieles, was uns am heutigen japanischen Sport als traditionell erscheint, erst in neuerer Zeit "erfunden" worden, wie das GUTMANN und THOMPSON in ihrem Buch "Japanese Sports. A History" darlegen. Sie sprechen dabei von einer "Retraditionalisierung". Das soll heißen, dass der heutige traditionelle Sport in Japan bewusst im Kontext der Dichotomie modern -traditionell geformt oder wiedergeformt wurde (8). Darüber hinaus wird die Leser -s c h a f t darüber aufgeklärt, dass Baseball seit Jahrzehnten der Nationalsport der Japaner ist, was vielen Lesern und Leserinnen sicherlich nicht bewusst ist.

A test of visual novelty preference, the Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence, was administered to a group of 113 full-term infants from the Colorado Adoption Project at 5 and 7 months of age. The infants were followed longitudinally and the Bayley scales were administered at 12 and 24 months, the Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development at 24 and 36 months, and the Stanford-Binet and the Colorado Specific Cognitive Abilities Test at 36 months. 1 novelty preference score was obtained for each infant by averaging across the 2 test ages. Novelty preference correlated significantly with 36-month Binet IQ, the first unrotated principle component from the cognitive battery, and the 24-month Bayley MDI score. Novelty preference was also compared to specific abilities at all 3 follow-up ages; all of the specific abilities were significantly related to novelty preference, with the exceptions of 12- and 24-month Imitation and 36-month Perceptual Speed. Partial correlations suggest that novelty preference predicts language and memory independent of IQ. Overall, the results indicate that novelty preference during the first year of life not only predicts later IQ but may also reflect specific cognitive processes.

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This paper documents the important role of Western-style professional wrestling in the popular culture of Japan, focusing on the early years in which it was established, 1953-1963. These were also the years in which television achieved its phenomenal growth, and the symbiotic relationship between the "sport" and the medium is explored.The star of professional wrestling in Japan during these years was the former sumo wrestler Rikidôzan. He faced a steady stream of foreign wrestlers, mainly from America. The fact that he was actually of Korean origins was a well kept secret.It is shown that the great popularity of professional wrestling in Japan is related to its embracing of a powerful theme: Japan against the world, the West, America.Western-style professional wrestling has an important place in the popular culture of Japan. The spectacle is nationally televised twice a week during primetime hours, not including UHF broadcasts. (Women's professional wrestling is also broadcast weekly.) Wrestlers are celebrities and appear on commercials, in adveritsements, and as guests on quiz shows, cooking programs, musical programs etc. In addition to the broadcast media, a number of so-called &dquo;sports&dquo; newspapers devote many column inches, screaming headlines and gory pictures to the bouts. (Indeed many of them got started about thirty years ago as pro wrestling sheets.) A glance at the shelves of one large book store in Osaka (Japan's second largest city) revealed about ninety titles on pro wrestling (versus about thirty for sumo.) This paper documents the popularity of Western-style professional wrestling in Japan, focusing on the early years in which it established its cultural role. This period coincided with the early years of television in Japan. In fact, the relationship between the explosive popularity of the &dquo;sport&dquo; and the rapid growth of the new medium has been called symbiotic. Therefore, the approach of this paper is to focus on that relationship.Admittedly, objections could be raised to treating professional wrestling as a sport. Although it shares many of the outward features of sport -winners and losers, referees, official bodies, commissioners, championships, trophies -there is plenty of doubt about its inner organization. The matches seem all too obviously staged.In his study of professional wrestling in the United States Gregory Stone met with a &dquo;conspiracy of silence&dquo; which prevented him from getting a clear picture of its social organization. As an anonymous wrestler put it, &dquo;There is too much money at stake.&dquo;' 1 at University of Manitoba Libraries on June 25, 2015 irs.sagepub.com Downloaded from