Is Nadeshiko Japan “Feminine?” Manufacturing Sport Celebrity and National Identity on Japanese Morning Television

Abstract

When the Japan women's soccer team, more affectionately dubbed "Nadeshiko Japan," emerged FIFA World Cup champions in 2011, its members became celebrities overnight. However, central to their celebrityhood is the media's obsession with "femininity." Through constructing sport celebrities, or tarento ("talents"), I argue that the Japanese media shift between representations of Nadeshiko Japan as glorified national athletes and as trivialized "feminine" figures. Following Michel Foucault's concept of "power" as relational, these structures dominate, and are in turn challenged by, the Nadeshiko members. Through close textual analysis of Japanese morning talk show, Sukkiri!!, this article explores how Nadeshiko Japan offers its primary audience, women, alternative forms of subjectivity. Using a cultural studies approach, this recent study of Japan reweighs gender anxieties surrounding athletes in the media.

Media portrayal of sportswomen in East Asia: A systematic review

“…This reveals that nationalism has a higher social priority than sexualization. In these articles, nationalism has four main goals: to win international recognition; build international rapport; gain national confidence; and promote national rejuvenation (Bruce, 2016; Buysse and Borcherding, 2010; Guthrie-Shimizu, 2013; Ho, 2014; Kim and Kwon, 2005; Lee and Bairner, 2009; Song et al, 2016; Watanabe et al, 2013). The historical rivalries among these countries and Western interventions have also had a strong impact on the portrayal of sportswomen in relation to nationalism (Lee, 2009; Merkel, 2013; Yoo, 2012).…”

“…As female sports journalists change the narrative of women in sports, so do the sportswomen themselves. Due to the popularity of counter-hegemonic culture in Japan recently, Japanese sportswomen have begun to reject underrepresentation and voice their own opinion on television shows (Ho, 2014; Mandujano-Salazar, 2016).…”

“…Sports media prefer to depict non-sports related aspects of sportswomen in China, Japan, and South Korea – again, there is no discussion of North Korea in this regard. These aspects include: family status; appearance; personal life; and personality (Bie and Billings, 2015; Bruce, 2016; Hao and Li, 2016; Ho, 2014; Kim and Kwon, 2005; Watanabe et al, 2013; Yoo, 2012). For example, Watanabe et al (2013) found that a Japanese TV show was keen to discuss whether or not certain sportswomen had boyfriends or the preferences of women soccer athletes for popular boy bands.…”

“…Sportswomen face contradictory dual identities in East Asia (Bruce, 2016). Sportswomen must balance their roles as athlete, mother, wife, and daughter (Hao and Li, 2016; Ho, 2014; Iida, 2003; Mandujano-Salazar, 2016). They must also balance their roles as sports star and imperfect, real-life person (Edwards, 2014; Ho, 2014; Watanabe et al, 2013).…”

Embedding a critical inquiry approach across the AC:HPE to support adolescent girls in participating in traditionally masculinised sport

“…Once women conform to these social norms, the fear of non-conformity and consequences of nonconforming continues, with women and girls still living in heavily socially constructed systems (Leavy et al, 2009). Sport participation, especially in TMS, opposes the association between femininity and athleticism, and instead produces dominant understandings of these constructs as oppositional (Cronan & Scott, 2008;Ho, 2014). Shakib and Dunbar's (2002) exploration of high school basketball displayed that girls sporting teams are viewed as 'less than' boys, regardless of success.…”