Studies on Physical Education Promotion Policy for Young Men's Association in the Taisho Era: Focusing on the Administrative Process in Tokyo Prefecture*

A Study of Physical Education Promotion Plan for the Young Men's Association by “HOTOKUKAI” in the Early Taisho Era: An Analysis of the “SHIMIN” Bulletins*

“…Looking at the process through which the promotion of physical education in the YMA was introduced, previous studies have suggested that Tanaka Giichi (Tanaka) of the Army Ministry was actively involved in the issuance of theˆrst directive and that it strongly re‰ected Tanaka's ideas (Kinoshita, 1970;Kozu, 1994;Ono and Tomozoe, 2015;Takenoshita and Kishino, 1959). According to Takenoshita and Kishino (1959), Tanaka began to advocate a reorganization of Japan's youth and the importance of physical education following his inspection of Western countries in 1914, during which he was deeply impressed by German youth education eŠorts, as that country was gearing up for war.…”

“…Furthermore, studies have clariˆed the important role played by the Ministry of Home AŠairs and its bureaucrats in the development of the promotion of physical education in the YMA (Kisnoshita, 1970;Ono and Tomozoe, 2015;Takenoshita and Kishino, 1959). It has been pointed out that the Ministry of Home AŠairs was directly involved in the YMA's physical education guidance (Takenoshita and Kishino, 1959) and took an interest in the promotion of physical education in the YMA, especially from the standpoint of maintaining public order at home (Kinoshita, 1970).…”

“…In particular, Ono and Tomozoe (2015) clariˆed how the YMA's physical education promotion policy was realized under the leadership of Governor Inoue Tomoichi (Inoue) in Tokyo, following the issuance of theˆrst directive. This study showed how, as a Home AŠairs bureaucrat, the governor* 3 played a principal role in implementing * 4 YMA policy.…”

“…In the Taisho period, the debate over the promotion of physical education for young men, spearheaded by Tanaka at the Army Ministry (Ono and Tomozoe, 2015;Takenoshita and Kishino, 1959), became more vigorous. This trend also became apparent in Shimin as the Hotokukai came to advocate the importance of promoting physical education for young men in its bulletin.…”

“…Moving on, how did the Hotokukai's vision in-‰uence the vitalization of the YMA's physical education and sports activities, following the issuance of theˆrst directive? I answer this question based on insights from a preceding study (Ono and Tomozoe, 2015), which pointed to the leading role of governors, who were also Home AŠairs bureaucrats in prefectural YMA policy. Ono and Tomozoe (2015) clariˆed that Inoue, in Tokyo, aimed to use physical education to foster``energetic young men that [could] make contributions in the labor force.''…”