Atsuhisa Yamamoto(Faculty of Social Innovation)

<Report>

The purpose of the symposium was to analyze the experience of an athlete who performs on the world stage, with a focus on the notion of “bodily resources” in this increasingly globalized world. The speaker, Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, has represented Japan in numerous international soccer tournaments, and he became the first Asian goalkeeper to sign up with a major European club. Kawaguchi discussed the physical qualities of world-class athletes with Takeshi Arimoto (a member of the Japan Society of Sport Sociology and associate professor at the International Christian University).
Drawing on his experience as a goalkeeper for English and Danish clubs, Kawaguchi explained that the style of play differs among countries and leagues, and that the style and physical requirements of players in each position differ accordingly. Many say that Japanese soccer players are physically weak, but Kawaguchi claims that this is an oversimplification. Kawaguchi said that a player’s physical level consists of two broad categories: their physical attributes (such as their size and height) and their physical or athletic prowess (such as their swiftness and dexterity). He further argued that both of these categories develop interactively in tandem with a player’s quality.
Takeshi Arimoto argued that the image of the “Japanese physique” has become more fluid as a result of the accelerated rates of international marriages, immigration, and other trends that involve mixing with people of other nations. According to Arimoto, when globally active athletes adapt their playing style, they are simultaneously undergoing an intercultural experience, through which they reconstitute their physical body.
From start to finish, the symposium proceeded in a friendly atmosphere, with a back-and-forth dialogue between the speakers and other attendees. After the symposium concluded, the attendees flocked to Kawaguchi asking for his signature and to be photographed with him. Kawaguchi politely responded to each request.

Seijo University’s Center for Glocal Studies Holds Symposium: “The Physique to Perform on the World Stage: Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi and Global Soccer Performance”