Punishing Coaching: Japanese Educational Sports Clubs and the Normalisation of Coach Violence

At the beginning of 2013 two independent cases made the headlines of Japanese newspapers. The first case involved the suicide of a high school student that was allegedly triggered after he received several beatings from his basketball coach for failing to perform well enough. The second case involved fifteen female judoka, including competitors in the London Olympics, who filed a letter with the Japanese Olympic Committee complaining of violence by two coaches, including the head coach of the women's team. Both these cases caused a national debate about the practice of corporeal punishment (tai batsu) in sport in Japan.

This paper is based on the outcomes of focus groups that were conducted with students at ten universities from across Japan in 2013. In particular we examine the ways in which students’ normalized acts of violence from coaches, accepting them as necessary forms of discipline and, in many cases interpreting such acts as indicative of caring coaching and kindness. Further, we consider the responses of students, which suggest that these forms of corporeal punishment are necessary in producing a uniquely Japanese form of identity. The complex relationship between sport and education in Japan suggests that attempts to change the ways in which sports clubs operate, including coach/athlete relationships is problematic and may require major reconsideration of the role of sport in education.