Violence and Education in Judo Practices : A Comparison of France and Japan

In this presentation, I examine the relationship between education and violence through judo practices of children in Japan and France.  Judo originated in Japan but it is not anymore popular there.  While the population of judo players is less than 200 thousands in Japan, it is almost 600 thousands in France where the national population is two times less than that of Japan.  In order to compare the judo practices in these two countries, first of all, I examine the recent debates in Japan on the violence related to judo and on the ideas of judo as education (Matsubara 2013; Uchida 2013; Yamaguchi 2013).  Then I take French examples with the data collected from my interviews to French judo coaches especially at a Brittany region and my fieldworks at a Judo club in a Paris suburb, infamous for a poor and dangerous area. From my ethnographic research at this area, I found the social boundary in the area and that it was closely related to the order of violence there (Iso 2013). The children of the club learn the values and the morals that are not common in the area but are more extensively in France in practicing judo. The judo practice in the club is common to others in France.  Contrary to France where the judo practices are oriented to avoid any violence and they are often considered as education, judo and judo players are often considered as violent in Japan but the Japanese educational policy has believed the educational values of judo.   Such policy has caused mortal accidents at public schools every year in Japan.  I examine why the judo practices are so different in these two countries in regard to education and violence.