Sports in Japan
Sports in Japan by Nathan Scott, Elias Fidel, Yuto Katahira-Ables and Tim O'Hara
Ryan Volgelsong was one of these players...
Martial Arts in Japan
by, Yuto Katahira-Ables
Karate is the most popular fighting style in Japan. Karate means way of the empty hand and was originated in Okinawa.
Olympics in Japan by Tim O'Hara
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Baseball in Japan by Elias Fidel
Soccer In Japan by Nathan Scott
(cc) image by nuonsolarteam on Flickr
Last year, Japan won the Women's 2011 World Cup. Here is one of their many epic goals.
On January 20, 2012 Yu Darvish signed a contract with the Texas Rangers worth 60 million dollars. This represents one of the largest contracts ever signed by a Japanese player
In 1993, Japan started the Japan Football
Association League, or J-League for short. This is the professional soccer league in Japan.
All of these players have something in common: The love of yakyu (baseball). The Japanese people have a great love of yakyu as well. When it was first brought to Japan by an American named Horace Wilson in 1873 only several teams were created after his arrival.
The 1940 Olympics were scheduled to be held in Tokyo, but due to World War II, they were cancelled. Today, the Japanese Olympic team has chosen Loughbourgh as their training site for the 2012 Olympics (being held in London).
This victory at the World Cup has made soccer in Japan more popular than ever before.
Japan first entered the Olympics in 1912 (Stokholm). Two Japanese athletes competed in athletics. Neither won a medal.
Now baseball in Japan is a multi-billion dollar industry that greatly stimulates Japan`s economy. Japan has 12 teams in two leagues.
Sumo Wrestling
Sumo is a professional sport only in Japan and has been a very popular sport right under baseball. Sumo wrestling is very ritual from the clothes they wear to the throwing of salt before each match. Top sumo wrestlers can make millions of dollars each year.
Kendo
One very significant thing about Japanese baseball is that if an American player is released by a team they can often make a good living playing in Japan. Then, perhaps they can come back to America and play.
Kendo means way of the sword and it was derived from the fighting methods of the ancient samurai.
Martial Arts in Japan
Soccer is a very large part of Japan’s culture and it is very entertaining to watch and play.
Martial Arts was brought in Japan during the medieval period. It was mainly practiced by the Samurais for defensive and offensive purposes depending on the varying situation. Japanese Martial Arts can be categorized in 5 different arts of fighting ; Karate, Aikido, Judo, Kendo, and Sumo.
Karate
Aikido
Aikido means spiritual harmony and was derived from the fighting style Jujitsu.It uses the self-defense system that utilizes twisting and throwing techniques and in its aim of turning an attacker's strength and momentum.
The human features in Japan can heavily affect the soccer players. Air pollution in the surrounding areas has caused many players to have breathing problems, such as asthma.
Judo
Judo means gentle way and was also derived from Jujitsu. Judo is a system of unarmed combact and is a sport in the Olympic games.
Climate has a huge effect on Olympians. The Japanese teams are so used to the humid, cold, and mountainous climate of Japan, that when they go to places like London for the 2012 Olympics, they aren’t
used to the flat region there.
Darvish is not the only player from Japan to play in America. Many players including Daisuke Matszuaka, Kosuke Fukudome, Hideki Matsui, and Ichiro Suzuki have all had very successful in America.