The 2nd Installment of Talk Series on “Inequity, Stereotypes, and Stigma in Leisure”

The B’AI Global Forum will hold a talk of “Hobbyization and Genderization of Hobbies in Prewar Japan: Focusing on the Secondary School-Aged Population” by Koichi Utagawa (Associate Professor, Graduate School of Nursing Science, St. Luke’s International University) and “Significance and Challenges of Leisure Exercises Using Social Media” by Momoko Aono (Ph.D. Student, Graduate School of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University), which is the 2nd installment of our talk series on “Inequity, Stereotypes, and Stigma in Leisure,” on Friday, February 19, 2021.

【Date, Venue, & Language】

・Date: Friday, February 19, 2021, 17:00‐18:30 (JST)

・Venue: Zoom Meeting (No registration required)

・Language: Japanese

【Abstract (Presentation 1)】

Hobbyization and Genderization of Hobbies in Prewar Japan: Focusing on the Secondary School-Aged Population

Koichi Utagawa
(Associate Professor, Graduate School of Nursing Science, St. Luke’s International University)

In this talk, the relationship between the process by which “shumi (hobby)” became actualized as hobbies and its genderization in pre-war Japan, where consumer society had developed, will be examined, focusing on those who attended secondary schools such as middle schools and high schools for girls. In the older system of secondary schools, “cultivation of shumi (taste)” was also stated as an educational philosophy. At the same time, extracurricular alumni activities (similar to today’s club activities) flourished. This talk will examine the relationship between the process of shumi becoming actualized as hobbies in a consumer society from the latter half of the Meiji era (1868-1912) to the prewar Showa era (1926-1989), and the formal and extracurricular activities of the old secondary schools, which were expressed in the gendered form of “middle schools under the principle of success in life and high schools for girls under the principle of good wives and wise mothers.”

【Abstract (Presentation 2)】

Significance and Challenges of Leisure Exercises Using Social Media

Momoko Aono
(Ph.D. Student, Graduate School of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University)

In this talk, exercise as leisure using social media will be discussed with a particular focus on women’s practices.　The subject of the talk will not be top-level competitions, but rather casual hobby exercises such as dance, yoga, stretching, and muscle training. According to a survey by Japan Sports Agency (2019), one of the reasons why women are unable to participate in physical activity is “because they don’t have enough money.” And in a survey conducted by Sasakawa Sports Foundation in Japan after the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, 68.8% of women aged 18-29 cited YouTube and Instagram as a source of information on exercise they were engaged in under the influence of the pandemic. However, there are many advertisements for beauty products on YouTube and Instagram that negatively represent physical characteristics by linking them to personality and personal character, which have been criticized. The focus of the talk will be on women’s exercise using social media, and the significance and challenges of the rapid expansion of their movement will be discussed.

【Organizer】

・Organizer: B’AI Global Forum, Institute for AI and Beyond at the University of Tokyo

・Co-organizer: Leisure Studies Kenkyukai, and the Association for Leisure and Tourism Studies

【Inquiry】

Yuko Itatsu (Associate Professor, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo)

itatsu[at]boz.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp (Please change [at] to @)