Through a study of basketball in Japan, this book aims to help readers better understand the historical formation and contemporary reformation of cultural identity in Japan.

This reformation includes the process of reconciling the perceived differences between basketball in Japan and basketball in the West, the process of reconciling how perceptions of one’s body are shaped in a globally interconnected society, the process of reconciling what it means to be a modern man, and the process of reconciling what it means to be Japanese in a nation that is increasingly multicultural. In other words, basketball in Japan matters, not only because it has for too long been over‐simply labelled as a “minor” sport, but also because it is much more than a game.

Examining the real and symbolic power which sport has on Japanese culture, and even in some instances the state, this book will be a valuable resource for scholars and students of Japanese culture and society and the sociology of sports.