Bullfighting, Self-Enhancement, and Well-Being in Rural Japan
-
Susanne Klien
Abstract
This ethnographic study explores bullfighting in Oki and its many functions in contemporary life. It examines how mostly elderly bullfighters differ from other Japanese of their age and how they manage to lead their lives to the fullest, maintaining a high level of physical and mental health. With depictions of both the daily routine and bullfighting events, the paper enquires into the meaning of bullfighting and its related activities for actors involved in it, how bullfighters learn social skills in the stables and the arena, and how bullfighting creates well-being both on an individual and collective level. The hypothesis is that the sense of satisfaction of bullfighters accrues from a balance of activities as discrete individual and social interaction, communication, and intergenerational exchange.
© 2013 Akademie Verlag GmbH, Markgrafenstr. 12-14, 10969 Berlin.
Articles in the same Issue
- Editorial
- Introduction: Well-being in Ritual Practices
- The Price of Ritual
- Can Happiness be Created in Rituals?
- Fast Food and Fun.
- Die Organisation von Wohlbefinden in japanischen Kindergärten
- Rite of Redemption.
- Ritual and Well-being in the Contemporary Shikoku- Pilgrimage: The “Spectrum of the Sacred”
- The Auspiciousness of the Performative Body – Ritual Dancing in Folk-Religious Festivals in Japan
- Folk Performing Arts, Community Life, and Well-being: Why shishimai Matters in Toyama, Japan
- Bullfighting, Self-Enhancement, and Well-Being in Rural Japan
- Whose Festival is it?
- Shinjo Matsuri: Community Revitalization through the Construction and Circulation of Decorated Floats
- Rituelle Modulation, Liminalität und die nembutsu-Praxis im ländlichen Japan
- The Happiness of the Family.
- Wisdom on the Pursuit of Happiness in Daily Life.
- Transnational Ecstasy and Japanese Ganbarism: Cultural Patterns in the Pedagogy of Outward Bound Japan
- From Fighting to Joy in Kendo
- The “Performance” of Kyōgen.
- Well-being and Risk-taking Behavior.
Articles in the same Issue
- Editorial
- Introduction: Well-being in Ritual Practices
- The Price of Ritual
- Can Happiness be Created in Rituals?
- Fast Food and Fun.
- Die Organisation von Wohlbefinden in japanischen Kindergärten
- Rite of Redemption.
- Ritual and Well-being in the Contemporary Shikoku- Pilgrimage: The “Spectrum of the Sacred”
- The Auspiciousness of the Performative Body – Ritual Dancing in Folk-Religious Festivals in Japan
- Folk Performing Arts, Community Life, and Well-being: Why shishimai Matters in Toyama, Japan
- Bullfighting, Self-Enhancement, and Well-Being in Rural Japan
- Whose Festival is it?
- Shinjo Matsuri: Community Revitalization through the Construction and Circulation of Decorated Floats
- Rituelle Modulation, Liminalität und die nembutsu-Praxis im ländlichen Japan
- The Happiness of the Family.
- Wisdom on the Pursuit of Happiness in Daily Life.
- Transnational Ecstasy and Japanese Ganbarism: Cultural Patterns in the Pedagogy of Outward Bound Japan
- From Fighting to Joy in Kendo
- The “Performance” of Kyōgen.
- Well-being and Risk-taking Behavior.
