Baseball and the Quest for National Dignity Critique Analysis
Introduction
The article concerns sports and the role it played as a societal character that determined the relationship between dominant, privileged nations. The two nations were struggling for greatness and superiority. The premature years marked athletics as the midst of male-subjugated communal plus leisure according to ritual of the overseas community. One’s participation in athletics turned out to be an ethical crucial role for any male citizen. Lack of participation in sports marked weakness in terms of ethnicity as well as racial inadequacy. This practice dwelled majorly in the United States. The critique links baseball to national superiority through competition to augment the relationship between Japan and the United States.
Background
The highly robust nation built an assumption that it could survive whatever conditions it came across. Furthermore, the mentality that athletics, jingoism, and the notion relating to manliness were indivisible. There was a discrepancy between cultures, the rough thus belligerent Anglo-Saxons against the nation manifesto is to effeminate civilization. The Japanese main pigeonhole was fundamentally shabby. Japan came up with a tough constitutional government, which had accomplishment on the Sino-Jap War turning the previous stereotypes indefensible. With this in place, Japan stood up as a strong nation hence independent. It was now in a position to challenge any other nation since it was an outstanding competitor in war, international relations, trade, in addition to baseball. From the article, the novelist affirms, “Japan the exotic became “Japan the competitor” in war, diplomacy, commerce, and, one may add, baseball.” (pg 513) Japan seems to be more hardworking than any other nation because of its determination to be the best like the United States.
The article, “baseball and quest for national dignity” are not majorly about baseball as a sport. It dwells more on the nature of two nations trying to outsmart the other concerning national greatness. Baseball as a sport plays a key role since both nations; United States and Japan value it and use it as a determinant for superiority against the other. The relationship between two rival nations was unspeakable. They competed in plenty of exercises for superiority over the other. “Japan was influenced by Western as Western style, such as clothing and hairstyle” (lecture), this refers to way fashion was as a subject to the Americans approach. There grudge based on power over other nations, and both wanted to be better than the other state at everything from war, democracy in addition to sports. In Japan, baseball symbolized vigor thus sweeping the nation in the eighteen nineties.
The early Meiji instructor proved impracticable to convince concerning the need of applying physical education in any outline. Subsequently, a document developed to assist in post restoration of school systems did not mention physical fitness as a compulsory requirement on taking part in athletics and baseball. The article stated negligible requirement priority especially to children in primary level. The government of Japan finds it wasteful to interfere with the normal class sessions such as basic science, or learning overseas languages to go and attend training lessons and perfect on their physique. The nation of Japan regards that as an intolerable luxurious act. This has a further emphasis when the writer states that, “it was generally assumed in the early 1870s that a civilized man was someone of intellectual, not necessarily physical prowess.” (pg 514) Being more intellectual was helpful to the nation than having a better physic.
The best way to sight, dignity was through athletics and baseball in the Asian country. The ironic part was that the playing grounds were to being in use for other purposes such us politics and meeting public ends. From the article, it state, “In fact, early Meji educators were not at all convinced of the need for physical education in any form.” (pg 514) Hesitations made especially when educating values of athletics since there was a frequent sequence of sickness due to lack physique required for the sport. In the late nineteenth century, Japan and the United States played their first game where the Japanese focused more on the game spirit even though the Americans had the formation advantage, “Lack of preparation did not worry them, for they believed that, even if the Americans had an advantage in “form”, the Japanese athletes had the “spirit” to win.” (pg 523) The Japanese acquired there personality identity through winning the baseball game against the Americans in the late nineteenth century. This was a method to rebuild the national image fought for over years by the two countries.
Conclusion
Defeating the Americans at their own sport was one of the biggest achievements by Japan since it earned them respect hence, making them seem less outlandish to the Americans. This gave Japan a chance of equality with the world powers since they challenged the Americans at something they were brilliant at playing. The relationship between the United States with other European countries existing in Japan faced no jeopardy. The relationship between Japan and the West was different since they now seemed as equals. A western enclave means, according to the article, refers to the sight that the Americans began to commune with their rivals, the Japanese.
