When Japan began to modernize itself in the Meiji PeriodMeiji (Period), it did not simply adopt Western sports outright; it hybridized them with its own traditionstradition. (Abe and Mangan note that during the Meiji Period Japan took “early steps towards the blending of the values of the Occident and the Orient…Japanese observers noted the power of western societies, found merit in an imperial Englishman’s perceived stoicism, endurance and determination, and considered these imported cultural manifestations of value to an oriental culture struggling to find an identity that was self-reliant but of necessity leaned on an occidental culture that seemed at that moment pre-eminently powerful. Pride required both Japanese assimilation and adaptation. Dignity demanded an association of perceived past Japanese virtues with perceived present English virtues”. Abe and Mangan 2002: 109.) This chapter therefore explores JapaneseJapaneseyouth sportsport in the context of international and domestic historyhistory.