Japan’s National Identity in Flux: Looking at the Identity Negotiations in Japan During the Rugby World Cup 2019
(Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Gabriele Vogt)
Abstract
Jane Sarah Khanizadeh’s dissertation investigates how major sports events influence national identity, focusing on Japan’s role as host of the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Despite rugby's global and commercial nature and the presence of many foreign-born players Japan used the tournament to project a cohesive national image.
With half of Japan’s national team composed of players from diverse backgrounds, the event sparked national debate: Who gets to be “Japanese”? Media coverage celebrated the team’s success but often framed foreign players as needing to “prove” their belonging through language, symbolic gestures, and alignment with cultural values. In contrast, Japanese-born players were assumed to represent the nation by default.
Using Michael Billig’s theory of banal nationalism and Siegfried Jäger’s critical discourse analysis, the research shows how inclusion was conditional. Diversity was welcomed, but only within culturally defined boundaries. National identity was not redefined, it was reinforced.
The study also examines a more bottom-up approach of identity formation by looking at a more local level., Kamaishi, a city in Iwate that was devastated by the 2011 tsunami, rebuild not just infrastructure but also civic pride, branding itself as a “rugby city” by hosting the Rugby World Cup 2019. This shows how sport can shape identity not only on a top down level by national media, but also on a more local level.
While the Rugby World Cup opened space for discussions on inclusion, Japan’s dominant narrative of homogeneity remained largely untouched. Still, the findings point to sport’s potential to foster more inclusive forms of belonging, especially in a society facing demographic change.