Winter sporting cultures and Japan

Japan has successfully hosted two Winter Olympic Games (Sapporo, 1972 and Nagano, 1998) and the first Winter Paralympic Games by a non-Western host country (Nagano, 1998). Given the sport and cultural significance of winter sports in Japan, there is a distinct lack of related academic engagement published in English. The following chapter surveys winter sport in Japan through the lens of cultural representations, these are considered through three parts in this chapter: first, the participation in winter sports by Japanese citizens; second, the tourism industry and Japanese winter resorts; and finally, the use of the Winter Olympic Games to promote and leverage representations of Japanese culture on a global stage. This chapter will survey and present evidence for Japanese and international winter sporting cultures, using academic, government, sports organisations and media sources. It will invite thinking about political, social and economic implications of the representations of Japanese society in/through winter sporting cultures.