Wrestling, Warships and Nationalism in Japanese-American Relations
The following article explains how the metaphors ‘wrestling body’ and ‘warship’ are combined, mutually reinforced and nationalistically instrumentalised in the context of sporting events. The first case study examines contentious Japanese public discussions of the possible promotion of American wrestlers to the highest rank in professional sumō. The following case explores the staging of an American actor dressed as a Japanese sumō wrestler for the purposes of patriotic dramatization in North American pro wrestling. Both incidents have metaphorical and temporal parallels which reached their respective symbolic climax in 1993
Downloadable Article, 2020
Martial Arts Studies, 10, 20201117, 73
2020