B-ball and Japan 英会話・英語 アミック

2022/06/07

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics have come and gone. Unfortunately, I was only able to watch a few events from Tokyo 2020. I enjoyed skateboarding, the 100 meter dash, lots of swimming and basketball. In the USA, basketball is traditionally the second most popular sport, just behind American football. I was definitely more of a football fan, but was still able to watch lots of basketball games during the golden era of the NBA (mid-eighties-mid-nineties). This golden era is what I believe made basketball popular all over the world.

Basketball started gaining popularity in Europe in the late eighties and nineties, especially in countries like Spain, Croatia and Serbia. Yao Ming, who was a household name in China and an NBA player, made the NBA mainstream in China, which has their own professional league now. Basketball is also basically the national sport of the Philippines. While Japan has traditionally been a baseball country. 

Though Japan has a strong love of baseball, other western sports have been gaining traction. Soccer, basketball, skateboarding and break dancing to name a few. How did basketball start to become popular in Japan? I can’t say exactly, but I wager that it was due to the golden era of the NBA and a child of that era- the internationally known Japanese comic book “Slam Dunk” by Takehiko Inoue. This comic book and later cartoon, change the course of basketball culture in Japan. It’s the story of a misfit high school freshman, Hanamichi, who joins the high school team to impress a girl, Haruko. He learns the game of basketball from zero, along with the reader. The comic book masterfully intertwines basketball rules, moves and terminology into the story, but in a very entertaining light-hearted way.  Most Japanese people whom I talk to who were around high school age in the early nineties have read this comic book. It is still popular today. 

From 2005, Japan started the BJ League (B = basketball J = Japan). It was a mix of foreign and Japanese athletes. In 2016, it was transformed into the B-League. The league is going strong. Ehime even has a B -League 3 team- The Orange Vikings. You can see them play at the Community Center. In addition to the B-League, two Japanese players have made it to the NBA- Rui Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe. Last month a female player made it into the WNBA- Rui Machida.  The Japanese Men’s Paralympic team also won silver medals in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. Japan’s love and skill has come a long way in. Maybe all because of Michael Jordan’s 1990’s Bulls and a comic book named “Slam Dunk”.

I truly became a fan of basketball, when my daughter started playing mini basketball at her school.  I was surprised to see how strong basketball culture is in Japan, even at a elementary school level.  I’m excited to see how much more Japan progresses in basketball on the international stage in the future.  I’m also extremely excited to watch the much anticipated Slam Dunk movie this autumn after a hiatus of over 25 years.  If you’ve never read Slam Dunk, please give a try.  Thank you.

Shane

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愛媛県・松山市・東温市で最大規模の英会話スクール、アミック・イングリッシュセンター

アミック・イングリッシュセンターは、1998年に愛媛県重信町(現東温市)で英会話スクールとして創業して以来、愛媛県松山市と東温市を中心に、これまで20年以上にわたり誠実に英語を教えて参りました。
最近のグローバル化に伴い、英会話スクールの必要性はますます増加しております。特に、スピーキング・リスニング・ライティング・リーディングの4技能をバランスよく持つ人材が必要とされており、英検など4技能対応型の試験への期待も高まっております。小学校の英語必修化や資格試験を重視する大学入試の大幅な変更もすぐそこに迫って来ている中、 アミック・イングリッシュセンターとしては、英検やTOEICの対策にも力を入れており、優秀な外国人及び日本人講師を積極的に採用しております。

特にお伝えしたいアミック・イングリッシュセンターの魅力は、「英語を教える外国人講師及び日本人講師が極めて優秀である」「英語教授法により、効果的に英語力を向上させるカリキュラムが組まれている」「初心者にも優しく、かつ通訳という高い英語力が必要な指導も可能な英会話スクールである」という点です。

TOEICの点がなかなか伸びない、英検を取りたい、更に英語力を伸ばしたい、通訳者になりたい、これから英語を始めるので正しい勉強法を知りたいという方は、ぜひアミック・イングリッシュセンターにお越しください!

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