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Majima Ayu
Department Undergraduate School , School of Global Japanese Studies Position Associate Professor |
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| Language | Japanese |
| Publication Date | 2023/03 |
| Type | Academic Journal |
| Peer Review | Peer reviewed |
| Title | Athlete’s Foot As the Paradox of Cleanliness in Japan：
Focusing on the Relationship between Tinea Pedis and Lifestyle in the 1990s |
| Contribution Type | Sole-authored |
| Journal | Journal of Popular Culture Association of Japan |
| Journal Type | Japan |
| Volume, Issue, Page | pp.1-10 |
| Total page number | 10 |
| Authorship | Corresponding author |
| Author and coauthor | MAJIMA Ayu |
| Details | Athlete's foot (tinea pedis) is remarkably intractable in Japan, as compared to the rest of the world. Although multiple factors are assumed to contribute to this intractability, the phenomenon is thought to be closely related to lifestyle habits such as bathing and shoelessness, in a humid climate. This paper focuses on the results of a survey conducted by dermatologists in the 1990s on the relationship between tinea pedis and such Japanese lifestyle habits, and argues that the intractability of athlete's foot in Japan is in fact caused by those habits. Therefore, it can be said that athlete’s foot in Japan reflects the paradox of cleanliness. More importantly, shoelessness was considered almost the only psychological resistance to the "westernization" that Japan had been pursuing at every level since the Meiji era. With this in mind, it can be said that in Japan athlete's foot even contains the key to understanding a part of the structure of the Japanese mindset. |