Book Review：The Historical Sociology of Japanese Martial Arts by Raúl Sánchez García

Abstract

The Historical Sociology of Japanese Martial Arts contains a comprehensive history of Japanese martial arts compiled by Spanish historical sociologist Raul Sanchez Garcia. However, it is not simply an overview intended to introduce Japanese martial arts to the West. In this work, the field of Japanese martial arts is used as a case study. According to Raul, his motivation for writing the book was in that although Norbert Elias was particularly fascinated by the Japanese civilizing process, he finished his research career without turning his hand to it. Furthermore, Raul himself has developed his own career as a researcher in the path laid down by Elias’ sociology, and this work displays Raul’s zeal to tackle the challenges left by Elias.