Japan and skateboarding

I believe that skateboarding translated so well because of its unique style that aligned with trends of the time. Skateboarding and style, or more specifically clothing, have always gone hand in hand. Even today, some of the most popular clothing trends such as baggy dickies pants and Nike dunks, all originate from skaters. So when American culture was becoming extremely popular in Japan, it came as no surprise that skateboarding attire would become popular along with it. Additionally, It’s one of the few sports that you can play by yourself and, it’s welcoming of all ages and genders. This has made it much easier for it to find new people to engage in the activity. Even now skateboarding continues to draw in large numbers of people at an exponential rate in the country. Its popularity has grown to the point where Japanese skaters actually dominate the sport, which is evident from the results of the most recent Olympic games. While skateboarding has become a popular pastime for the Japanese in recent years, its adoption has been far from welcoming. This is due to the fact that skateboarding goes against many of Japan’s cultural values. Their loud noise has resulted in skateboards being seen as a public disturbance. While it may not seem like a big deal to Americans, it’s taken much more seriously in Japan. In Japan, few people would even dare to talk on their phones on the train. This has resulted in Skateboarding being seen as the sport of thugs and hoodlums. It’s more greatly frowned upon there than here. For that reason, it’s also more frequently punished. Security and Police are significantly more strict with their discipline of skaters. Surprisingly, this hasn’t discouraged skaters. They might hide their boards in public to avoid being harassed, and they might be prohibited from skating in the street, but the community is alive and well. They’re coming up with their own solutions such as skating at night and building indoor skateparks.