Bullfighting, Self-Enhancement, and Well-Being in Rural Japan

Abstract This ethnographic study explores bullfighting in Oki and its many functions in contemporary life. It examines how mostly elderly bullfighters differ from other Japanese of their age and how they manage to lead their lives to the fullest, maintaining a high level of physical and mental health. With depictions of both the daily routine and bullfighting events, the paper enquires into the meaning of bullfighting and its related activities for actors involved in it, how bullfighters learn social skills in the stables and the arena, and how bullfighting creates well-being both on an individual and collective level. The hypothesis is that the sense of satisfaction of bullfighters accrues from a balance of activities as discrete individual and social interaction, communication, and intergenerational exchange.