Norihisa will introduce Japan to culture of Ba'
By Myles Hodnett
(From The Orcadian dated January 11, 2001)

Professor Norihisa Yoshida, who travelled all the way from Japan on more than one occassion to watch Kirkwall's Ba' game. He is researching street ball games throughout Britain for his PhD.

A fascination for the Kirkwall Ba' game has drawn a Japanese professor thousands of miles across the globe for his third visit to the county - giving him another chance to watch the traditional game in action.

Professor Norihisa Yoshida leaves Orkney this week after spending a month researching the Ba’. His studies will eventually form part of his thesis on street ball games in Britain.

Norihisa, a lecturer at Nagoya College, first visited Orkney in 1993 when he took his newly-wed wife to see the Christmas Day Ba’ game for her honeymoon.

“I said to my wife ‘I will take you to Britain.’ When we got here my wife was surprised but she likes it here,” he said.

Norihisa had heard about the Ba’ from a friend who had been researching Scottish ballads and so began a lengthy project for his PhD. He is currently concentrating on his postgraduate work at the School of Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh, and has also been a spectator at other games in the country, including the Royal Shrovetide Football in Ashbourne and games played in the Scottish Borders.

“I am studying about the street football in Britain, especially in Scotland,” he said. “In Japan we were taught only the technique of football in school and we don’t know about the history and the process of development of the football. I think that not only the technique, but also the knowledge of football should be taught to students in physical education classes in school.”

Norihisa said he wanted to make the Japanese public more aware of the culture and traditions surrounding the Ba’ and other similar games – why they have survived, and how the non-written rules apply. His report on the Duns Ba’ game played in the Borders was recently published in a Japanese magazine and he has also written a booklet about the Ba’ and the Ashbourne game.

“I watched the Duns Hand Ba’ game in July. I am going to watch the remainder of their games - Jedburgh, Ancrum, Hobkirk, Lillisleaf and Denholm – in February and March and record their games on video. Besides, I would like to compare the Kirkwall Ba’ with them.”

The differences in the sizes and weights of balls played at different games have already been noted by Norihisa, which he says makes them more suitable for handling rather than kicking.

The games are also played at different times of the year, he explained, with Ashbourne’s games taking place on Shrove Tuesday. The game also spreads out into the fields surrounding the town and is therefore often played in pitch darkness.

The Ashbourne game also has one big difference compared with its Kirkwall counterpart, he added – women are allowed to take part.

“In Japan, Shrovetide football in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, was introduced for a couple of times on television. I think the Kirkwall Ba’ game should be introduced to the Japanese as a surviving folk football in Britain,” he said.

“In addition, as the World Cup soccer festival will be held in Japan in 2002, I want to introduce your game to the Japanese as a game of the origin of football. I think that not only should Japanese people play the role of doing it safely as a host country, but also that we have to receive it as the opportunity of understanding more about the culture of football.”