Designing a Study in Japan: Exploring Grassroots Esports Ecosystems

Study title: Toward Healthier Competitive Gaming Environments: Exploring Japanese Grassroots Esports Ecosystems

PowerPoint presentation from ERNC 2026: [Will be published here after the conference]

Important note about this article

I chose to publish this post to make the research I am about to conduct in Japan more accessible beyond academic circles. This is not a preprint of a potential scientific article, but rather a communication tool for a research project that is still being developed. This process may eventually lead to a separate scientific publication, particularly based on the data that will be collected and analyzed during my fieldwork.

This post also has a very practical purpose: to make my research approach more visible and increase the chances that relevant individuals, communities, or organizations might contact me, share their experiences, or point me toward initiatives I should know about. Scientific blogs can serve as spaces that complement academic publications by presenting ongoing research, reaching different audiences, and encouraging discussion around a research topic (Kjellberg, 2010, 2014; Kouper, 2010; Saunders et al., 2017).

Why study Japanese esports communities?

A significant portion of esports research has focused on performance, player health, professionalization, and the economic and media dimensions of esports (Jin & Besombes, 2024; Pedraza-Ramirez et al., 2025; Raetze et al., 2025; Reitman et al., 2020; Savard, 2025). By comparison, community-based and grassroots forms of esports remain much less documented. Nevertheless, some studies explicitly examining these environments suggest that, depending on the context, they can provide spaces for socialization, belonging, inclusion, and support (e.g. Baumann et al., 2024, 2026).

Esports cultures across Asia have developed along distinct national and cultural trajectories (Jin & Kim, 2024). Japan is particularly interesting in this regard. Recent literature describes Japan as a still-developing esports market that has received relatively limited scholarly attention compared with more established markets (Meng-Lewis et al., 2026). Japan’s gaming history also has certain distinctive characteristics that may be relevant to understanding the development of its competitive gaming communities.

Japan has, in particular, a long tradition of arcade gaming. Game centers are not simply places where people play games. Research on these spaces shows that they can also become sites of social interaction, spatial appropriation, identity formation, and player community development (Imai & Woite, 2024; Pelletier-Gagnon, 2019; Skolnik & Conway, 2019).

These dynamics are not limited to physical spaces. A recent ethnographic study of a Japanese Splatoon 3 community on Discord shows how a digital space centered around competitive gaming can function as a “third place,” where social interactions, a sense of belonging, and various forms of support can develop among participants (van Ommen & Yahanashi, 2025).

At the same time, Japanese esports research is beginning to document a wide range of contexts, including school clubs, educational programs, player health, dedicated esports facilities, regional revitalization initiatives, and industry development. This diversity raises a question that particularly interests me: how are Japanese esports communities organized in practice, and what roles do spaces, local actors, and player support and guidance practices play in how they function?

What I want to understand

This project is part of my interdisciplinary PhD in Health and Society at the Université du Québec à Montréal.

My main objective is to explore the practices, structures, and social dynamics of Japanese grassroots esports ecosystems in order to better understand how players are supported, how communities organize themselves, and what role is played by the environments in which these practices take place.

More specifically, four questions will guide my fieldwork:

• How do Japanese esports communities organize player support and guidance?
• What roles do physical spaces, local organizations, and communities play in participants’ experiences?
• How are well-being, participation, and social cohesion addressed within these environments?
• To what extent could some of the practices observed be adapted to the Canadian context?

This final question is important. My goal is not to assume that the Japanese model is “better” than the Canadian model. Rather, I want to examine practices developed within a different cultural, historical, and institutional context to determine whether some of them can contribute to how we think about esports in Canada.

What will I actually be doing in Japan?

The research adopts an exploratory qualitative ethnographic approach. I will be in Japan for several weeks in fall 2026 to directly observe different environments related to esports and competitive gaming.

I will primarily conduct participant and non-participant observations. In other words, depending on the context, I may observe the activities taking place within a particular environment or participate in them myself. This approach will allow me to document how these activities and communities function in practice.

I plan to explore different types of environments: competitive events, community organizations, student programs, gaming venues, game centers, specialized cafés, and other spaces where communities centered around competitive gaming gather.

My observations will focus particularly on how activities are organized, interactions between participants, forms of player guidance and support, the use of physical spaces, the roles played by different actors, and practices related to well-being and community participation.

An important part of this approach will simply involve talking with the people who make these ecosystems possible.

Throughout my fieldwork, I may therefore engage in informal ethnographic conversations with managers, organizers, coaches, volunteers, players, and other people involved in the communities I visit. Unlike traditional semi-structured interviews, these conversations will emerge from situations encountered in the field. Their primary purpose will be to help me better understand what I observe, the values underlying certain practices, and how organizations and communities function.

Data collection will also include public documents, promotional materials, institutional publications, and photographs of the environments visited where permitted. All of these observations will be recorded in a field journal and subsequently analyzed using thematic analysis.

Why Japan and Canada?

Comparing the two contexts does not mean trying to determine which one has the “best” esports ecosystem.

The research I have reviewed so far instead reveals two bodies of literature that appear to highlight different dimensions of the phenomenon.

In Canada, several recent studies focus particularly on the institutionalization of esports in schools and universities, varsity programs, player health, and the risks associated with certain competitive practices (e.g. Laberge et al., 2026; Lemay et al., 2024; Scholl, 2025; Savard, 2025). More broadly, research on esports in North America also helps situate these developments within a wider regional context (Scholl & Stout, 2024).

In Japan, the literature I have reviewed also addresses health and education, but it highlights other topics that are particularly relevant to my project: game centers and other physical gaming spaces, school clubs, certain community initiatives, esports facilities, and even the use of esports in local initiatives.

At this stage, this is only an observation based on my current literature review, not a systematic comparison of all research produced in the two countries. Nevertheless, this difference provides sufficient justification for further exploration.

The goal, therefore, is less about importing a “Japanese model” to Canada than about creating a dialogue between two ecosystems. Some Japanese practices may be relevant to the Canadian context, while Canadian experiences may also contribute to discussions in Japan.

Research that begins before the fieldwork

In a sense, this research has already begun.

Preparing for the trip has led me to review the scientific literature on Japanese esports, identify different types of organizations and spaces, speak with researchers, and reflect on the dimensions I want to observe in the field.

I will also present this approach at the Esports Research Network Conference 2026 (ERNC26), which will take place at the University of Tsukuba from September 15 to 17, 2026. My presentation, entitled Toward Healthier Competitive Gaming Environments: Exploring Japanese Grassroots Esports Ecosystems, will therefore take place at the very beginning of my stay.

This creates an interesting situation: unlike a conference where researchers typically present completed research, I will be presenting a project that is still taking shape. Discussions with researchers attending ERNC may therefore help guide some of my observations during the following weeks.

What if you know something I should see?

This is also one of the reasons I am publishing this post before beginning my fieldwork.

I can identify organizations, events, and initiatives from Canada, but research on communities cannot rely solely on what appears in scientific publications or among the first results returned by a search engine. In my experience, some of the most interesting initiatives are sometimes precisely those that are least visible outside their own communities.

During my stay, I therefore hope to meet people involved in different facets of Japanese esports: local communities, grassroots events, student or school clubs, game centers, associations, educational programs, community initiatives, coaches, organizers, volunteers, researchers, and players.

If you know someone I should meet, a community I should speak with, an event I should attend, or simply a place I absolutely should visit during my stay in Japan, please feel free to contact me.

A recommendation may seem like a small thing, but it could also lead me to an initiative I would never have discovered otherwise.

And that is precisely the value of going into the field.

Sources

• Baumann, A. C. K., Pallesen, S., Mentzoni, R. A., Kolberg, E., Waagbø, V., Sørensen, A., & Kristensen, J. H. (2024). An exploratory qualitative interview study on grassroots esports in sports clubs. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 6, Article 1405441. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2024.1405441
• Baumann, A., Georgiou, L., Jønsson, R. J., Watson, M., Pallesen, S., & Mentzoni, R. A. (2026). Coaching beyond the game: A qualitative study of volunteer coaches in European grassroots esports. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 8, Article 1913015. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2026.1913015
• Imai, H., & Woite, L. (2024). The liminality of subcultural spaces: Tokyo’s gaming arcades as boundary between social isolation and integration. Urban Planning, 9, Article 6969. https://doi.org/10.17645/up.6969 
• Jin, D. Y., & Besombes, N. (2024). Global history of esports. In S. E. Jenny, N. Besombes, T. Brock, A. C. Cote, & T. M. Scholz (Eds.), Routledge handbook of esports (pp. 19–29). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003410591-4
• Jin, Y., & Kim, S. J. (2024). Esports culture in Asia. In S. E. Jenny, N. Besombes, T. Brock, A. C. Cote, & T. M. Scholz (Eds.), Routledge handbook of esports (pp. 591–604). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003410591-64
• Kjellberg, S. (2010). I am a blogging researcher: Motivations for blogging in a scholarly context. First Monday, 15(8). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v15i8.2962 
• Kjellberg, S. (2014). Researchers’ blogging practices in two epistemic cultures: The scholarly blog as a situated genre. Human IT, 12(3), 36–77.
• Kouper, I. (2010). Science blogs and public engagement with science: Practices, challenges, and opportunities. Journal of Science Communication, 9(1), A02. https://doi.org/10.22323/2.09010202 
• Laberge, F., Dufour, M., Goyette, M., Morvannou, A., Berrigan, F., & Bonneville-Roussy, A. (2026). Determinants of gaming disorder among aspiring professional esports players: A prospective study. Addictive Behaviors, 178, 108675. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2026.108675 
• Lemay, A., Dufour, M., Goyette, M., & Berbiche, D. (2024). ESport programs in high school: What’s at play? Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, Article 1306450. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1306450 
• Meng-Lewis, Y., Wong, D., & Liu, C. (2026). The emergent community of esports fans in Japan: An analysis of motivations and preferences. Managing Sport and Leisure, 31(4), 688–714. https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2024.2373149
• Pedraza-Ramirez, I., Sharpe, B. T., Behnke, M., Toth, A. J., & Poulus, D. R. (2025). The psychology of esports: Trends, challenges, and future directions. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 81, Article 102967. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102967
• Pelletier-Gagnon, J. (2019). Players, cabinets, and the space in-between: Case studies of non-ludic negotiation of video game cabinet spaces in Japanese game centers. Replaying Japan, 1, 29–39. https://doi.org/10.34382/00007809  
• Raetze, S., Staedter, C., & Hüllmann, J. A. (2025). Taking aim at research on esports teams: A systematic literature review and cross-disciplinary future agenda. Team Performance Management: An International Journal, 31(5–6), 364–389. https://doi.org/10.1108/TPM-09-2024-0109 
• Reitman, J. G., Anderson-Coto, M. J., Wu, M., Lee, J. S., & Steinkuehler, C. (2020). Esports research: A literature review. Games and Culture, 15(1), 32–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412019840892
• Saunders, M. E., Duffy, M. A., Heard, S. B., Kosmala, M., Leather, S. R., McGlynn, T. P., Ollerton, J., & Parachnowitsch, A. L. (2017). Bringing ecology blogging into the scientific fold: Measuring reach and impact of science community blogs. Royal Society Open Science, 4(10), 170957. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170957 
• Savard, F. (2025). Perceptions des enjeux entourant les sports électroniques [Mémoire de maîtrise, Université du Québec à Montréal]. Archipel. https://archipel.uqam.ca/18615/ 
• Scholl, B., & Stout, B. (2024). Esports culture in North America. In S. E. Jenny, N. Besombes, T. Brock, A. C. Cote, & T. M. Scholz (Eds.), Routledge handbook of esports (pp. 630–642). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003410591-67  
• Scholl, B. (2025). Welcome to Saints Gaming: Canada’s first varsity esports program. Games and Culture. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120251375694 
• Skolnik, M. R., & Conway, S. (2019). Tusslers, beatdowns, and brothers: A sociohistorical overview of video game arcades and the Street Fighter community. Games and Culture, 14(7–8), 742–762. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412017727687
• van Ommen, M., & Yahanashi, G. (2025). Finding belonging in competitive play: How a Japanese Splatoon Discord community functions as a third place. Social Media + Society, 11(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251399015

Complementary bibliography on esports in Japan

As part of the preparation for this research, I have also compiled a preliminary corpus of scientific publications addressing various aspects of esports in Japan. The references below have been identified as potentially relevant to my fieldwork, but have not necessarily all been read in depth at the time of publication of this post.

Some of this literature is published only in Japanese. Since I do not speak Japanese, my consultation of these works relies on English-language abstracts when available and, where necessary, on translation tools. This bibliography should therefore be considered a working corpus that will continue to evolve throughout the research process.

If you know of any articles, books, theses, dissertations, or other scientific publications on esports in Japan that you believe should be included in this corpus, please feel free to recommend them. I am particularly interested in research focusing on local communities, gaming spaces, grassroots initiatives, school or university clubs, player support, and the social dimensions of esports..

Complementary corpus

• Guo, Y. (2020). “That is not eSports”: The ideological war of machismo, athleticism, and enjoyment on streaming media. Proceedings of Annual Conference, Digital Game Research Association JAPAN, 10, 72–75. https://doi.org/10.57518/digrajproc.10.0_72
• Hamagami, S., & Loh, P. Y. (2025). A survey of e-sports players: Self-evaluation of physical ability and awareness of physical training. The Japanese Journal of Ergonomics, 61(Supplement), 2G05-02. https://doi.org/10.5100/jje.61.2G05-02
• Igarashi, A., & Koyama, Y. (2020). Comparison of esports between Japan and developed countries (US, Europe, Korea, China) focusing on the wave of industrial development: From “Game” to “Sport” and into “Media Entertainment.” Proceedings of Annual Conference, Digital Game Research Association JAPAN, 10, 68–71. https://doi.org/10.57518/digrajproc.10.0_68
• Kakihara, M., Matsubara, A., Tsuboyama, Y., & Gonda, S. (2024). Exploring the parent’s expectation on educational impact of eSports. Abstracts of Annual Conference of Japan Society for Management Information, 202311, 230–233. https://doi.org/10.11497/jasmin.202311.0_230
• Kakihara, M. (2025). Exploring the educational value of esports and parental mediation: A quantitative study of parents in Japan. International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations, 17(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJGCMS.388715 
• Kato, H. (2005). On the creation of communications space among Japanese game players: A case study of youth behavior and interaction at amusement arcades in Japan. Mass Communication Studies, 67, 106–122. https://doi.org/10.24460/mscom.67.0_106
• Kawamura, Y. (2021). eスポーツを巡る法的課題 [Legal issues surrounding e-sports]. The Japanese Journal of Law and Political Science, 57(1–2), 271–286. https://doi.org/10.20816/jalps.57.0_271
• Komago, Y. (2021). Challenges in introducing esports to schools and information ethics education. Journal of Japan Educational Research Society of the AI Era, 4, 13–18. https://doi.org/10.50948/esae.4.0_13
• Lam, G., & Wong, O. W. K. (2026). Cross-country comparison of the esports industry in China, South Korea and Japan. Sport in Society, 29(2), 229–254. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2024.2424559
• Mariano, L., Loh, P. Y., Ishihara, Y., Choi, J., & Muraki, S. (2024). Evaluating musculoskeletal discomfort in esports: A focus on competitive and recreational players from the Philippines and Japan. Journal of Electronic Gaming and Esports, 2(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1123/jege.2023-0035
• Meng-Lewis, Y., Wong, D., & Liu, C. (2026). The emergent community of esports fans in Japan: An analysis of motivations and preferences. Managing Sport and Leisure, 31(4), 688–714. https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2024.2373149
• Miyazaki, S., Sora, I., Inuzuka, S., Kato, H., & Yamamoto, K. (2024). Understanding esports from the perspective of modern sports. Journal of Japan Society of Sports Industry, 34(2), 2_131–2_137. https://doi.org/10.5997/sposun.34.2_131
• Monma, T., Matsui, T., Koyama, S., Ueno, H., Kagesawa, J., Oba, C., Nakamura, K., Takagi, H., & Takeda, F. (2024). Prevalence and associated factors of physical complaints among Japanese esports players: A cross-sectional study. Cureus, 16(8), e66496. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.66496
• Nakamura, A. (2020). Quantitate analysis on esports audience between Japan and the PRC. Proceedings of Annual Conference, Digital Game Research Association JAPAN, 10, 76–79. https://doi.org/10.57518/digrajproc.10.0_76
• Nishiyama, T. (2025). Introduction esports. Japan Journal of Sport Sociology, 33(1), 3–4. https://doi.org/10.5987/jjsss.33-01-01
• Park, Y. (2024). The application of urban planning and the possibility of public nature in e-Sports facilities: A case study in Korea and Japan. Proceedings of The City Planning Institute of Japan, Kansai Branch, 22, 45–48. https://doi.org/10.11361/cpijkansai.22.0_45
• Park, Y. (2025). Initiatives to regional revitalization through e-Sports facilities from the perspective of urban planning: Case study of an e-Sports facility for seniors. Proceedings of The City Planning Institute of Japan, Kansai Branch, 23, 5–8. https://doi.org/10.11361/cpijkansai.23.0_5
• Seino, J. (2025). Current state, issues, and educational significance of esports club activities at high schools in Japan: Looking ahead to future prospects. Japan Journal of Sport Sociology, 33(1), 33–50. https://doi.org/10.5987/jjsss.33-01-03
• Seino, J., Tsuboyama, Y., Naito, H., & Takahashi, Y. (2023). Current status of esports activities and issues for establishing esports club activities at high schools in Japan. Journal of Japan Society of Sports Industry, 33(3), 3_201–3_214. https://doi.org/10.5997/sposun.33.3_201
• Takagi, M. (2025). Exploring and sharing the occupational experiences of Japanese high school students engaging in esports as a club activity. Journal of Occupational Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/14427591.2025.2565789
• Takahashi, A., Kawamoto, T., Sakuma, H., Kawai, M., & Kawai, M. (2022). Attempt on e-Sports event in project-based learning. Proceedings of Annual Conference, Digital Game Research Association JAPAN, 12, 102–104. https://doi.org/10.57518/digrajproc.12.0_102
• Takahashi, Y. (2025). The sportification of video games: Understanding from social, political, and economic perspectives. Japan Journal of Sport Sociology, 33(1), 5–17. https://doi.org/10.5987/jjsss.33-01-02
• Takaue, R., Maeda, N., Komiya, M., Tashiro, T., Arima, S., Oda, S., Nagao, T., Yoshiara, R., & Urabe, Y. (2025). Survey on injuries among electronic sports athletes in Japan. Japanese Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, 3(1), 59–65. https://doi.org/10.57495/jjspt.3.1_59
• Takaya, M., Osawa, E., & Kuwahara, Y. (2023). Expanding learning through e-sports for junior college students: Hypothesis construction based on interview survey and quantitative text analysis. Journal of Japan Educational Research Society of the AI Era, 6, 46–53. https://doi.org/10.50948/esae.6.0_46
• Toriyama, M., & Fujimoto, J. (2024). The effect of the using of soccer-type eSports on attitudes toward J. LEAGUE clubs. Journal of Japan Society of Sports Industry, 34(4), 4_283–4_295. https://doi.org/10.5997/sposun.34.4_283
• Uchida, R., & Yamaguchi, S. (2022). The impression of eSports in Japan: An exploratory online survey. Journal of the Osaka Society of Physical Education, 60, 31–38. https://doi.org/10.57355/osakataiikugakkai.60.0_31
• Yokota, M., & Dan, Y. (2023). Regional innovation through e-Sports tournament “GEKITAI-HAI.” Proceedings of Annual Conference, Digital Game Research Association JAPAN, 13, 129–134. https://doi.org/10.57518/digrajproc.13.0_129
• Yoshitake, M., Sato, K., Sakano, N., Machino, K., Hattori, A., & Kibayashi, T. (2024). Impact of a frailty prevention package using esports on mental health of elderly individuals. Journal of Human Environmental Studies, 22(1), 11–15. https://doi.org/10.4189/shes.22.11
• Zeniya, H., & Matsumoto, H. (2022). 南海電鉄のeスポーツ事業と大阪eスポーツ研究会によるeスポーツのコンテンツ化 [Nankai Electric Railway’s esports business and the development of esports content by the Osaka Esports Research Group]. Proceedings of Annual Conference, Digital Game Research Association JAPAN, 12, 105–108. https://doi.org/10.57518/digrajproc.12.0_105