| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,420,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000)
Fiscal Year 2007: ¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000)
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| Research Abstract |
This study "Development of Kendo Equipment (Men) to Prevent Hearing Loss in Kendo" was conducted from 2005 to 2007 and was fundamental to preventing hearing loss in kendoists.
The research was initiated in 2005 into hearing loss among students and police officers who were practitioners of kendo. The results showed that there was a high incidence of hearing impairment at 2 kHz, 3 kHz and 8 kHz. "Kendo noise" (sound pressure and frequency), thought to be the cause of this hearing loss, was analyzed. The results showed that there were characteristic frequencies for yells, the stamping sound of the floor, bamboo sword noises, strike noises etc. and that noise with very high sound pressures was being generated. In 2006, the relationship between kendo noise and kendo hearing loss was investigated. The apparent absence of a clear cause-and-effect relationship between noise and hearing loss was thought to be due to a variety of issues, including the precision of measurement equipment and variations in the physiological condition of individuals. In 2007, the acoustic shielding of various men was conducted in order to improve and assess the acoustic shielding capacity of men padding filler material, men structure and other factors. The different types of men padding exhibited low acoustic shielding at 1 kHz, but it was more effective at sound frequencies of 2 kHz and 4 kHz. Hand-sewn materials exhibited higher sound isolation than machine-sewn materials, and the addition of a single sheet of a synthetic polymeric material (Sorbothane) had a higher acoustic shielding effect than other padding materials. Thus, useful fundamental information for the development of kendo equipment was obtained from this research.
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