Sport White Paper
in

Japan
Digest2014

First published 2014
by Sasakawa Sports Foundation
ARK Mori Bldg., 1-12-32 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-6011, Japan
Copyright © 2014 by Sasakawa Sports Foundation
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced in any form orby any electronic, mechanical, or other means including photocopying and recording, orin any information storage, without permission in writing from the publishers.
We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Nippon Foundation.

ISBN 978-4-915944-56-7

Contents
Chapter 1 Sports Policy
Ⅰ . The Acts on Sports
Ⅱ . Sports Administration System
Ⅲ . The Sport Basic Plan

1
5
11

Chapter 2 Sports Participation
Ⅰ . Participation in Sports and Physical Activities
Ⅱ . Sports Spectators
Ⅲ . Volunteering in Sports

15
35
41

Chapter 3 Financial Resources for Sports
Ⅰ . National and Local Government Budget for Sports
Ⅱ . Sports Promotion Lottery and Public Gambling
Ⅲ . Funds for Sports Organizations
Ⅳ . National Budget for High Performance Sports

46
52
60
64

Chapter 4 Sports Facilities
Ⅰ . Current Status of Sports Facilities
Ⅱ . Sports Facilities for High Performance Sports
Ⅲ . Sports Facilities for People with Disabilities

69
77
84

Chapter 5 Human Resources for Sports
Ⅰ . Professions in Sports
Ⅱ . Sports Instructors

87
93

Chapter 6 Sports Clubs
Ⅰ . Sports Club Memberships for Adults
Ⅱ . Participation in Sports Clubs and School Sports Clubs
by Young People
Ⅲ . Private Fitness Clubs
Ⅳ . Comprehensive Community Sports Clubs
List of Figures
List of Tables

Picture Credits

98
102
107
110

Foreword
Sasakawa Sports Foundation (SSF) was established in March 1991.
Since the establishment, SSF has implemented a wide range of activities
such as survey research, grant programs, and international cultural exchange
through sports in order to promote the enjoyment of sports by "anyone,
anytime, anywhere".
SSF first issued Sport White Paper in 1996 and it is currently revised
every three years. This is the English edition of Sport White Paper andthis issue covers the latest data about sports administration, participation,
finance, facilities, human resources and sports clubs in Japan, which ispicked up from the Japanese original edition.
SSF will continue promoting the firm establishment of "Sport for
Everyone," a philosophy that aims to create a happier, healthier society,with the ultimate goal of enriching the athletic lives of each individual andcreating an environment in which people can continue enjoying sports intheir own ways.
Finally, this book would not have been possible without thecontributions and support of our advisory board and authors. I would like tothank them and acknowledge their outstanding work.

Kiyoko Ono
President, Sasakawa Sports Foundation
September, 2014

Sport White Paper Chief Editor
Kazutoshi Watanabe
Managing Director, Sasakawa Sports Foundation

Sport White Paper Advisory Board
Osamu Ebihara
Professor, Faculty of Education and Human Sciences,
Yokohama National University
Yoshiyuki Mano, Ph.D
Professor, School of Sport Sciences,
Waseda University
Shinsuke Sano
Director, Sankei Sports News, The Sankei Shimbun
Shigeki Shibuya
Chief Researcher, Sasakawa Sports Foundation
Miyako Tanaka-Oulevey
Director, Polygone, Inc.
Yasuo Yamaguchi, Ph.D
Professor, Graduate School of Human Development and Environment,
Kobe University
As of April, 2014

Sports Policy 1

Chapter 1
Sports Policy
I. The Acts on Sports
1. The Basic Act on SportIn June 2011, the Basic Act on Sport was enacted with thecomprehensive revision on the Sport Promotion Act for the first time in
50 years. The Act consists of 35 articles and supplementary provisions,and declares in the preamble that “Sport are a universally shared humanculture.” It defines sport as athletic competitions and other physical activities
performed by individuals or groups for the purpose of “sound developmentof mind and body”, “retention and promotion of health and physicalstrength”, “acquisition of mental satisfaction”, and “cultivation of the spiritof self-sufficiency or other mentalities”. Furthermore, the Act defines sport
as “crucial for citizens to lead a healthy and fulfilled life in terms of mind
and body throughout their lifetime”, and clearly states that living life happily
and fruitfully through sports is the right of all citizens.
The Act also states that sport not only have an impact on individuals,
but can also develop a sense of unity or vitality of an area, and contributeto recovery of the regional society. It places an emphasis on the importanceof Japanese sport players achieving the great success in international
competitions. In addition, the Act identifies sport as a key element in the
improvement of the international status of Japan. It states that sport cancreate vitality in our society, contribute greatly to the development of
the national economy, and promote global mutual understanding throughinternational exchange, which will contribute greatly to international peace.
The major provisions of the Basic Act on Sport that have been newly
established or revised, are as follows:・ Paragraph 5 of Article 2 (Basic Principles) prescribes the promotionof sport for people with disabilities, stating that “sport shall bepromoted with due consideration according to the type and degree of
disability so that persons with disabilities can play sport voluntarily
and proactively.” Articles 3 and 4 clarify the responsibilities of thenational government and local governments, respectively.
・ Under Article 5, sport organizations must “protect the rights
and interests of those who play sport”, “ensure transparency of2 Sports Policy
management”, and “endeavor to resolve disputes concerning sport ina prompt and appropriate manner.”・ Under Article 9, the Act requires the Minister of Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)
to formulate a “Sport Basic Plan”, and Article 10 requires local
governments to formulate a plan concerning the promotion of sport (a“local sport promotion plan”) making allowance for the Sport Basic
Plan and in the context of the actual situation in the area.
・ Article 15 states that necessary measures contributing to the prompt
and proper resolution of a dispute concerning sport should betaken, where such a dispute has arisen today. The roles to be playedby the sport industry are also defined in Article 18, mentioning
the importance of coordination and cooperation between sportorganizations and business operators.
・ With regard to sport for people with disabilities, Article 26 states thatin order to ensure the smooth holding and operation of the NationalSports Games for Persons with Disabilities, necessary supportshould be provided to Japanese Para-Sports Association and to theprefectures of the venue.
・ In September 2013, Tokyo was successful in its bid to host the Tokyo
2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Behind this success, Article
27 of the Act which sets the promotion of bidding for the hosting ofinternational competitions as an important priority for the national
government thought to have influenced its success in bidding with astrong government support.
2. Sports Promotion Lottery Law
In 1998, in order to secure financial resources for sports promotion,
the “Act on Carrying Out, etc. Sports Promotion Vote” (commonly known
as the “Sports Promotion Lottery Law”) was enacted through legislation
drafted by the nonpartisan Federation of Diet Members for Sports. One of
the reasons for the enactment of this Act was the necessity for structuralreforms in the sports system. Japanese system had relied on public funds
and funding from private companies, and has now been suffering from thedeclining birthrate and aging, as well as the impact of a prolonged slowdown
in the economy. Article 21 of the Act specified how lottery revenue should
be used and allocated to local government bodies and sports organizations.
In FY2001, the amount of sales generated from the Sports Promotion
Lottery was approximately 64.3 billion yen. However, in FY2006, theamount decreased to approximately 13.5 billion yen. As a result, theSports Policy 3lottery generated debts related to its management commission fee whichsignificantly reduced sports subsidies derived from lottery revenues. The
Japan Sport Council (JSC), which supervised the Sports Promotion Lottery,
was tasked with developing a new type of lottery aimed at increasing sales
revenue. The new lottery, “BIG”, was introduced in September 2006 andbecame popular with sales for FY2007 rapidly climbing to approximately
63.7 billion yen. Since then, sales have shown a stable growth, bringing inover 80 billion yen annually. Since FY2010, more than 10 billion yen has
been made available for subsidized sports promotion projects.
The allocation of subsidies from the Sports Promotion Lottery isdetermined in accordance with the “Basic Policies for Subsidies fromthe Sports Promotion Lottery Profits” formulated by MEXT. An amountequivalent to 50% of lottery ticket sales is used as prize money for winners,
then two thirds of the remaining profit (after deducting management
expenses) is used as subsidies for the promotion of sports, while theremaining one third is paid to the national treasury.
In May 2013, the Act on the Sports Promotion Lottery was partiallyrevised to expand the type of football matches that could be bet on (which
had previously been limited to the Japan Professional Football League “J.
League”). The Act now allows betting on football matches that are held byoverseas professional leagues designated by MEXT such as the English
Premier League, and the matches which conform to the standards specified
by an ordinance of MEXT.
3. Act on the Japan Sport Council
Based on the “Act on the National Agency for the Advancementof Sports and Health (NAASH), Independent Administrative Agency”
promulgated in 2002, NAASH was established in October 2003. NAASH
succeeded to all activities previously allocated to the National Stadium andthe School Health Center of Japan, such as the administration of school
lunches, school safety and the operation of the National Stadium. In 2012,
NAASH has changed its organization name to the Japan Sport Council (JSC)and the Act above is now called the “Act on the Japan Sport Council”.
The roles of JSC include the following: operation of the National
Stadium and promotion of sports; research into sports science and medicine;
operation of the Sports Promotion Lottery; strengthening of information
strategies for sports in Japan; operation and management of the Prince
Chichibu Memorial Sports Museum and Library; operation of mutual
accident insurance and school safety support projects; operation andmanagement of the Ajinomoto National Training Center; administration of

4 Sports Policy
subsidies for sports promotion projects; training of instructors and research
related to mountaineering; and other commissioned projects.
In May 2013, a partial revision was made to the Act, which allowed
lottery revenue to be allocated to expenses necessary for designatedactivities. These designated activities referred to the maintenance ofparticular sports facilities, which was conducted for the purpose of ensuringsmooth bidding for the hosting of international sports competitions inJapan. The amount was specified by a consultation between the Minister of
MEXT and the Minister of Finance (and was defined as within a range notexceeding five percent of the sales amount) for facilities requiring urgent
maintenance. As a result, revenue from the Sports Promotion Lottery was
made available for renovating the National Stadium, where the Rugby World
Cup 2019 and the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games are scheduled tobe held. Due to this revision, the following activities were added to the Act:
protection of the rights and interests of sports players, activities regarding
the maintenance and improvement of the physical and mental wellbeing, activities to ensure safety, activities regarding the promotion of theactivity for preventing doping in sports, activities required for the fair andappropriate implementation of the activities regarding any other sports.

Sports Policy 5

II. Sports Administration System
1. Sports Administrative Organizations
In Japan, pursuant to the Basic Act on Sport, a sports promotion
system is led by administrative organizations such as MEXT and the Boardof Education in each local government (Figure 1-1). These administrative
organizations play a primary role in the creation of policies concerningschool sports and physical education, and activities of school sports
clubs as well as regional sports. They are also responsible for hosting andparticipating in international sports competitions such as the Olympic andParalympic and the FIFA World Cup and enhancing high performancesports. On the other hand, corporate sports, as well as school sports, havelong been supporting the promotion of sports in Japan, but there are no clear
MEXT

various sports organizations

MinisteradviceSports and Youth Bureau

advicePolicy Planning Division
Sports Promotion Division
Competitive Sports Division

Nippon Junior HighSchool PhysicalCulture Association

financial support
commission

National Recreation
Association ofJapanfinancial support
commission

Japanese Olympic
Committee(JOC)

financialsupportAll Japan HighSchool Athletic
Federationprefectural highschool athletic
federations

Japan Institute of Sports
Sciences(JISS)

Japan Sport Council

Central Council for Education
Division of Sports and Youthsports promoting
foundations

advice andsupportaffiliatedaffiliatedJapan Sports
Association(JASA)
affiliatednational governing
bodies of sports
affiliatedaffiliatedprefectural junior highschool physical culture
associations

prefecutural recreation
associations
prefectural sports
associations

Prefectures
Governor
Governor's Dept. and Bureau
prefectural elementary
school athletic
federations

financial support
commission

board of education
Sport Promotion Council
advice and support

affiliatedSports Centers
Covering Wide Area

financial support

prefecutural sports
federations
affiliatedaffiliated

National Federation ofCommunity Sport
Leaders

Local Authorities
Mayor
Mayor's Dept. and Bureauboard of education
Sport Promotion Council

prefectural councils ofcommunity sports
leaders

Community Sports
Leaders

sportspromotingfoundations

financial support
commission

affiliatedlocal recreation
associations

local sports federations
affiliatedlocal sports
associations

Comprehensive Community
Sports Clubs

sports clubs andteams

Figure 1-1 Sports Administration Structure in Japan

6 Sports Policy
jurisdiction defined, and are currently in between the Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry (METI) and MEXT.
Professional sports are not under the direct jurisdiction of MEXT,
however, the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization (NPB), the Japan
Professional Football League (J. League), and the Japan Professional Sports
Association were all once under the jurisdiction of MEXT and carry the
influence of its methods of sports administration. At present, due to thereform of the public interest corporation system, these organizations areadministered by the Cabinet Office. Moreover, many industries responsible
for sports goods and tools, leisure industries such as ski resorts and bowlingalleys, and health service industries such as fitness clubs are administered by
METI.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW)
administers several services including: businesses promoting health andphysical strength in municipalities; long-term care and preventive services
pursuant to the “Long-term Care Insurance Act”; events including the
National Health and Welfare Festival for the Elderly ; promotion of sports
and physical activities from the perspectives of fitness, health and social
welfare; and sending athletes to international athletic events such as the
Paralympics. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism(MLIT) is responsible for the maintenance of sports facilities such as
athletic parks used for the National Sports Festivals, and the Japan Tourism
Agency of MLIT is in charge of promoting sports tourism. As is seen here, alarge number of government offices are involved in the promotion of sports.
For that reason, in order to establish a Sports Agency in near future, whichis mentioned in the Supplementary Provision of the Basic Act on Sport, it isimportant to maintain consistency in policies and improve the efficiency ofsports promotion projects.
In October 2013, the Abe Cabinet established the Tokyo 2020
Olympic and Paralympic Games Promotion Office within the Cabinet
Secretariat, in preparation for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games
to be hosted in Tokyo. Civil servants of both MEXT and MHLW were
simultaneously appointed as the members of the Promotion Office, andunder the direction of the Minister in charge of the Tokyo Olympic andParalympic Games, were assigned to coordinate between ministries
concerning issues such as immigration control and the security of national
facilities.
Sports Administration within MEXT
After the reorganization in 2001, the Ministry established the Sports

Sports Policy 7
and Youth Bureau. Subsequently, the Policy Planning Division, the Sports
Promotion Division, and the Competitive Sports Division were establishedin 2012. Each division has subsections devoted to specific interests, and thedivision of duties for each section is defined by the Ordinance of MEXT.
The Sports Promotion Division has recently formed a new section aimed at
improving sports environment for people with disabilities, within the scopeof its authority and in cooperation with MHLW. Moreover, looking aheadto the consolidation of sports administrations in the future, from FY2014
the jurisdictions related to improving performance skills of and support to
Paralympic athletes will be transferred from MHLW to MEXT.
2. Major Sports Promotion Institutions in Japan
In addition to administrative organizations, a number of public interest
corporations such as JSC, the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC), theJapan Sports Association (JASA) and the National Recreation Association ofJapan (NRAJ) play a significant role in the promotion of sports. Their roles
include enhancement of high performance sports, provision of subsidies forpromotional activities, and development of a better understanding of thevalue of sports.
The JSC strives to promote sports and improve physical health ofstudents through the following activities; management of sports facilities
such as the National Stadium, provision of aids and support required for thepromotion of sports, payment of necessary benefits in the case of accidents
that occur to students under the supervision of schools, and conduct ofvarious research projects. The JOC, JASA and NRAJ preside over various
sports associations such as sports organizations in the all 47 prefectures
and are incorporated into the national administrative system which controls
sports policies. These policies concern issues such as the improvement ofJapan’s international performance, the training of sports instructors, and thedevelopment of comprehensive regional sports clubs to enhance physicalfitness of children. The Japan Anti-Doping Agency (JADA) was establishedin 2001 as an institution to promote, educate and coordinate anti-doping
activities in Japan. As a contracted party of the World Anti-Doping Code(WADA Code), JADA implements the Japan Anti-Doping Code which isconsistent with the WADA Code. The Japan Sports Arbitration Agency(JSAA) also contributes to the promotion of sports through improving sports
environments, encouraging athletes to compete fairly with one another andthrough other awareness-raising activities.

8 Sports Policy
3. Sports Administrative Organizations in Local Governments
Sports Administrative Organizations in Prefectures andMunicipalities
Until recently, the regional Boards of Education were principally incharge of all duties involved in sports administration for each prefecture
and municipality. This was due to Article 23, item 13 (Duties and Authorityof the Board of Education) of the “Act on the Organization and Operationof Local Educational Administration” (hereinafter referred to as the “Local
Educational Administration Act”), which stated that the Boards of Education
were to supervise and execute the operation of policies related to sports.
However, under Article 4 of the Basic Act on Sport, it is now prescribedthat “local governments are responsible for establishing and implementing
measures concerning sport which are appropriate to the characteristics ofthe area voluntarily and independently, while maintaining coordination with
the national government.” Furthermore, because of the special provision
added to the Local Educational Administration Act (Article 24-2, “Special
Provision on Duties and Authority”) after its partial revision in 2007, it
has become possible for the heads of local public bodies to supervise andadminister affairs related to sports that had been under the jurisdiction of
the Boards of Education. As a result of this greater flexibility, administrative
affairs have been transferred from the Boards of Education and been placed
under the mayors or governors in many local governments.
As of October 2013, there are 28 prefectures where an educational
administrative organization, such as the Board of Education, is in chargeof sports administration, and 19 prefectures where the sports department
is under the governors (i.e. in 40 percent of the prefectures, administrative
affairs related to sports are the responsibility of the governor). Moreover,among the 20 ordinance-designated cities1 in Japan, there are only threecities where the jurisdiction over the administrative affairs related to sports
is in the hands of the Board of Education: Nagoya, Kobe and Sagamihara.
With regard to the remaining 17 cities, a department or bureau under the
mayor, such as the City Office (Yokohama City, etc.), the Citizen’s Affairs
Department (Kitakyushu City), the Tourism & Cultural Affairs Bureau(Sapporo City) and the Economic Strategy Bureau (Osaka City), has thejurisdiction over the administrative affairs related to sports.
Meanwhile, according to a recent study conducted by MEXT,“Research and Study Concerning Local Sports Policies (2013)”, for other
1. An ordinance-designated city is a Japanese city that has a population of greater than 500,000 andhas been designated as such by an order of the Cabinet. As of April 2014, there are 20 ordinancedesignated cities.

Sports Policy 9municipalities (except for ordinance-designated cities), more than 90% of
the jurisdiction over the administrative affairs related to sports belongs to theBoard of Education. This means that the proportion of Boards of Education
responsible for sports administration becomes larger as the population size
becomes smaller.
The transfer of these administrative affairs is often for the purpose of
consolidation and to improve the efficiency of specific administrative affairs
or projects related to sports. This was the case for Tokyo, and has also been
the case where the comprehensive promotion of sports administration is
aimed at by integrating with other administrative fields such as community
development, environment, and tourism and culture. For example, Hokkaido
Prefecture consolidated projects related to lifestyle culture and professional
sports that were under the jurisdiction of the governor and those related toarts and amateur sports that were under the jurisdiction of the local Boardof Education. Since April 2012, these projects are now placed under the
Safe Living Environment Promotion Division of the Bureau of Lifestyle
Improvement at the Department of Environment and Lifestyle of Hokkaido.
Through this consolidation, Hokkaido hopes to develop its policies aimed
at comprehensive and effective promotion of culture and sports. On theother hand, it is also essential that the department responsible for sports
and other relevant organizations build a close cooperative relationship andunderstanding with local governments, and that certain duties are allocatedbetween them, because of the various types of administrative affairs andprojects related to sports that involve multiple organizations.
Local Quasi-Government Corporations and Public Foundations
Related to Sports Promotion
In many prefectures and ordinance-designated cities, quasigovernment corporations and public interest corporations have been
established, playing a part in the promotion of sports and complementing
the work of local government related to sports. These extra-governmentorganizations usually receive financial assistance from the relevant
local government at the time of their establishment. However, how suchorganizations are funded and the amount or ratio of government contribution
varies depending on the organization. The establishment, operation,budgetary and human resources, as well as financial audits and the like, areprescribed by the “Local Autonomy Act.”
When the Local Autonomy Act was partially revised in September
2003, the management of public facilities (sports facilities, city parks,
cultural centers, social welfare facilities, etc.) switched from the “Operation

10 Sports Policy
Consignment System” to the “Designated Administration System”, which
was further enacted in September 2006. Under the former “Operation
Consignment System”, the management of public facilities was under the
direct control of the local government, or was consigned only to those public
foundations and corporations that were funded by the local government.
However, with the revised system, such work may now be conducted either
by the local government or by a designated administrator who has been
selected through public advertisement. Applicants may include private
businesses such as stock companies, public interest corporations, NPOs andvoluutary basis organizations.
Due to this revision, many quasi-government corporations or public
foundations that had been in operation primarily for the management andoperation of public sports facilities have been forced to review their businessactivities and organization structures. The number of prefectures containing
quasi-government corporations or public foundations has been steadilydecreasing: from 25 prefectures in 2000 to 23 prefectures in 2005, and thento 18 prefectures in 2010 and 15 prefectures in 2013. Many corporations
have merged with sports associations or been integrated with parks andgreenery associations or cultural promotion foundations. For example,
the Gunma Prefecture Sports Promotion Corporation established in 1977
made a new start as the Gunma Sports Association, after merging with the
Gunma Amateur Sports Association in 2011. For another example, the Gifu
Events and Sports Promotion Foundation, which was established throughthe integration of the Gifu Prefectural Agency for Sports Promotion and
the Gifu Memorial Center was dissolved completely after the Gifu-Seiryu
National Sports Festival held in 2012.Among the 20 ordinance-designatedcities in Japan, seven of them currently have a quasi-government corporationor public foundation related to sports promotion. In particular, Sapporo City,
where the administrative affairs related to sports were under the jurisdictionof the mayor even prior to the revised Local Educational Administration
Act, has established the Sapporo Health & Sports Foundation through the
integration of the Sapporo Sports Promotion Corporation and the Sapporo
Health Promotion Center. Rather than limiting itself to the management ofpublic facilities, the Sapporo Health & Sports Foundation delivers multiple
independent business activities (concerning sports, physical exercise,public health, nutritional guidance and instructor development, recreation
revitalization, etc.), and successfully coordinates both areas of sports
promotion and health promotion.

Sports Policy 11

III. The Sport Basic Plan
1. Highlights of the Sport Basic Plan
The “Sport Basic Plan” was announced on March 30, 2012 andembodies the principles of the provisions of Article 9 of the Basic Act on
Sport, as well as indicates a concrete direction for Japan’s sports policies
in the future. Within the Plan, key principles for the next ten years are
specified. Also mentioned are comprehensive and systematic measures tobe advanced over the next five years.
The Sport Basic Plan is comprised of four Chapters: Chapter 1 “TheRole of Sport and a Vision of the Society to be Realized through Sport”;
Chapter 2 “Key Principles of Sport Promotion for the Coming Decade”;
Chapter 3 “Policies to be Taken comprehensively and systematically over
the Next Five Years”; and Chapter 4 “Considerations for the Comprehensive
and Systematic Promotion of These Policies.”
In Chapter 1, the society that the Plan aims to develop is defined
through five detailed aspects: (a) A society in which the youth grow up
soundly and value that include cooperation with other people, fairness anddiscipline; (b) A society that ensures a long life replete with health andvigor; (c) A vigorous and united society in which residents are deeply boundby active cooperation amongst themselves; (d) An economically developed
and vigorous society where citizens are proud of their nation; (e) A nation
which contributes to peace and goodwill, and is trusted and respected by theinternational community.
In Chapter 2, the Plan describes the top priority of the policy as“Creating sport environments enabling participation in sport by a wide rangeof people, in accordance with their specific interests and aptitudes, regardlessof age, gender or disabilities”. The Chapter then sets out seven further
policy goals as follows: (a) Increasing sport opportunities for children; (b)Promotion of sport activities in line with the life stages; (c) Improvement ofcommunity sport environments where residents can actively participate; (d)Training human resources and developing the sport environments in orderto enhance international competitiveness; (e) Promotion of international
exchanges and contributions through bids for and hosting of international
competitions such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games; (f) Improvementof the transparency and fairness/equity in the sport world; and (g) Creationof a virtuous cycle in the sport world.
In Chapter 3, the Plan proposes policies to be carried out
comprehensively and systematically over the next five years. By establishinggoals designated for different groups of people. For example, some of the12 Sports Policy
goals include making the level of children’s physical fitness surpass the level
found in 1985, and achieving a society in which two out of three adults (about65%) engage in sport once or more a week, and one out of three adults (about30%) engage in sport three or more times weekly. As for specific measures
to improve community sports environments, the Plan suggests developing
Comprehensive Community Sport Clubs and enriching sport instructors andfacilities, to ensure that all residents can actively participate.
With regard to Japan’s level of international competitiveness, the Plansuggests that Japan should aim to achieve fifth place or higher in the gold
medal rankings at the Summer Olympics and tenth place or higher in thatcategory at the Winter Olympics. This would surpass the existing records for
medals won at the Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics, and also betterthe records for athletes placing eighth or higher in past Olympic Games andWorld Championships. With regard to the Paralympic Games, the Plan alsosuggests that Japan should aim to improve upon the gold medal rankingsachieved at the most recent games-from 17th place at the 2008 Summer
Paralympic in Beijing, and 8th place at the 2010 Winter Paralympic in
Vancouver.
Moreover, the Plan recognizes the need for Japan to provide
an environment suitable for the promotion of international exchanges
and contributions through successfully bidding to host international
competitions, as is seen in the case of the successful bid to host the 2020
Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as the Rugby World Cup
2019. In addition to the above, the Plan aims to improve transparency andfairness/equity in the sport world through the promotion of anti-doping andsports arbitration, and to advance coordination and cooperation between top
level sports and amateur sports in local areas, creating a “virtuous cycle” inthe sport world.
In Chapter 4, the Plan lists ways of developing a comprehensive
and systematic promotion of these policies. This includes the facilitationof public understanding and participation, increased coordination andcooperation amongst those involved in sport, securing financial resources
for sports promotion and utilizing resources efficiently, and assessment andrevision of the Plan at regular intervals.
Since the formulation of the Plan in 2012, MEXT has incorporated abudget necessary for the realization of the policy goals set out in the Sport
Basic Plan in its annual budget for sports policies, which has been reflectedin subsidy programs sponsored by the Japan Sports Council and in grants
from MEXT.

Sports Policy 13

Column. International Development through Sports

In the preamble of the Basic Act on Sport, the expression “international

development through sports” was included for the first time in the laws of Japan.
Deputy Prime Minster Aso and Prime Minister Abe declared the “Sport for Tomorrow”
program, during the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 2020 Candidate Cities
Briefing on July 3, 2013 and at the Election of the Host City of the 2020 Olympic andParalympic Games at the 125th IOC Session on September 7, 2013 respectively. This
program is aimed at supporting the creation of sports culture in developing countries.
The principles and content of the program received a high degree of attention fromthe IOC members, and led to Japan’s successful bid to host the 2020 Olympic andParalympic Games.
Tokyo’s triumphant bid to host the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic
Games is about to change the role of sports in Japan significantly. Domestically,
the problem-solving model of sports has already been utilized to aid in therestoration and revitalization of local communities following the Great
East Japan Earthquake. On the other hand, we can expect sports to play animportant role in our international contribution to developing countries. Evenon a global scale, international contribution to developing countries throughsports is considered a progressive action, and is currently attracting muchattention from people in both national and international sporting worlds.
From 1965, when the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) sent
their first Japan Oversees Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) to four Southeast Asian
countries, until the present, Japan has been involved in carrying out international
cooperative activities through sports. As of July 31, 2013, a total of 2,954 physicaleducation/sports volunteers (including 882 females) were involved in 30 different
sports in overseas countries. The JICA has offered unique support, not only for theactivities performed while dispatched, but also continuous support to many of thosevolunteers who have returned to Japan from service abroad.
In addition, JOC, JASA, the Japan Foundation, and other sports-relatedorganizations, corporations, NPOs and local governments have contributed to projects
independently or through collaborations. In line with the trends of the United Nations,
IOC and other countries, a new concept known as “International Development throughSport: IDS” which is focused on contributing to the resolution of social issues andproblems through sports development have become the vehicles for many private
support organizations in implementing activities based on this concept.
Internationally, the “United Nations Office for Sports Development andPeace (UNOSDP)” has become the focus of much attention, as a new measure foraccomplishing the Millennium Development Goals which were announced by the14 Sports Policy

United Nations at the beginning of the 21st century. In 2003, the United Nations
General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming 2005 as the “InternationalYear of Sport and Physical Education” and the supporting organization, UNOSDP,
was established in the same year. In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly
proclaimed an “International Day for Sports Development and Peace” to be celebrated
each year on April 6th. Moreover, the scale of IDS activities has considerably expanded
since 2000, and as of September 1, 2013, there were at least 504 organizations,
3,358 people and 192 projects registered on the “International Platform on Sportand Development” operated by the Swiss Academy for Development. In Europe,
where community sports have always been popular, the “Sport For All” approach has
progressed into the new “Development through Sport: DTS” campaign, which focuseson community development within a nation. DTS approaches are commonly usedin local sport clubs, as well as in professional football clubs (or the like) in Europe
and these experiences are then utilized in their international contribution activities.
Meanwhile, the number of main organizations practicing IDS approaches
in Japan has been increasing since the late 1990s (mainly through NPOs), and theirstyles have also become more diverse. Since 2000, whether it be the CSRs adopted byprivate companies, or a former professional sports player establishing a public interest
corporation, the range of such activities has been noticeably spreading.
The distinctive features of organizations engaged in IDS activities in Japanare that they are focused on: (1) securing funds through charities in Japan; and (2)supporting the same issues experienced both domestically and internationally. Even
though most of their support goes to nearby countries in Southeast Asia, there are only
a few organizations that have overseas offices, so that in most cases such organizations
work in collaboration with local organizations to fully carry out their support activities.
In Japan, traditional styles of sports development are continuing (such as
international cooperative activities through sports, and support through charities)
while IDS approaches carried out progressively by private organizations arestill in the development phase, and have not yet reached the level of Europe
which incorporates problem-solving model of DTS. The “Sport for Tomorrow”
program has been declared internationally, however, it is possible that serious
issues may arise if Japan’s sports contributions do not match the needs of othercountries. A system which contributes to the advancement of DTS approachin Japan must be established through developing research institutions andhuman resource organizations in a phased manner, re-examining the roleof sports, and building an IDS infrastructure with and “All-Japan” system.

Sports Participation 15

Chapter 2
Sports Participation
I. Participation in Sports and Physical Activities
1. Participation in Sports and Physical Activities by Adult
In order to understand the level of participation in sports and physicalactivities by adults, the Sasakawa Sports Foundation (SSF) has examined
the statistical data gathered through the “SSF National Sports-Life Survey”,
which has been conducted by SSF every other year since 1992. The survey
aims to understand the current situations of sports participation in terms offrequency, duration and intensity among Japanese adults, including those
who participate in higher levels of sports and physical activities.
In this survey, the participation of adults in sports and physicalactivities were divided into the following levels; “Level 0” for those who did
not participate in any sports or physical activities for the past year; “Level 1”
for those who participated at least once during the year, but less than twicea week; “Level 2” for those who participated at least twice a week; “Level3” for those who participated at least twice a week with a duration of “morethan 30 minutes”; and “Level 4” for those who participated at least twicea week, duration of “more than 30 minutes”, and with more than moderateintensity (Table 2-1).
The levels of participation in sports and physical activities by adults
are shown in Figure 2-1. Level 4 is the participation level recommended
by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the Ministryof Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) in Japan. SSF defines people who
Table 2-1 Levels of Participation in Sports and Physical Activities
Level 0Non-participation (0 time/year)

Level 1

At least once during the year, less than twice a week (1-103 times a year)

Level 2At least twice a week (at least 104 times a year)

Level 3At least twice a week, with a duration of more than 30 minutes

Level 4At least twice a week, with a duration of more than 30 minutes, and with morethan moderate intensity(Active Sports Participants)

SSF
National
Sports-LifeSurvey
Survey (2012)(2012)SSF
National
Sports-Life

(%)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

6.8

2.7

7.5

1994

6.6

7.6

28.3

50.1

1998

9.1

1996

13.0

8.9 9.1

13.1

30.4

34.3

9.8

34.1

38.1

2000

7.8

15.4

17.6

29.3

29.8

2002

8.5

13.3

18.2

27.9

32.0

2004

9.2

16.1

26.6
20.0

28.1

2006

7.8

15.9

18.2

26.5

31.7

21.5

2010

9.3

18.4

24.1

26.9

2012 （Year）

9.2

20.2
20.0

25.6
25.1

The 2012 SSF NationalSports-Life
Survey(2012)
SSF NationalSports-Life
Survey(2012)

2008

9.1

17.4

26.4
19.1

28.1

Level 4

Level 3

Level 2

Level 1Figure 2-1 Rates of Participation in Sports and Physical Activities over the years

1992

6.6

34.6

49.3

Level 016 Sports Participation

Sports Participation 17
are at this level as “Active Sports Participants.” Since 1992, the proportionof Active Sports Participants has been steadily increasing and in 2012
it reached 20%, the highest level that had ever been measured. Level 3
has also shown a tendency to gradually increase at a similar rate to Level
4. When Level 3 and 4 are combined, it shows that 40% of adults areachieving a better quality participation in sports and physical activities interms of frequency and duration. One of the reasons behind this could be
the increased awareness of prevention of lifestyle diseases, as well as more
public interest in maintaining their body shape and improving health andphysical strength.
In 1992 and 1994, adults rated at Level 0 accounted for about halfof all adults in Japan. However, since that time this number has been
decreasing. This downward trend has also been observed in Level 1, andboth Levels 0 and 1 have followed a similar downward trend since 1996.
2. Participation in Sports and Physical Activities by Gender andby Age GroupThe changes in the participation rate for sports and physical activities
over the last ten years (2002 to 2012) were also compared by gender andby age group. With regard to gender, a gradual increase was shown for the
proportion of Active Sports Participants (Level 4), with a slightly higher
level for men than for women (Table 2-2). Conversely, the proportion ofboth men and women showed a slight decrease at Level 1, with the numberof men remaining 10 percentage points higher than that number of women.
At Level 0, the proportion of women was higher than that of men. However,in 2002, a 10 percentage point gap was found between women (36.9%)
and men (26.9%), but in 2012 there was only a 5.5 percentage point gap
found between women (28.3%) and men (22.8%), indicating that the genderdifference was gradually narrowing.
In terms of age groups, the proportion of the population reaching
Level 4 was higher in 2012 for all age groups, when compared to 2002
(Table 2-3). This was especially noticeable in the 60s age group, where
the proportion almost doubled (from 13.8% in 2002 to 26.2% in 2012).
Similarly, the trend for a growing level of active participation in sports andphysical activities for older adults was also seen in the numbers at Level0, where there was a 16 percentage point decrease (from 39.5% to 23.4%)
for the 60s age group, and a 15 percentage point decrease (from 51.1% to35.8%) for the over-70 age group.
Based on these results, it can be concluded that: (a) the proportionof people who regularly participate in sports and physical activities has

2004
23.2
29.8
33.9
22.5
17.0
15.2

26.9

36.9

34.1

22.0

13.9

12.8

Men Level 0

Women Level 0

Men Level 1

Women Level 1

Men Level 4

Women Level 4

Level

2002

Year

14.7

17.2

22.3

31.0

35.6

27.4

2006

16.3

18.5

21.4

31.5

31.7

24.4

2008

19.5

20.4

20.3

30.0

28.3

22.8

2012

(%)

SSF NationalSports-Life
Survey(2002-2012)
SSF NationalSports-Life
Survey (2002-2012)

16.3

20.4

21.3

32.7

27.0

21.0

2010

Table 2-2 R ates of Participation in Sports and Physical Activities over the years (By Gender)

18 Sports Participation

2012

2002

Year

21.3

Level 431.1

Level 1

15.0

22.7

Level 0Level 3

17.4

Level 4

9.8

13.3

Level 3

Level 29.5

39.9

Level 1

Level 219.8

In the 20s

Level 0

Level

Age

18.4

13.8

12.0

32.2

23.7

14.3

13.5

9.1

40.2

22.9

In the 30s

19.3

16.5

10.5

31.5

22.2

11.1

14.4

9.3

34.5

30.7

In the 40s

17.4

18.9

8.7

26.9

28.1

12.3

23.0

8.0

26.0

30.8

In the 50s

26.2

29.1

5.8

15.5

23.4

13.8

24.7

7.8

14.3

39.5

15.9

28.4

8.1

11.8

35.8

11.1

19.7

7.3

10.8

51.1

70 and over

20.0

20.2

9.2

25.1

25.6

13.3

18.2

8.5

27.9

32.0

Total

(%)

SSF NationalSports-Life
Survey (2002-2012)
SSF NationalSports-Life
Survey(2002-2012)

In the 60s

Table 2-3 R ates of Participation in Sports and Physical Activities over the years (By Age)

Sports Participation 19

20 Sports Participation
exhibited an overall upward trend; (b) the gender difference in suchparticipation has been narrowed; and in particular, (c) the proportion of
the 60s age group who participates in sports and physical activities has
increased significantly.
3. Participation in Sports and Physical Actvities by Types of Sports
Table 2-4 shows the trends in the participation rate for various
types of sports (performed at least once in the previous year). “Strolling”,“walking”, “calisthenics and light exercises” and “bowling” have ranked in
the top four in the surveys conducted since 2002. Following these, “weighttraining”, “golf (on a course or on a driving range)” and “fishing” ranked in
the top ten. Overall, physical activities designed for health improvement andsports that can be done individually tended to rank high.
Looking at the changes in the types of sports particiapted over the years,
it was found that “swimming” and “sea bathing” no longer ranked within the top
ten. Instead, the ranking of “jogging/running” was higher both in 2010 (8.5%)
and in 2012 (9.7%), reflecting the impact of running boom in recent years.
4. Participation in Sports and Physical Activities by People with
Disabilities
According to the “Comprehensive Survey on Measures for People
with Disabilities” conducted by the Cabinet Office (2008), 40.5% of
people with disabilities participate in some form of sports or art activities.
In terms of the type of disability, over 60% of the people surveyed had
visual impairments while the remaining 30 to 40% were people with otherdisabilities (Figure 2-2). People aged 65 or over accounted for more than
50% of those who were surveyed, while those aged under 65 accounted forapproximately 40%. The participation in sports activities included “table
tennis” with 12.6%, “swimming” at 12.4% and “track and field” at 8.6%.
When differences were looked at by age, 33.3% of those aged under 18
participated in swimming, showing a marked participation preference forswimming in the younger generation.
When asked about the future intention of those respondents whocurrently did not participate in any sports or art activities, 41.3% answeredthat they “would like to participate”. Most of those answered “would
like to participate” had developmental disorders (around 70%) or visual
impairments (around 60%). Sports that they would like to participate inwere “swimming” at 22.5%, “table tennis” at 12.5% and “track and field” at
9.1%.

Bowling

Swimming

Fishing

Golf on a course

Weight training

Sea bathing

Golf on a driving range 8.0 Golf on a driving range 8.1 Fishing
Playing catch

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Swimming

Sea bathing

Performed
at least
once
in the previous
year.
Performed
at least
once inthe previous
year.

8.3 Golf on a course

8.5

8.6 Weight training

9.2 Fishing
Golf on a course

Weight training

7.5 Sea bathing

8.1 Swimming

8.4 Weight training

14.8 Bowling

Calisthenics and16.1
light exercises

19.7 Walking

29.2 Strolling

2008

9.2 Sea bathing
6.8 Cycling

6.9 Playing catch

9.3 Golf on a driving range 7.2 Golf on a course

9.5 Swimming

9.6

16.4 Bowling

Calisthenics and18.6
light exercises

Calisthenics and16.2
light exercises

Calisthenics andlight exercises

14.7 Bowling21.6 Walking

16.7 Walking

Walking34.0 Strolling

2006

2

31.1 Strolling

2004

Strolling

2002

1

Year
Rank

8.5

8.1 Fishing

7.5

SSF NationalSports-Life
Survey(2002-2012)
SSF NationalSports-Life
Survey (2002-2012)

7.9 Playing catch

8.3

9.7

12.2

13.0

20.5

25.0

34.9

(%)

Golf on a driving range 8.0

Golf on a course

9.0 Jogging/Running

11.5 Weight training

13.3 Bowling

Calisthenics and18.5
light exercises

24.5 Walking

34.8 Strolling

2012

8.0 Golf on a driving range 8.2 Playing catch

8.7 Jogging/Running

8.9 Fishing

9.0 Golf on a course

11.1 Weight training

15.1 Bowling

Calisthenics and17.5
light exercises

22.4 Walking

30.8 Strolling

2010

Table 2-4 Rates of Participation in Sports and Physical Activities over the years (By Types of Sports)

Sports Participation 21

22 Sports Participation
(%)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Visual impairment

63.4

Hearing impairment

42.6

Language disorder

33.3

Deaf-blindness

33.3

Physical handicap

43.1

By type of disability

Internal disorder

38.0Intellectual disorder
Mental illness
Developmental disorder
Incurable disease
Higher brain dysfunction
Other

42.9
32.7
27.3
29.7
33.3
28.6

Multiple disabilities

42.0

Unknown/no-response

36.4

Under 1837.5

18 to 2938.1

By age30 to 4936.4

50 to 64

41.5

65 or overUnknown/no-response

70

50.6
30.8

“Comprehensive Survey on Measures for People with Disabilities”
conducted by the Cabinet Office (2008).

Figure 2-2 Rates of Participation in Sports or Art Activities (ByType of Disability and By Age)

Sports Participation 23
When asked the reasons why respondents did not or could notparticipate in sports or art activities even though they wanted to, the mostprevalent reason was that “there are no sports or art activities offered in thecommunity that I would like to participate in” at 28.3%, followed by “I amunable to participate because having have no time” at 27.4% and “having
have received no information about available sports or art activities” at
23.3%. By age, “there are not enough instructors” was particularly high(35.3%) among those aged under 18 (accounting for 15.3% of the total).
5. Number of Registered Players by Types of Sports
In order to participate in competitions hosted by National Governing
Bodies (NGB) of sports or their affiliated organizations, participants
are required to pay an annual registration fee. These participants are
acknowledged as registered players.
The number of registered players and teams for sports which had thehighest number of participants (performed by the participants at least once ayear) according to the results obtained from “The 2012 SSF National SportsLife Survey” and “The 2013 SSF National Sports-Life Survey of Young
People”, were described based on the data released by NGBs (Table 2-5).
When the number of individual players was examined, the sports that
had the largest number of registered players was “football” with 927,671
people, followed by “basketball” (615,458 people), “soft tennis” (450,899
people), “volleyball” (375,253 people) and “track and field” (319,354
people). By gender, the number of men registered was higher than that ofwomen in many sports, with the exception of “aerobics” and “volleyball”
that had a higher number of women.
Population of Registered Players and Actual Sports Participants
Dividing the population of registered players by the estimatedpopulation of participants allows the population ratio of the registeredplayers to be obtained. The sports that had the highest ratio of the registeredplayers were “rugby” at 24.42%, followed by “judo”(24.33%), “gateball”(20.80%), “soft tennis” (20.5%), “track and field” (18.35%) and “icehockey” (17.64%). The sports that had a high ratio of registered players
tended to have a relatively high participation rate in young people, aged 1019 years. On the contrary, the ratio of registered players tended to be low inindividual-oriented sports such as “mountaineering” (0.01%), “golf” (0.05%)
and “aerobics” (0.09%).

24 Sports Participation
In order to understand the participation in sports or physicalactivities by children after school and during the holidays, and their sports
environments, SSF has been conducting the “National Sports-Life Survey ofYoung People” since 2001, addressing sports participation of young people
aged 10 to 19 years. Through these surveys, SSF has found a bipolarizationin the participation rate of young people (from those who were very
involved in sports, to those who were entirely inactive). In 2009, SSF began
to conduct its “National Sports-Life Survey of Children”, which targetedchildren from preschool to third and fourth grades, with the presupposition
that the bipolarization would also be present in sports participation ofchildren under 9 years of age. Conducting these two surveys during theTable 2-5 N umber of Registered Players and EstimatedParticipantsSportsBowling
Swimming
Football
Golf
Badminton
Table tennis
BaseballVolleyball
Mountaineering
Basketball
SoftballFutsalGround golf
Soft volleyball
Aerobics
Ice skating
Tug of war
Soft tennis
Track and fieldDiscusGateballKarate
Judo
Canoe
Rugby
Curling
Ice hockey
SquashNumber of registered teams
Total
25,000118,714927,671
4,775
245,612304,620[65,803]375,253645
615,458[10,679]
124,436
190,434
18,314
2,420
9,360
1,933
450,899
319,354
3,193
162,238
80,652
146,001
5,071
109,887
2,541
19,401
2,084

Men
20,000888,783
3,483
189,223
120,217383
338,628[6,040]112,469
115,303
383
1,496
227,568
212,672
2,134
116,776
3,311
104,235
1,891
17,835
-

Women
5,000
38,888
1,292
115,397
255,036262
276,830[4,639]
11,96775,131
2,037
437
223,331
106,682
1,059
29,225
1,760
5,652
650
1,566
-

Participationrate(%)
Teenager
16.5
25.3
31.1
2.4
22.3
18.5
18.7
16.5
5.1
25.9
7.3
6.7
0.0
4.2
0.6
4.8
3.7
9.7
11.1
4.7
0.4
3.2
2.4
1.3
1.2
0.0
0.1
0.1

Adult
13.0
7.1
5.6
8.3
5.0
4.7
4.6
4.0
4.7
2.0
3.6
2.9
3.5
2.5
2.4
1.6
1.7
1.0
0.4
0.5
0.7
0.3
0.3
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.1

Percentage of
Estimated
the population
numberof participants (registeredplayers)(in 10,000s)
0.16
1,549
1.14
1,040
9.73
953
0.05
892
3.12
786
4.29
710
701
6.12
613
0.01
550
11.90
517
461
3.26
382
5.23
364
0.59
310
0.09
257
0.42
223
0.09
221
20.50
220
18.35
174
0.30
108
20.80
78
11.69
69
24.33
60
0.89
57
24.42
45
1.21
21
17.64
11
1.89
11

Note1 : :The
estimated
numbernumberof participants
is displayed in aisdescendingorder
are aged
10 or over,and participate
in thesportsleast
once ayear).
Note1
The
estimatedof participants
displayedin(participantsa descendingorder(participants
areaged
10at orover,andparticipate in the
Note2 : The
estimated
population
sportsat least
onceofaparticipantsyear). is the total number of 1 and 2 below. 1 The number of participants is calculated by multiplying the participation rate suggested in the2012 survey by the adult population (of 103,973,831 people based on the Basic Resident Register on March 31, 2011). However, for the 22 municipalities that were not able toNote2 :provide
The estimatedpopulationofparticipants
is
the
total
numberof1
and2
below.
1
The
numberofparticipantsiscalculated
multiplying
their population status due to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the number of people registered in the Basic Resident Register on March 31, 2010by
wasused. 2
thenumberparticipationratesuggestedin the 2012
survey rateby suggested
the adultin population
103,973,831
peoplebased onthebased
Basic
ResidentTheof participantsis calculated
by multiplying
the participation
the 2013 survey(ofby theteenage population(of 11,920,393
peopleon theBasic
Resident
Register
on
March
31,
2012).
Register on March 31, 2011). However, for the 22 municipalities that were not able to provide their population status due to the 2011
Note3 : Soft volleyball is not included in the volleyball.
Great
East
Japan
Earthquake,thenumberofpeopleregistered
in
the
Basic
Resident
Register
on
March
31,
2010
was
used.
2 The
Note4 : Futsal is not included in the football.
by theteenagepopulation (ofnumber of participantsis calculated by multiplying
the SSF
participation
rate suggested
in the 2013
SSF「中央競技団体現況調査」(2013), The 2013
National Sports-Life
Survey of Children(2013),survey
SSF NationalSports-Life
Survey(2002-2012)
11,920,393 people based on the Basic Resident Register on March 31, 2012).
Note3 : Soft volleyball is not included in the volleyball.
Note4 : Futsal is not included in the football.
SSF Census of the National Governing Bodies of Sports (2013),
SSF National Sports-Life Survey of Children (2013),
SSF National Sports-Life Survey (2002-2012)

Sports Participation 25
same time period allowed SSF to capture a more comprehensive picture ofchildren’s participation in sports and physical activities. Both surveys havebeen performed every two years. The fifth edition of the “National SportsLife Survey of Young People” and the third edition of the “National SportsLife Survey of Children” were both conducted in 2013.
6. Participation in Sports and Physical Activities by Children
Aged 4-9 Years
The levels of frequency of children’s participation in sports andphysical activities were divided into 4 groups (Table 2-6). Those who had
not participated in any sports or physical activities within the previous year
were categorized into the “non-participation group”; those who participatedat least once a year but less than three times a week (between 1-155 times
per year) were categorized into the “low frequency group”; those who
participated at least three times a week but less than seven times a week
(between 156-363 times per year) were categorized into the “moderatefrequency group”; and those who participated at least seven times a week
(364 or more times per year) were categorized into the “high frequency
group”. Participation in sports activities during classes or events at school,kindergarten, or nursery school were excluded from this survey.
Concerning the frequency of participation in sports and physicalactivities, children who never participated in any sports or physical activities(non-participation group) was 1.8%; those who participated at least threetimes a week (moderate and high frequency groups) was about 80%, andthose who participated in sports and physical activities at least seven times aweek (high frequency group) was about 50% (Figure 2-3).
In Figure 2-4, the frequency levels of children’s participation in sports
are displayed by gender and by school year. In the high frequency group,
the girls led the boys by 5 percentage points. However, in the moderate
Table 2-6 C ategories of Participation in Sports and Physical
Activities for Children Aged 4-9 years
Participation Group

Criteria

Non-participation group

Non-participation (0 time/year)

Low frequency group

At least once a year but less than 3 times a week
(between 1-155 times/year)

Moderate frequency group
High frequency group

At least 3 times a week but less than 7 times a week
(between 156-363 times/year)"At least 7 times a week (364 or more times/year)
National
Sports-Life
SurveyofofChildrenChildren(2013)(2013)SSFSSF
National
Sports-Life
Survey26 Sports Participation
frequency group, the boys were slightly ahead of the girls. When these twogroups were combined, the total percentage was 83.3% for boys and 84.2%
for girls, suggesting that there was no significant gender difference in thefrequency of sports particiaption.
In terms of the frequency levels of children’s participation in sports
by school year, the number of children in the low frequency group decreased

Non-participation group
1.8%
Low
frequency
group
14.5%

High
frequency
group
52.7%

Moderatefrequency
group
31.0%

SSF National Sports-Life Survey of Children (2013)

Figure 2-3 Rates of Sports Participation for Children Aged 4-9
years

Non-participation group

Moderate frequency group

Low frequency group

High frequency group

14.6

Boys

33.4

49.9

2.1
14.3

Girls

28.6

55.6

1.5

Preschool
children

18.3

27.8

52.0

13.8

31.9

51.8

1.8

First and second
grades
2.5

Third and fourth
grades

12.3

32.8

54.1

0.8

0

20

40

60

80

100
(%)

SSF National Sports-Life Survey of Children (2013)

Figure 2-4 Frequency Levels of Participation for Children Aged
4-9 years (By Gender and By School Year)

Sports Participation 27
as the school years advanced, with 18.3% for preschool children, 13.8% forfirst and second grades, and 12.3% for third and fourth grades. An increasing
pattern was found for children who participated in sports and physicalactivities at least three times a week (moderate and high frequency groups)
as their school years advanced, with 79.8% for preschool children, 83.7%
for first and second grades, and 86.9% for third and fourth grades.
7. Participation in Sports and Physical Activities by Children
Aged 4-9 Years by Types of Sports
Table 2-7 shows the ranking of participation in sports and physicalactivities by children aged 4-9 years (top ten sports and physical activities
particiapted at least once in the previous year). The sports that had thehighest participation rate in 2013 was “playing tag”, followed by “riding
bicycle”, “swinging”, “swimming” and “hide-and-seek”.
Table 2-8 shows the raking of participation in sports and physicalactivities that were “often participated in” by children aged 4-9 years. This
excludes sports and physical activities that were performed irregularly,
allowing for a more accurate and clear understanding of the types of sports
and physical activities that are participated on a daily basis. Overall, “playingtag” had the highest participation rate, followed by “swimming”, “riding
bicycle”, “swinging” and “football”.
Table 2-7 Ranking of Participation in Sports and Physical Activities byChildren Aged 4-9 years (At Least Once a Year)
Rank

Sports%1

Playing tag

67.8

2

Riding bicycle

55.0

3

Swinging

54.7

4

Swimming

51.0

5

Hide-and-seek

49.9

6

Skipping rope (including long rope)

48.5

7

Horizontal bar

46.6

8

Running

41.4

9Dodgeball

39.7

10

Football

38.1
SSF NationalSports-Life
Surveyof Children (2013)
SSF National Sports-Life
Surveyof Children(2013)

26.7

26.1

Riding bicycle

Swinging

Football

Dodgeball

Skipping rope(including long rope)

Horizontal bar

Hide-and-seek

Runnnig

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Rank

13.6

16.4

Horizontal bar

16.9

Skipping rope(including long rope)

18.7

23.4

31.6

33.9

41.0

48.4

48.5

%

Hide-and-seek

Runnnig

Swinging

Dodgeball

Riding bicycle

Swimming

Playing tag

FootballSports

Boys

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Rank

Note : The "often participated in" indicates sports and physical activities that were participated in more frequently than the "at least once a year".

GirlsSports

18.1

18.8

21.4

25.6

30.2

SSF National Sports-Life Survey of Children (2013)

SSF National Sports-Life Survey of Children (2013)

Riding unicycle

Runnnig

DodgeballHide-and-seek

Horizontal bar

34.2

36.3

Swimming

36.4

Skipping rope(including long rope)

37.3

51.5

%

Swinging

Riding bicycle

Playing tag

Note : The "often participated in" indicates sports and physical activities that were participated in more frequently than the "at least once a year".

18.8

21.1

21.7

28.8

29.8

35.6

37.7

Swimming

2

49.9

%

Playing tag

Sports1

Rank

Overall

Table 2-8 Ranking of Participation in Sports and Physical Activities by Children Aged 4-9 years (Those Who"Often Participated in" By Gender)

28 Sports Participation

Sports Participation 29
By gender, the most popular sports for boys were “football”, “playingtag”, “swimming”, “riding bicycle” and “dodgeball”, and those for girls
were “playing tag”, “riding bicycle”, “swinging”, “skipping rope (including
long rope)” and “swimming.” This suggests that boys at the ages of around4-9 years are already participating in sports that continue to be popular injunior high and high school years, while girls were mainly participating inplay based activities.”
8. Participation in Sports and Physical Activities by Young
People Aged 10-19 Years
The participation rates of young people aged 10 to 19 years in sports
and physical activities are analyzed in terms of frequency, duration andintensity (Table 2-9).
Those youths who did not participate in any sports or physicalactivities at all in the previous year were categorized as “Level 0”; those
who participated sports and physical activities at least once a year but lessthan once a week (1 to 51 times/year) as “Level 1”; those who participatedat least once a week but less than five times a week (52 to 259 times/
year) as “Level 2”; those who participated at least five times a week (260or more times/year) as “Level 3”; and those who participated at least fivetimes a week, with a duration of 120 minutes, and with more than moderateintensity as “Level 4.” Participation in sports activities during classes or
events at schools were excluded from this survey.
From the survey conducted in 2013, the percentage of young people
who did not participate in any sports or physical activities in the previous
year (Level 0) was 13.0%, representing one in every eight young people(Figure 2-5). Those who participated at least five times a week, with a
Table 2-9 L evels of Par ticipation in Spor ts and Physical
Activities by Young People Aged 10-19 years
Criteria

Level
Level 0Non-participation (0 time/year)

Level 1

At least once during the year but less than once a week (1-51 times/year)

Level 2At least once a week but less than 5 times a week (52-259 times/year)

Level 3At least 5 times a week (260 times or more/year)

Level 4At least 5 times a week (260 times or more/year)with a duration of 120 minutes, and with more than moderate intensity
SSF National Sports-Life Survey of Young People (2013)

30 Sports Participation
duration of 120 minutes, and with more than moderate intensity (Level 4)
constituted 26.2% of the young people.
By gender, it was found that the proportion of boys at Level 1 was
8.3% while that of girls was 18.1%. Meanwhile, the proportion of boys at
Level 4 was 31.1%, and that of girls was 20.9%. Both of these results showthat the frequency of participation in sports and physical activities is higher
for boys than girls (Figure 2-6). It was also found that one in every fivegirls did not participate in any sports or physical activities at all during theprevious year.
By school year, the proportion of young people at Level 0 was 1.5%
in elementary school years, 7.8% in junior high school years, 17.6% inhigh school years and 27.1% in college years, indicating a general tendency
to increase as school years advanced. Moreover, the proportion of youths
at Level 4 was high both in junior high and high school years (at 43.2%
and 35.7%, respectively), which may have been due to school sports clubsthat provide opportunities for students to participate in physical activities.
Among young workers (aged 15-19 years), the proportion of individuals at
Level 0 was extremely high at 35.6%, and those at Level 4 were only 3.4%.
Those who participated in physical activities once a week or less (i.e. Level
1 or below) accounted for almost 60% (59.7%) of young workers. Such alow participation rate compared to other youths is an issue that needs to beaddressed appropriately.

Level 426.2%

Level 3
29.5%

Level 0
13.0%
Level 1
10.3%

Level 221.0%

SSF Sports-Life
National Sports-Life
Surveyof Children(2013)(2013)
SSF National
Surveyof Children

Figure 2-5 R ates of Sports Participation for Young People Aged 1019 years

0

17.6

5.8

18.1

27.1

7.5

Level 1

20

35.6

11.6

16.7

27.9

13.4

18.9

Level 2

40

22.1

15.2

Level 3

26.5

23.2

24.1

Level 4

19.9

34.3

60

24.1

80

43.2
35.7

12.6

13.1

20.9

100

3.4

6.0

4.4

(%)
The 2013 SSF NationalSports-Life Survey of Children (2013)
SSF National Sports-Life Survey of Children (2013)

31.7

61.5

24.4

31.1

Figure 2-6 Rates of Sports Participation for Young People Aged 10-19 years (By Gender and By School Year)

Working

College

26.7

7.8

Junior high

High

4.6

1.5

8.3

Elementary

Girls

Boys

Level 0Sports Participation 31

32 Sports Participation
9. Ranking of Participation in Sports and Physical Activities by
Young People Aged 10-19 by Types of Sports
Table 2-10 shows the ranking of participation in sports and physicalactivities by young people aged 10-19 years (top ten sports and physicalactivities participated at least once in the previous year). In 2013, “football”
had the highest participation rate, followed by “playing tag”, “jogging or
running”, “basketball”, and “swimming”.
Table 2-11 shows the ranking of participation in sports and physicalactivities that were “often participated in (high frequency level)” by
young people aged 10-19 years. In 2013, “football” had the highest
participation rate, followed by “basketball”, “playing tag”, “jogging or
running”, “dodgeball” and “swimming”. For the level of “at least oncea year”, “baseball” and “volleyball” ranked fairly low, 12th and 16th
places, respectively. However, these sports ranked in the top ten of sports
and physical activities that were “often participated in” by young people.
Therefore, sports and physical activities that are “often participated in”
by young people can serve as a benchmark to distinguish their regular or
occasional sporting activities.
“Football” and “baseball” had high participation rates among boys,on the other hand “badminton” and “volleyball” had high particiapation
rates for girls, and “basketball” was participated by both boys and girls. This
result suggests that the popular school sports clubs in junior high and highschools reflect the ranking of sports participated by young people.

26.3

23.4

22.8

22.6

22.3

22.3

21.5

21.0

20.5

Basketball

Jogging/running

Badminton

Skipping rope

Baseball

Dodgeball

Playing catch

Swimming

Weight training

2

3

4

5

8

9

10

6

26.4

%

FootballSports

1

Rank

2009

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Rank

Baseball

Dodgeball

17.5

18.8

18.9

19.1

19.2

22.7

22.8

23.5

23.8

26.9

%

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Rank

Swinging

Weight training

Badminton

Skipping rope

Dodgeball

Swimming

Basketball

Jogging/running

Playing tag

FootballSports

2013

20.2

20.7

22.3

23.1

24.0

25.3

25.9

26.4

30.0

31.1

%

Prepared based on “The SSF National Sports-Lifeon Survey
YoungofPeople”(2010,
2012,
2013)
SSF NationalSurvey
Sports-Life
Young People(2010,
2012,
2013)

Weight training

Skipping rope

Badminton

Swimming

Playing tag

Jogging/running

Basketball

FootballSports

2011

Table 2-10 Ranking of Participation in Sports and Physical Activities by Young People Aged 10-19 years (AtLeast Once a Year)Sports Participation 33

22.5

21.1

18.4

16.7

15.6

15.1

15.0

14.7

13.6

Basketball

Baseball

Badminton

Jogging/running

Weight training

DodgeballVolleyballSwimming

Playing catch

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Rank

DodgeballVolleyball

Playing tag

Weight training

Badminton

BaseballSwimming

Jogging/running

Basketball

FootballSports

2011

10.4

11.2

13.2

13.4

13.7

15.3

16.1

17.0

21.2

23.7

%

Volleyball

BaseballWeight training

Badminton

Swimming

Dodgeball

Jogging/running

Playing tag

Basketball

FootballSports

12.4

15.0

15.1

16.7

17.1

17.1

19.3

21.3

21.5

28.2

%

SSF National Sports-Life Survey of Young People (2010, 2012, 2013)

10

9

8

7

5

4

3

2

1

Rank

2013

SSF National Sports-Life Survey on Young People (2010, 2012, 2013)

Note:
Theoften“oftenparticipatedin” indicatessportsandactivities
physicalthat
activities
that wereinparticipated
most
Note:
The
participatedin indicatessports andphysicalwere participatedthe most over inthethepast
year.over the past year.

24.4

%

FootballSports

1

Rank

2009

Table 2-11 Ranking of Participation in Sports and Physical Activities by Young People Aged 10-19 years (Often
Participated in)

34 Sports Participation

Sports Participation 35

II. Sports Spectators
1. Sports Spectating at Live Sports Events
According to “The 2012 SSF National Sports-Life Survey”, 31.7% of
adults had attended a sporting event at gymnasiums/arenas or stadium as aspectator in the previous year (Figure 2-7). When compared with previous
surveys, the rate of sports spectating has stayed within the range of 30 to 40
percent in the last 10 years.
By gender, the spectating rate for men (36.9%) was 10.3 percentage
points higher than the rate for women (26.6%) (Figure 2-8). By age, thehighest spectating rate was found in the 40s age group (43.2%), followed by
the 30s and 20s age groups. Since the 2000 survey, the spectating rate has
consistently been found to be the highest in the 40s age group.
When looking at the results by sports, “professional baseball (NPB)”
had the highest spectating rate at 15.8%, followed by “high-school baseball”
at 6.4%, “J. League football (J1 and J2) - professional football league” at
5.2% and “marathon and Ekiden - marathon relays” at 4.7% (Table 2-12).
2. Sports Viewing on TV
In Table 2-13 and 2-14, the rates of sports viewing on TV, sports
spectating, and sports participation in adults and youths are shown. The rateof viewing sports on TV among adults was estimated to be 93.5% (about
97.22 million people) and 87.9% among adolescents (about 10.48 million
people). Regardless of gender and age, this rate was very high in bothgroups, but slightly higher among adults. In terms of other sports spectating
and sports participation, both rates were higher among youths.
（Year）

27.8

2002

37.1

2004
29.9

2006
2008

34.2

2010

33.5
31.7

2012
0

10

20

30

40 (%)The survey conducted in 2002 did not include “public gambling”
SSF National Sports-Life Survey (2012)

Figure 2-7 Rates of Adults Spectating Live Sports Events

36 Sports Participation

31.7

Total

36.9

Men
26.6

Women
In the 20s

32.2

In the 30s

33.2
43.2

In the 40s
In the 50s

28.4

In the 60s

28.3
22.9

70 and over
0

10

20

30

40

50 (%)The 2012 SSF National Sports-Life Survey (2012)
SSF National Sports-Life Survey (2012)

Figure 2-8 Rates of Adults Spectating Live Sports Events (By
Gender and By Age)

Table 2-12 Popular Spectator Sports (Multiple Answers)
2012
Rank

SportsAttendancerate(%)

Estimated
spectators(in 10,000s)

1Professional baseball (NPB)

15.8

1,643

2

High-school baseball

6.4

665

3

J League football (J1,J2)

5.2

541

4

Marathon and Ekiden

4.7

489

5

Amateur baseball(University, company teams, etc.)

2.5

260

2.4

250

2.1

218

1.4

146

6
7
8

Football(High school, University, JFL, etc.)
Professional golf
Men’s national football teams(including the Olympics)

9

Rugby

1.3

135

10

Basketball(High school, University, JBL, etc.)
Volleyball(High school, University, V League, etc.)

1.2

125

SSF National Sports-Life Survey (2012)
SSF National Sports-Life Survey (2012)

94.7
36.9
77.2

93.5

31.7

74.4

Rate of sports viewing on TV

Rate of sports spectating

Rate of sports participation

In the 20s
93.4
32.2
77.3

Women
92.2
26.6
71.7

76.3

33.2

94.1

In the 30s

77.8

43.2

93.8

In the 40s

71.9

28.4

94.3

76.6

28.3

92.9

In the 60s

89.3
41.2
91.7

87.9

36.9

87.0

Rate of sports viewing on TV

Rate of sports spectating

Rate of sports participation

82.4

40.8

86.2

High

(%)

72.9

33.7

87.9

College

SSF National Sports-Life Survey of Young People (2013)

92.2

98.5

81.9

36.7

38.4

32.1

88.9

90.2

Elementary Junior high

86.3

Girls

Note
: The
proportion
those
who
watch orinparticipate
sportsat least once a year
Note
: The
proportionof thoseofwho
watch
or participate
sports at leastinonce
a year
SSF National Sports-Life Survey of Young People” (2013)

Boys

Overall

64.2

22.9

91.9

70 and over(%)

SSF National Sports-Life Survey (2012)

In the 50s

Table 2-14 Rates of Sports Viewing and Sports Participation in Young People Aged 10-19 years (2013)

Note : The proportion of those who watch or participate in sports at least once a year

Note : The proportion of those who watch or participate in sports at least once a year
Prepared based on “The 2012 SSF National Sports-Life Survey” (2012)

Men

Overall

Table 2-13 Rates of Sports Viewing and Sports Participation in Adults (2012)Sports Participation 37

38 Sports Participation
When looking at the types of sports viewing on TV by adults (Table
2-15), the most viewed sports were “professional baseball (NPB)” at 61.5%,
followed by “men’s national football teams (including the Olympics)”,“national volleyball teams”, “figure skating” and “women’s national footballteams”. By gender, TV sports were viewed more by men than by womenin most of the sports, except for “figure skating” and “national volleyballteams”, which showed higher rates of viewing among women.
Among young people, “men’s national football teams (including
the Olympics)” was the most watched sports events at 60.6%, followed by“professional baseball (NPB)”, “women’s national football teams”, “figureskating” and “high school baseball” (Table 2-16). By gender, “men’s national
football teams (including the Olympics)” topped the list for both men andwomen, but many of the sports viewed by people differed by gender. For
example, the highly ranked sports for men were “professional baseball (NPB)”and “high school baseball”, while highly ranked by women were “figureskating” and “national volleyball teams ”.

61.5

56.7

52.1

50.8

49.5

49.1

47.9

38.3

31.2

30.5

6.6

Professional baseball (NPB)

Men's national football teams(including the Olympics)

National volleyball teams

Figure skating

Women's national
football teams

High school baseballMarathon and Ekiden

Sumo wrestling

Professional golf

Major league baseballNone watched on TV

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

%

SportsRank

Overall

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Rank

44.0
40.1
37.9

Sumo wrestling
Major league baseball
Martial arts (boxing,
mixed martial arts, etc.)

None watched on TV

5.3

37.4

48.1

National volleyball teams

J League football (J1,J2)

48.3

49.7

Marathon and Ekiden

53.4

Women's national
football teams

59.7

73.3

%

High school baseball

Men's national football teams(including the Olympics)

Professional baseball (NPB)SportsMen

Table 2-15 Popular Sports Viewing on TV for Adults (2012)

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Rank

7.8

22.8

25.3

32.7

44.8

47.5

49.3

SSF NationalSports-Life
Survey(2012)
SSF NationalSports-Life
Survey(2012)

None watched on TV

J League football (J1,J2)

Professional golf

Sumo wrestlingHigh school baseballMarathon and Ekiden

Women's national
football teams

49.8

53.8

Professional baseball (NPB)

55.9

Men's national football teams(including the Olympics)

64.8

%

National volleyball teams

Figure skatingSports

Women

Sports Participation 39

%

60.6

53.0

38.5

37.9

37.0

29.6

24.5

21.9

16.8

16.1

12.1

Sports

Men's national football teams(including the Olympics)

Professional baseball (NPB)

Women's national
football teams

Figure skatingHigh school baseballMarathon and Ekiden

National volleyball teams

J League football (J1,J2)

Professional football(Europe, South america, etc.)

Professional tennis

None watched on TV

Rank

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Overall

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Rank

23.2
18.7
10.7

National volleyball teams
None watched on TV

25.4

Professional football(Europe, South america, etc.)
Major league baseball

25.9

30.4

Figure skating

Marathon and Ekiden

31.6

40.7

Women's national
football teams
J League football (J1,J2)

45.4

63.1

67.7

%

High school baseballProfessional baseball (NPB)

Men's national football teams(including the Olympics)

Sports

Boys

13.8

7.4
None watched on TV

11.1
Professional football(Europe, South america, etc.)

13.3

27.8

28.8

J League football (J1,J2)

Professional tennis

High school baseballMarathon and Ekiden

30.9

36.1

Women's national
football teams
National volleyball teams

42.0

51.0

52.7

%

Professional baseball (NPB)

Figure skating

Men's national football teams(including the Olympics)

SportsGirls

SSF National Sports-Life Survey of Young People (2013)

SSF National Sports-Life Survey of Young People (2013)

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Rank

Table 2-16 Popular Sports Viewing on TV for Young People Aged 10-19 years (2013)40 Sports Participation

Sports Participation 41

III. Volunteering in Sports
1. Rates and Types of Volunteering in Sports among Adults
According to the “SSF National Sports-Life Survey”, the rate ofvolunteering in sports among adults in Japan hovered at around 7-8% for thetwelve years from 2000 to 2012, which represents less than 10% of the total
adult population (Figure 2-9). Based on the rate of 7.7% recorded in 2012,
the total number of sports volunteers can be estimated at about 8 million
people.
When the results were looked at by gender, the rate of volunteeringin sports for men was twice as high as that of women in most of the surveys,
indicating that the majority of volunteering is done by men. By age, the 40s
age group had the highest rate (Figure 2-10).
The results of the 2012 survey can also be looked at concerning thetypes of volunteer in sports. “Running or helping sports events” at “local
sports events” was the highest ranked activity at 46.1%, followed by“coaching” in “day-to-day activities” at 41.6%, “running or helping sports
clubs” at 39.6%, and “refereeing” at 29.9% (Table 2-17). In terms of theamount of times dedicated to the volunteer work per year, “coaching” in“day-to-day activities” was the activity with the highest frequency rate
(40.3 times), followed by “running or helping sports clubs” (23.2 times) and“refereeing” (13.2 times).
14
12

(%)
Men
11.6

11.4

10.3

9.9

8.3

8

8.4

7.9
7.3

7.0

7.7

7.5
6.7
5.8

5.1
4.1

4

Overall

11.0

10.1

10

6

Women

4.5

5.9
5.1

5.0

2
0

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012 (Year)

SSF National Sports-Life Survey (2000-2012)

Figure 2-9 Rates of Volunteering in Sports among Adults (By
Gender)

(%)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

4.9

9.4

2000

7.6

13.6

6.8

5.5

2002

6.8 6.8

4.8

5.7

7.2

2004

9.3

5.2
4.5

5.2

10.2

2006

5.5

6.2

2.2

4.2

6.6

2008

5.3

12.7

6.6

4.0

2010

7.2
6.6
5.2

6.4

2012

6.9

11.9

6.6

(Year)

8.4

70 and overIn the 40s

SSF NationalSports-Life
Survey(2000-2012)
SSF NationalSports-Life
Survey(2000-2012)

5.8

10.1

7.9

In the 60s

In the 50s

12.0

In the 30s

In the 20s

Figure 2-10 Rates of Volunteering in Sports among Adults (By Age Group)

6.8 6.9

9.6

14.6

15.4

42 Sports Participation

46.1

Running or helping sports events

National and international
events
9.7

21.4

Refereeing

Local sports events

Running or helping sports events

12.3

Helping to manage sports facilities

3.9

39.6

Running or helping sports clubs

Refereeing

29.9

Refereeing

SSF National Sports-Life Survey (2012)

SSF National Sports-Life Survey (2012)

1.9

3.2

2.9

6.8

11.4

23.2

13.2

40.3

41.6

Coaching

Day-to-day activities

Frequency (times per year)

Participation rate (%)

Types of spors volunteer

Table 2-17 Types of Volunteering in Sports (Multiple Answers)

Sports Participation 43

44 Sports Participation
2. Rates and Types of Volunteering in Sports among Young
People Aged 10-19 Years
The rates of volunteering in sports among young people aged 10-19
years can be assessed based on “The 2013 SSF National Sports-Life Surveyof Young People”. As shown in Figure 2-11, the rate of young people who
responded that they had done any kind of volunteer work in sports within theprevious year hovered consistently at around 13% for eight years from 2005
to 2013, which is 7-8 percentage points higher than that of adults.
By gender, the rate of volunteering in boys (13.5%) was 1.4
percentage points higher than that of girls (12.1%), which suggests a similar
trend to that observed in adults. However, differences in gender were
found to be the smallest in the most recent survey in 2013. By school year,
volunteering in sports was done the most during high school years (17.4%),
followed by junior high school (13.3%) and college (10.6%).
Looking at the types of volunteer work, “judging or helping judges”
was ranked the highest at 43.9%, followed by “helping out at sports events”
at 42.2%, and “coaching or helping coaches” at 27.0% (Table 2-18). By
gender, while “judging or helping judges” was the highest for boys (48.5%),“helping out at sports events” was the highest for girls (46.7%). In termsof school years, the proportion of “coaching or helping coaches” tended toincrease as the school years advanced. The proportion of “judging or helping
judges” was the highest during junior high school years, and that of “helping
out at sports events” was the highest during elementary school years.
(%)

20

Boys

18.3

18

Girls

Overall

17.6

16
14

13.3

12

14.1

13.9
12.7

13.5

12.8

11.3

12.1
10.2

10

8.5

8
6
4
2
0

2005

2009

2011

2013

(Year)

Prepared based on “ SSFSSF
National
Sports-Life
Surveyof ofChildren”
National
Sports-Life
SurveyChildren(2006-2013)(2006-2013)

Figure 2-11 Rates of Volunteering in Sports among Young People
Aged 10-19 years (By Gender)

Boys
30.0
48.5
38.5

Overall
27.0
43.9
42.2

Coaching or helping coaches

Judging or helping judges

Helping out at sports events

Types of spors voluneer

64.3

21.4

17.9

Elementary

34.6

59.0

25.6

Junior high

39.2

43.3

27.8

High

42.9

38.1

38.1

College(%)

Prepared based on “The 2013 SSF NationalSports-Life Survey of Young People” (2013)
SSF National Sports-Life Survey of Young People (2013)

46.7

38.3

23.4

Girls

Table 2-18 Types of Volunteering in Sports by Young People Aged 10-19 years (Multiple Answers)

Sports Participation 45

46 Financial Resources for Sports

Chapter 3
Financial Resources for Sports
I. National and Local Government Budget forSports
1. The Physical Fitness Budget
The national financial resources for sports promotion are stated in the
Physical Fitness Budget. The Physical Fitness Budget is a data sheet which
details all budgets related to the development of health, physical fitness andsports across the ministries in Japan. This data is prepared by the National
Conference for Physical Fitness, which has a secretariat established under
the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT),and is released annually as the "Survey on the Physical Fitness Budget."Table 3-1 shows the trends in the Physical Fitness Budget between
2003 and 2013 every five years. The Physical Fitness Budget for FY2013
was 39.6 billion yen, and MEXT had the highest ministerial budget of
31.5 billion yen, accounting for 80% of the total. This was followed by
the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) (6.7 billion yen) andthe Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) (1.4 billionyen). The Physical Fitness Budget for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism (MLIT), which amounted to 140 billion yen in
FY2003 and 89 billion yen in FY2005, was not included in FY2013 owing
to the establishment of MILIT’s general grant for social capital in FY2010,
which allows for individual subsidies for local governments to be provided
as a lump-sum grant. Prior to the establishment of this grant, subsidies for
programs in city parks were included in the Physical Fitness Budget (suchas the maintenance costs for sports parks). However, such subsidies are nolonger included in the Physical Fitness Budget.
2. Sports Budget of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology (MEXT)
The Physical Fitness Budget for FY2013 was 39.6 billion yen in total,
and included the budgets of MHLW and MAFF as well as the budget related
to health promotion within MEXT. Of that amount, the budget of the Sports
and Youth Bureau of MEXT take up 24.3 billion yen (Figure 3-1). In contrast
with the Physical Fitness Budget, the sports budget has shown an increasing

10,123,233
38,448,505
5,108,405
088,958,000
11,444,951
192,465,069

47,853,216
57,529,630
3,736,618
11,588140,573,940
14,346,376
320,478,413

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW)

Social Insurance Agency (SIA)

Total

Ministry of the Environment (MOE)

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT)

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)

39,609,340

9,328

0

0

1,387,083—

6,731,346

31,481,583

FY2013(in thousands of yen)

Survey on the Physical Fitnessoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Budget (National Conference for Physical Fitness, 2003,2008,2013)

38,381,975

56,427,045

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)

FY2008FY2003

Ministry

Table 3-1 Trends in the Physical Fitness Budget

Financial Resources for Sports   47200212,2392003

12,906budget※11 Initial
Initial budget
budget※22 Government's
Government's budget
draftdraft

0

5,000

10,00015,00020,00025,00030,000（in millions of yen）

2004

16,8202006

16,7982007

18,717

2008

19,0002009

2010

22,7402012＊1

23,7932013

24,328（Fiscal Year）

2014

MEXT
(2002
- 2014)
Prepared based on data from MEXT
(2002
- 2014)2011

22,790Figure 3-1 Trends in the Sports Budget of MEXT

2005

16,401

22,529＊2

25,52848   Financial Resources for Sports

Financial Resources for Sports   49trend, reaching a new record high every year since FY2006. Looking at thebudget by policy, it can be seen that the majority of the budget was spent onenhancing high performance sports, with 7.9 billion out of the 24.3 billion
yen was allocated to high performance sports. Additionally, 1.4 billion
yen was allocated to "expenses necessary for achieving a lifelong sportssociety" and 1.4 billion yen to "expenses necessary for improving children’s
physical fitness." Other items included in the budget were 7.9 billion yen in
grants to the Japan Sport Council (JSC) and 4.6 billion yen allocated to themaintenance of school facilities.
3. Sports Budget in Other Countries
In Table 3-2, sports budgets were compared with other countries. The
sports budget of Japan was 24.3 billion yen (FY2013), which was about thesame or smaller than the budgets in other countries.
4. Sports Budget of Local Governments
According to the "Survey on Local Sports Policies" (2013) conductedby MEXT, the total sports budget of 46 prefectures in FY2012 was 79
billion yen (Figure 3-2). On average, each prefecture had a budget of 1.7
billion yen.
By policy, expenses related to high performance sports was thehighest of all and was 23.5 billion yen (29.8%). This was followed by
19.6 billion yen for expenses related to the maintenance of sports facilities(24.9%) and 16.2 billion yen for the operation of sports facilities (20.5%).
Overall, the expenses related to high performance sports and sports facilities
accounted for 75% of the total budget. Meanwhile, the amount of the budget
allocated to expenses related to the promotion of lifelong sports was 2.2
Table 3-2 International Comparison of the Sports Budgets
Country (Budget year)

Sports Budget of Ministry Responsible
for Sports (In original currency)

JAPAN (2013)

JPY 24.33 million

AUSTRALIA (2013)

AUD 337 million

CANADA (2013)

CAD 331.79 million

CHINA (2013)

CNH 3,639.39 million

FRANCE (2013)

EUR 251.7 million

GERMANY (2013)

EUR 250.05 million

ITALY (2011)

EUR 60.1 million

NEW ZEALAND (2013)

NZD 841.94 million

UK (2013)

GBP 179.14 million
Data
fromeacheachcountry
countryData
from50   Financial Resources for Sportsbillion yen, accounting for only 2.9% of the total sports budget.
The sports budget of the municipalities (1,325 municipalities intotal) was 292.1 billion yen (Figure 3-3). By policy, expenses related to theoperation of sports facilities fell into the highest budget category of 112.1

Total Budget 79.094 billion yen
Others5,285(6.7%)
Subsidies for the operation ofsports organizations
1,614(2.0%)

School physical education
3,008(3.8%)Life long sports promotion
2,299(2.9%)

Operatingsports facilities
16,229(20.5%)

High performancesports23,582(29.8%)

Maintenaning
sports facilities
19,666(24.9%)

Maintaining school
gymnasiums
7,392(9.3%)(in millions of yen)

Prepared based on the MEXT "Survey on Local Sports Policies" (2013)

Survey on Local Sports Policies (MEXT, 2013)

Figure 3-2 Sports Budget in Prefectures (2012)

Total Budget 292.172 billion yen
Others
15,224(5.2%)
Subsidies for the operation ofsports organizations
10,230(3.5%)

Operatingsports facilities
112,175(38.4%)

School physical education
6,185(2.1%) Lifelong sports promotion
17,357(5.9%)
High performancesports9,342(3.2%)
Maintaining
schoolgymnasiums
39,533(13.5%)
Maintaining
sports facilities
82,126(28.1%)(in millions of yen)
Prepared based on the MEXT "Survey on Local Sports Policies" (2013)

Survey on Local Sports Policies (MEXT, 2013)

Figure 3-3 Sports Budget in Municipalities (2012)

Financial Resources for Sports 51
billion yen (38.4%), followed by the 82.1 billion yen for expenses related tothe maintenance of sports facilities (28.1%) and 39.5 billion yen for expenses
related to maintenance of school gymnasiums (13.5%). The expenses related
to sports facilities alone accounted for about 80% of the total budget. On theother hand, the budget related to high performance sports only accounted
for 3.2% of the total (9.3 billion yen), which was significantly lower thanthat of the prefectures (where these policies accounted for nearly 30% of
the total budget). This result suggests that prefectures are more focused thanmunicipalities on promoting high performance sports such as the NationalSports Festivals.

52   Financial Resources for Sports

II. Sports Promotion Lottery and Public Gambling
1. Financial Resources from the Sports Promotion Lottery andOther Government Funding
The subsidies provided to sports projects from independentadministrative agencies, which are acting bodies of governmentalorganizations, can be considered as another source of the finance for sports
promotion. There are various subsidy programs available with many ways
to support, including the partial subsidization of relevant expenses at a fixedrate.
Subsidy Programs of the Japan Sport Council (JSC)
Aimed at promoting lifelong sports and improving Japan’sinternational competitiveness, JSC provides subsidies to sports organizations
and local government bodies by administering the profits earned from salesof the Sports Promotion Lottery (known as "toto") and the operation of theSports Promotion Fund.
Sports Promotion Lottery
In 1998, the "Act on Carrying Out, etc. Sports Promotion Lottery"
became enacted for the purpose of securing financial resources for sports
promotion. Following this enactment, nationwide sales of the Sports
Promotion Lottery ("toto") began in 2001, which allowed people to bet on
the results of professional football games. Since 2002, JSC has used someof the profits generated from the sales of "toto" to operate subsidy programsfor sports promotion. Half of the proceeds from lottery sales are paid to thewinners. With regard to the remaining proceeds in which miscelleaneous
expences were deducted, one third is used for payments to the nationaltreasury and the remaining two thirds is distributed to sports organizations
and local governments as fundings to support their sports promotional
activities (Figure 3-4). Subsidies are provided to projects focused on the
promotion of lifelong sports participation, including the operation ofcomprehensive community sports clubs and local sports events, and also
the projects related to the enhancement of high performance sports such as
the identification and development of talented athletes in a more consistentmanner.
Shortly after its launch in 2001, the sales of "toto" dropped by nearly
one-fifth, from 64.3 billion yen in FY2001 to 13.5 billion yen in FY2006.
However, after the release of "BIG" (which allowed predictions to be maderandomly by a computer rather than chosen by lottery buyers) in September

X

T

Instruction, supervision

1/3

1/3

Profitlocal
governments

Sportsorganizations

Local
governments

Payments
to the nationaltreasury

1/3

sportsorganizations

Subsidies fromthe lottery profit

Screening committee ofsports promotion
subsidySports promotions activities

Sales revenue

Expenses

systemthe others

Printing and distribution

Advertising

Payouts

Ordering

Japan Sport Council
(JSC)

E

Sales

M

Figure 3-4 Sports Promotion Lottery System and Allocation of Sales Revenue (2013)

50%

Prize payments

Lottery spendingGame results

Specifying games

Payouts

Forecasting

Sports used forthe lottery(J.League etc.)

Appointment of sports
organization for thelottery

Financial Resources for Sports   5354   Financial Resources for Sports
2006 the sales turned around and reached a record high of 89.7 billion yen in
FY2008. The sales of "BIG" have remained at a level exceeding 80 billion
yen in the last few years (Table 3-3) and the second highest record of 86.1
billion yen was reached in FY2012. Subsidy amounts have also been on therise, from 8.9 billion yen in FY2010 to 12.8 billion yen in FY2011, 14.7
billion yen in FY2012 and 15.1 billion yen in FY2013.
Moreover, prior to the revisions of the "Act on Carrying Out, etc.
Sports Promotion Lottery" made in May 2012, professional football league"J. League" matches were the only subjects of the football lottery, whichmeant that there were no sales of "toto" during the winter season. The
revised Act expanded this system, allowing people to also bet on overseas
matches, and increased the sales volume during the winter. In addition tothis revision, the "Act for a Partial Revision of the Act on Carrying Out,etc. Sports Promotion Lottery and the Act on the National Agency for the
Advancement of Sports and Health" also underwent the revision, whichallowed for up to five percent of the total sales of "toto" to be allocated forthe maintenance of large-scale sports facilities.
Table 3-3 Trends in Sales Proceeds from the Sports Promotion
Lottery and Subsidy Amounts(in millions of yen)

FY

Sales proceeds

Amount of Subsidies<Number of subsidized projects>

2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013

64,26736,05819,877
15,695
14,905
13,471
63,712
89,74178,547
84,812
82,674
86,106——
5,913 <1,644>
2,427 <1,311>
582 <291>
250 <269>
118 <185>
80 <116>858 <348>
5,768 <1,210>
8,926 <1,562>
12,798 <2,620>
14,662 <2,802>
15,116 <2,841>

Note1: The
uses
the proceedsof the previous
year as thecapital.
Thecapital.
subsidized
is theNote1:
Thesubsidy
subsidyuses
the proceedsof the previous
year
as theTheamountsubsidized
amountgranted.
amountis the amount granted.
Note2: Thoseto subsidize
sportsactivities
for athletes
and trainers
excluded.
Note2:
Thoseappropriatedappropriatedto subsidize
sportsactivities
for athletes
andaretrainers
are excluded.
Japan Sports Council (2013)
Prepared based on data from the Japan Sports Council (2013)

Financial Resources for Sports   55Sports Promotion FundThe Sports Promotion Fund was established in 1990 within the
National Stadium and the School Health Center of Japan (the predecessorof the present JSC) through a government investment of 25 billion yen forthe purposes of enhancing high performance sports, as well as increasing
participation in grassroots sports. Using its operating capital of 29.4 billion
yen, which was accrued by combining the initial government fund and an
additional 4.4 billion yen donated by the private sector, JSC has been able
to provide subsidies to sports organizations with the purpose of enhancing
performance of athletes, hosting sporting events, and supporting activities ofathletes and their instructors.
The amount of all subsidies for FY2013 was 1.29 billion yen, whichis almost double the amount of FY2008 (Table 3-4). However, the primaryreason behind this two-fold increase was because there was an allocation of
640 million yen, from the profits of the satisfactory sales of sports lottery,to the "Subsidy for the Activities of Athletes and Instructors". The subsidy
amounts from the Sports Promotion Fund alone have remained almost at thesame level.
Subsidies for Projects to Enhance High Performance Sports
Under the subsidy program for projects to enhance high performancesports, government grants are distributed to the National Governing Bodies(NGB) of the Olympic sports and to the Japan Top Leagues (top ball leagues)
and its alliance members in Japan. The aim of this program is to support
athletes with the goal of surpassing the existing record of medals won at
the Olympic Games, as well as reaching a record of prize winners in the  World Championships (which is one of the policy goals set out in the Sport
Basic Plan (2012)). For this subsidy program, there are two types of funding
available: subsidies to "Sports Organizations’ Enhancement Activities
for Priority Sports" and subsidies to "Sports Organizations’ Operational
Activities of Top-League Teams". The total amount of these subsidies hasremained at almost the same level since FY2003 (approximately 596 millionyen). In FY2013, approximately 360 million yen (used to fund 56 projects)
was subsidized through the "Sports Organizations’ Enhancement Activities
for Priority Sports" and 157 million yen (used to fund 13 projects) was
allocated through the "Sports Organizations’ Operational Activities of TopLeague Teams". The total amount of subsidies for FY2013 was 517 million
yen.

138,916 <66>

108,760 <44>402,324 <357>
0 <0>*2
650,000 <467>

243,077 <96>367,049 <324>
5,000 <1>
889,180 <563>

Subsidized amount

274,054 <142>

Subsidized amount2008(in thousands of yen)

Japan
SportsCouncil(2013)(2013)Japan
SportsCouncil

640,150 <445>*1
0 <0>*2
1,289,649 <616>

313,257 <128>

336,242 <43>

Subsidized amount2013<Number of subsidized projects> <Number of subsidized projects> <Number of subsidized projects>

2003

Note: the: thesubsidized
subsidized
amountto the amountNoteamountrefersrefers
to the amount
granted. granted.
*1
fromfrom
Sportspromotionlottery subsidies.
*1ThoseThoseallocatedallocated
Sportspromotionlottery subsidies.
*2
This
does
not
mean
that
the
subsidy
categoryhasbeenhasabolished,but only thatbut
there
were
simplyno wereeligiblesimply
projects
the subsidy.
*2 This does not mean that the subsidy category
been abolished,
only
that
there
noforeligible
projects for the subsidy.

1. Subsidy for sports organization's enhancement activities
for athletes(domestic and overseas training camps,
sending teams, etc.)
2. Subsidy for sports organization's hosting of sports
events(competitions, research meetings, etc. toenhance high performance sports/to promote
grassroots sports)
3. Subsidy for the activities of athletes and instructors
4. Subsidy for internationally competitive sports activities
Total

Subsidy category

FY

Table 3-4 Trends and Breakdown of Sports Promotion Fund Subsidies

56   Financial Resources for Sports

Financial Resources for Sports   572. Financial Resources from Public Gambling and Lotteries
Financial Resources for Sports Promotion from Public Gambling
Revenue derived from public gambling such as horse racing,powerboat racing, Keirin (cycling racing) and motorcycle racing has beenutilized in various fields, and for projects contributing to the public interest
such as social welfare and international development. Much of this revenue
has also been apportioned to sports projects. From the 11.7 billion yen inrevenue from public races, sports-related projects received 1.2 billion yen,accounting for approximately 10.5% of the total (Table 3-5).
The largest fund for sports projects was received in revenue frommotorboat racing, totalling approximately 1 billion yen in FY2012. This wasfollowed by 190 million yen in funds from Keirin and motorcycle racing,and 17 million yen from horse racing.
The Japan Keirin-Autorace Association (JKA; the organization forpari-mutuel keirin and auto race competitions in Japan) utilizes revenue
generated from Keirin and motorcycle racing to subsidize sports, as wellas to promote bicycle racing. In FY2013, the budget of JKA amounted to740 million yen. Some of the tax revenue from motorboat racing has beenused for promoting lifelong sports through the activities of Sasakawa Sports
Foundation (SSF). SSF implemented "SSF Sports Aid" and "SSF Water
Sports Aid" over the years from 1991 to 2010. Sports Aid and Water Sports
Aid opened applications from incorporated foundations and corporations,NPOs and other private organizations, resulting in a total of 5 billion yen
being spent on 8,000 projects over 20 years. These projects include various
events, classes and seminars held by a wide range of sports organizations.
Since 2011, SSF has also been operating the Sasakawa Sports Research
Grants Program to promote sports by supporting prominent research
projects. This program provides funding for young researchers in the fields
of humanities and social science, and subsidies that contribute to makenational sports policies. Over the past three years, SSF has granted a total of
73 million yen to 104 research projects.
Financial Resources for Sports Promotion from Public Lotteries
From the profit derived by lottery ticket sales, approximately 41%of the revenue goes to prefectures and ordinance-designated cities where
the tickets are issued, which is then utilized in public works. Through theJapan Lottery Association and the Japan Center for Local Autonomy, 1% of
the sales revenue is also used to subsidize various projects including sportsrelated projects as part of the lottery’s contribution to society.

187,735
1,226,937

11,725,777 （2,565）

Total

10.5

（40）

*3 The amount and number of subsidies from grants to the promotion of public interest projects. Based on the financial results FY2013.
Japan Racing Association, the Nippon Foundation and JKA (2013)

Japan Racing Association, the Nippon Foundation and JKA (2013)

5.8

14.5

1.2

（25）

（13）

（2）

*1*1
The
amountand andnumberof subsidies
to farming
projects. Basedon the Basedbudget ofTheamountnumberof subsidies
to promotion
farming promotion
projects.
onFY2013.
the budget of FY2013.
*2*2
The
amountand andnumberof subsidies
from public
interest
or interest
welfare-reatedprjects. Based prjects.
on the financial
forfinancial
FY2012. results for FY2012.
The
amountnumberof subsidies
frompublicor welfare-reated
Basedresultson the*3 The amount and number of subsidies from grants to the promotion of public interest projects. Based on the financial results FY2013.

1,022,047

3,242,070 （299）17,155

7,034,931 （2,247）（19）

Motorboat racing *2

1,448,776

Keirin / Motorcycle racing *3

Horse racing *1

Public gambling(in thousands of yen)

Ratio of total amount provided to
The total amount provided to
The total amount provided tosports projects to the amount provided to
public interest projects
sports projects
public interest projects（%）（Number of projects subsidized） （Number of projects subsidized）

Table 3-5 Funding for Sports Projects through Revenues from Public Gambling

58   Financial Resources for Sports

Financial Resources for Sports 59
One of these projects is known as the P.R. Project for the Lottery’ssocial contributions, and is a subsidy program of the Japan Lottery
Association. In FY2012, a total of 377 million yen was provided to 13
projects related to health and physical fitness through this program. A similar
subsidy program run by the Japan Center for Local Autonomy is referred toas the "Lottery P.R. Campaign Project". In FY2012, a total of 383 million
yen was provided to 25 organizations that held the Takarakuji (Lottery)Sports Fairs.

60 Financial Resources for Sports

III. Funds for Sport Organizations
1. Funds for Independent Administrative Agencies and Sports
Organizations
Independent administrative sports agencies and the governing bodies
of each sport are the organizations that support the promotion of sports
in Japan. These organizations obtain revenue through various means that
include government grants, consignment fees from government bodies andmembership fees from affiliated organizations. These funds are then used tohelp support a wide range of initiatives for promotion of sports.
Japan Sport Council (JSC)
The revenue of JSC was 144.5 billion yen for FY2012 (Table 3-6).
The breakdown of this revenue included 86.6 billion yen in income from theSports Promotion Lottery, 5.2 billion yen in grants from MEXT for operating
expenses, 3.4 billion yen in subsidies from MEXT for facility maintenance,and 2.5 billion yen in income from operating the National Stadium.
JSC’s total expenditures for FY2012 were 139.3 billion yen. The
breakdown for the expenditures in the lottery account included 43 billion
in payments of lottery prizes, 8.2 billion yen in payments to the nationaltreasury, 19.9 billion yen for operational expenses, and 16.3 billion yen
for subsidy programs. Others included 960 million yen for the operational
expenses of the National Training Center and 2.8 billion yen for theoperational expenses of the Japan Institute of Sports Science (JISS).
Japan Sports Association (JASA)
The revenue of JASA for FY2012 was 8.1 billion yen. The breakdownof this revenue included 3.6 billion yen from received subsidies, 2 billion
yen from donations, 1 billion yen in business profits and 758 million
yen from registration fees (such as registration fees for certified sports
instructors). The breakdown of the received subsidies included 2.7 billion
yen in Sports Promotion Lottery subsidies (for supporting projects such as
Table 3-6 Revenue and Expenditure of Sports Organizations
Name of organization
Japan Sport Council
Japan Sports Assciation
Japanese Olympic Committee
National Recreation Association of Japan

Total amount for FY2012
Revenues (yen)Expenditures (yen)144,586,174,968
8,123,075,760
8,627,238,905
941,513,902

139,314,371,996
8,158,649,269
8,339,275,585
948,950,866

Data fromorganization
Data eachfrom eachorganization(2013)(2013)

Financial Resources for Sports   61the establishment and development of Comprehensive Community Sports
Clubs), 405 million yen in national subsidies (for projects such as the JapanKorea Sports Exchange Program) and 346 million yen in consignment feesfrom MEXT. Most of the accrued revenue from received donations camefrom the financial world.
The JASA’s total expenditures for FY2012 were 8.1 billion yen. The
breakdown of these expenditures included 7.9 billion yen for operational
expenses and 166 million yen for management expenses. Operational
expenses were dominated by subsidy payments of 2.8 billion yen anddonation payments of 1.9 billion yen, with both combined accounting forover 60% of the total.
Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC)
The revenue of JOC for FY2012 was 8.6 billion yen. The
breakdown of this revenue included 3.3 billion yen from received subsidies,
3.4 billion yen in business profits, and 1.3 billion yen from received
corporate and non-corporate subsidies. The breakdown for the received
subsidies included 2.5 billion yen in national subsidies (such as the grants
for various sports organizations), 495 million yen in Sports Promotion
Lottery subsidies, and 139 million yen in grants from the International
Olympic Committee (IOC). In terms of business profits, royalties fromthe use of the Olympic symbols (such as charges for the use of intellectual
property, including marks, emblems and slogans) raised the highest amountof revenue at 2.7 billion yen.
The JOC’s total expenditures for FY2012 were 8.3 billion yen. The
breakdown of these expenditures included 3.1 billion yen for operational
expenses, 1.4 billion yen for training camp expenses, 1.1 billion yen for
projects to improve coaching skills, 1.4 billion yen for international sports
exchange projects, and 412 million yen for the operational expenses of the
National Training Center.
National Recreation Association of Japan (NRAJ)
The revenue of NRAJ for FY2012 was 942 million yen. The
breakdown of this revenue included 657 million yen in business profits and
264 million yen in received subsidies. The highest proportion of the businessprofits were generated from the registration of qualification certificates,
which amounted to 398 million yen.
The total expenditures for FY2012 were 949 million yen. The
breakdown of these expenditures included 932 million yen for operational
expenses and 17 million yen for management expenses.

62 Financial Resources for Sports
2. Structure of the Balance of Payments of the National Governing
Bodies of Sports (NGBs)
Flow of Funds within the NGBs
The revenue of NGBs was roughly divided into: "revenue fromathletes/organizations", "business revenue", "subsidies/grants", "donations"and "asset management revenue." The breakdown of the "revenue fromathletes/organizations" included annual membership fees and registration
fees, which were expenses borne by each subject participating in acompetition as an athlete, team or local organization. On the other
hand, the "business revenue" included admission fees from spectators,
financial support from sponsors and broadcasting right fees, which canbe characterized as compensation for services provided by the relevantorganizations.
The expenditures were largely divided into maintenance expenses,
operating expenses and the cost of asset acquisitions. The detailed items
included in the operating costs varied depending on each organization. The
operating costs were categorized into "enhancement", "development" and"promotion" depending on its purposes. There were also many organizations
that categorized the expenditure based on the outward form of the activity,
such as "training camp or trip" or "holding competitions" rather thancategorizing it based on the purpose of the activities.
Revenue Size of the NGBs
The distribution of revenue size is shown in Figure 3-5. The averageannual revenue was 669 million yen. However, this average is not definite  because of one particular organization having an annual revenue that issignificantly higher (16.9 billion yen) than the others. The median was
257 million yen, the first quartile was 42 million yen and the third quartile
was 549 million yen. The most frequent value (for 27 organizations) was
less than 100 million yen. As these values indicate, there is a significant
difference in the size of revenue among NGBs. Although it is difficult toconclude what a "typical size of the revenue" is, it may be reasonable to saythat the median value of 200 million yen is the typical size for a NGB.
The total amount of revenue for all 71 organizations was 47.4 billion
yen. For comparison purposes, the closing account for revenue in FY2012
was approximately 8.1 billion yen for JASA, and 8.6 billion yen for JOC.
Except for one organization, the size of the revenue for each NGBs was
significantly smaller than that of JASA or JOC, but it can be concluded that
overall, a significant flow of funds is involved among NGBs.

0

5

10

15

20

25

0

27

1

3

3

5

4

4

5

7

6

2

7

2

8

9

10

11

2

12

13

2

14

15

16

17

18

1

19

1

20

1

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

30

169

1

(in billions of yen)

29

1

The SSF Census of the National Governing Bodies of Sports (2013)

SSF Census of the National Governing Bodies of Sports (2013)

21

1

Figure 3-5 Distribution of Revenue Size (Budgets) for National Governing Bodies of Sports

2

11

Average value : 669 million yen

Third quartile : 549 million yen

Median value : 257 million yen(Organization)
30
First quartile : 42 million yen

Financial Resources for Sports   6364 Financial Resources for Sports

IV. National Budget for High Performance Sports
1. Trends in the Budget for High Perfomance Programs
The enhancement of Japan’s international competitiveness is one of
the key national strategies included in the basic principles of the Basic Act
on Sport, and also clearly stated in the Sport Basic Plan. When looking at
the sports budgets of MEXT from FY2003 to FY2012, these budgets haveremained steady at around 23 billion yen (Figure 3-6). From that amount,the budget for high performance sports accounted for around 60 to 80
percent of the total figures.
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology(MEXT)In FY2013, MEXT allocated approximately 16 billion yen forpolicies related to enhancing high performance sports. These policies
include identifying and developing human resources, improving sports
environment, and further developing national strategies to enhanceinternational competitiveness. In particular, approximately 2.8 billion yen
was allocated to the "National Project on Enhancement of High PerformanceSports" by MEXT (the largest budget of all categories, which also exceeded
the amount allocated to JOC (Table 3-7)). The project targets sports which
are expected to win medals at international competitions and provides
specialized and advanced multidisciplinary support. To date, the project has
implemented two programs: the "Multi-Support Project for top level athlete"
which supports athletes by conducting researches and development projects
in areas of sports medicine, science and information; and the "Development
and support for female athletes" which helps to support and enhance
performance of female athletes.
Japan Sport Council (JSC)
JSC promotes research activities in the fields of sports medicine,science and information at the Japan Institute of Sports Science (JISS). It
also supports the enhancement of international competitiveness from various
aspects in collaboration with JOC and NGBs. JISS is located adjacent to the
Ajinomoto National Training Center (NTC), and operated with NTC in an
integrated manner so that outcomes from its research projects can be utilized
more effectively.
Moreover, JSC is responsible for the provision of subsidies withrevenue generated from the Sports Promotion Lottery ("toto") and the Sports
Promotion Fund to sports organizations and local governments. In FY2013,

70.3%

5,000

8.0%

2003

73.3%

17.8%

12,906

2004

78.0%

16.1%

2005

80.2%

16.9%

16,401

2006

83.6%

13.7%

16,798

2007

86.8%

10.8%

18,717

2008

73.5%

13.2%

12.7%

19,000

2009

60.5%

9.1%

29.8%

22,529

2010

71.8%

7.2%

20.9%

22,740

2012

68.2%

9.6%

22.2%

23,7932013(Fiscal year)

67.2%

13.5%

22.6%

24,328Prepared based on data from MEXT
(2013)
MEXT(2013)

2011

67.8%

8.9%

23.3%

22,790Figure 3-6 Breakdown and Trends in Sports Budget of MEXT

8.1%

5.3%

16,820School physical education
Lifelong sports
High performance sports
Sports budget

Note: Values
under
5%not
are
not shown.
Note: Values
under
5% areshown.

2002

20.9%

10,000012,23915,00020,00025,000(in millions of yen)
30,000Financial Resources for Sports   6566 Financial Resources for Sports
Table 3-7 Budgets of MEXT and JSC for Policies to EnhanceHigh Performance Sports (2013)(In thousands of yen)

M

E

X

T

N a t i o n a l p r o j e c t o n Multi-support project for top level athletesenhancement of highDevelopment and support for female athletes
performance sports

2,299,522

Subsidies to Japanese Olympic Committee

2,588,214

467,314

Projects related to building a system to develop medal potential athletes

467,191

Research prjects related to enhancement of high performance athletes and research centers

22,166

Projects related to development of an information network for international competitions

62,684

Projects related to UNOSDP YLP

15,722Anti-doping promotional activities

359,679

JSC support for projects Sports organizations' enhancement activities for priority sports
related to enhancement ofSports organizations' operational activities of top league teams
high peformance sports

360,814

Subtotal

6,800,306(United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace Youth Leadership Programme)

157,000

Sports promotion funding of JSC*
Sports organizatins to enhance performance of athletes

336,242

Sports organizatins to host sporting events

171,783

Athletes and trainers to support their activities and maximize their international performance

640,150

Subtotal

1,148,175(related to the enhancement of high performance sports)

Sports promotion lottery subsidies of JSC*
1,236,746

Identification and development of potential athletes
Projects related to sports promotional activities

1,834,846

Projects related to anti-doping drug testing

1,210,471

S u b s i d i e s f o r s p o r t s Projects related to sports arbitration
organizations
Projects related to overseas trainings for instructors

9,000
67,215

Projects related to strengthening of organizational structure

7,428

Projects realted to hosting international meetings

17,166

Hosting international competitions

250,656

Activities related to host the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games

678,882

Subtotal

5,312,410

Total 13,260,891*Amountgranted
granted*Amount

Prepared based on data from MEXT
MEXTandandJSC
JSC(2013)(2013)

Financial Resources for Sports   67JSC allocated 1.1 billion yen earned by the Sports Promotion Fund and 5.3
billion yen from the Sports Promotion Lottery, to a wide range of activities  as subsidies in order to enhance the international competitiveness of athletes.
In addition, from the amount granted to JSC by MEXT to support projects
that are aimed at enhancing competitiveness, JSC granted 520 million yen to
the national governing bodies .
Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC)JOC conducts projects at NTC which aim to enhance athletes’
performance and develop and support trainers for high performance sports.
Main projects include intensive training camps, enhancement of coachingskills, and identification and training of potential athletes. JOC has alsoestablished the "Athlete Program", which identifies carded athletes for the
Olympic Games. Carded athletes are those individuals who are deemed tohave the ability to compete in the events at Olympic Games as a nationalteam member, and those who are thought to have a strong potential for
future success. Carded athletes can attend more effective training programs
and intensive training camps held both in and outside of Japan. In 2012, thenumber of carded athletes was 1,775 (a total of 1,358 athletes, both maleand female, carded for 29 sports in the Summer Olympic Game and a totalof 417 athletes, both male and female, carded for 6 sports in the WinterOlympic Game).
In addition to revenue generated from its independent projects, JOC
receives subsidies from MEXT and JSC (which in FY2013 amounted to
2.58 billion yen and 848 million yen, respectively). JOC then allocatesfunding to projects aimed at enhancing the performance of athletes, suchas those mentioned above. The subsidy amount provided to JOC from
MEXT has remained fixed in recent years, however, in FY2013, there was adrastic increase in the subsidies provided by JSC. Through these subsidies,measures to enhance high performance sports, as well as the integrityof sports, have been strengthened. In recent years, there have been more
subsidies granted to projects related to doping, which has been identified as
an important issue by the International Olympic Committee.
Funding for Enhancement of Sports Competitiveness
Figure 3-7 shows the flow of funds related to enhancement of highperformance sports in FY2012. The primary funds were granted in the formof subsidies and trust funds from MEXT, the Sports Promotion Lottery andthe Sports Promotion Fund. These funds were first given to JSC and JOC,
which then distributed an amount to each sports organization (such as NGBs)

68   Financial Resources for Sports
to be used towards projects for the enhancement of athletes performance.
Under the National Project for the Enhancement of Japan’s Competitiveness
implemented by MEXT in 2012, various projects were commissioned touniversities and private companies. These projects included the developmentof sports equipment and better training methods by facilitating an industryacademia-government collaboration. The measures based on a longerterm perspective have also been implemented. Such measures include
as the subsidies allocated by JSC to local governments and local sports
associations for the purpose of developing the next generation of athletes.
Sales profits from the Sports
promotion lottery (toto)

Operating profits from theSports promotion fundMinistry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology
Sports and Youth bureau
Competitive sports division

շ

յն ղմ
ձճ
Japan Sport Council

ղJapanese Olympic Committee

UniversitiesշշSports promotion
centers (prefectures)

PrefecturesշPrefectural sports
associations

Junior athletesղմյնշ
Privatecompanies

National governing
bodies of sports

Elite coachesղAffiliateduniversities

Elite athletes

Major policies aimed at the enhancement of athletes performance (FY2012)
MEXT projects① Projects related to special training for the next generation of athletes② Projects related to enhancing the competitiveness of national teams
Multi-support project for top level athletes
Building a system to develop medal potential athletes③ Subsidies to Japanese Olympic Committee④ Grants for sports organizations to enhance thier activities targeting priority sports
JSC subsidy projects⑤ Sports organizations to enhance performance of athletes⑥ Athletes and trainers to support their activities and maximize their international performance⑦ Identification and development of potential athletes

MEXT (2013)

MEXT (2013)

Figure 3-7 F low of Funds related to Enhancement of High
Performance Sports

Sports Facilities 69

Chapter 4
Sports Facilities
I. Current Status of Sports Facilities
1. Public, Private and School Facilities
According to the “Social Education Survey” of Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), the number of public
sports facilities in Japan increased from the time the survey started in the
1950s through the 1990s. However, the number stayed almost at the samelevel after 2002. In 2011, the number of public sports facilities was 47,571(Figure 4-1). Based on the survey after 1987 (the first year that private sports
facilities were included), the number of private sports facilities reached apeak in 1996, and continued to decline through 2011, where the number wasrecorded as 15,532.
Moreover, many schools and educational organizations own sports
facilities such as gymnasiums, playgrounds and swimming pools, that areused for their physical education classes or school sports clubs. According
to the “Survey on the Current Status of Facilities for Physical Education andSports Activities” (2008) conducted by MEXT, there were 136,276 “school
sports facilities” (in elementary, junior high, high, vocational schools, etc.)
and 8,375 sports facilities at universities, colleges and technical colleges.
In addition, the number of sports facilities for the welfare of employeesamounted to 6,827, and 5,807 facilities were recorded being located withactivity centers such as community centers, youth education facilities andwomen’s education centers.
In Table 4-1, the number of public sports facilities and school sports
facilities are shown by facility types. The public sports facilities were
dominated by multi-purpose playgrounds (7,346), followed by gymnasiums(6,949), and baseball and softball fields (6,279). For school sports facilities,
there were 37,339 gymnasiums, 35,933 multi-purpose playgrounds (withgrounds of 992m2 or more), and 28,171 swimming pools (outdoor).
Availability of School Sports Facilities
School sports facilities, which accounted for about 60% of the total
number of sports facilities in Japan, have been made available for the useof local residents, pursuant to Article 13 of the Basic Act on Sport. Article

0

10,00020,00030,00040,00050,000（Number）

1955

1,634

1960

1,848

1968

1971

7,146

1978

1981

19,391

1984

24,605

1987

13,44732,011

1993

16,08835,9501996

18,14641,997

1999

2002

2008

2011 （Year）
Social Education
Survey(MEXT,
1955- 2011)Social Education
Survey(MEXT,
1955- 2011)

2005

15,53247,571

17,32347,925

16,78048,055

16,81447,321

17,73846,554

Figure 4-1 Number of Public and Private Sports Facilities in Japan

1963

2,524

4,659

13,662

Private sports facilities

Public sports facilities

70 Sports Facilities

Sports Facilities 71
13 states that “a party providing a national school or public school shallendeavor to provide sport facilities at the relevant school for use in general
sport, as long as it does not cause any problems for education at the relevantschool.” According to the “Survey on the Current Status of Facilities for
Physical Education and Sports Activities” (2008) conducted by MEXT,
98.3% of municipalities have school sports facilities that are open to
local residents. When the availability of each facility type was calculatedby dividing the number of schools allowing public access to their sports
facilities by the total number of schools having sports facilities, gymnasiums
had the highest availability rate at 87.3%, followed by outdoor sports fields(school grounds) at 80.0%, and swimming pools at 26.7%, suggesting thatmany schools had their gymnasiums and school grounds open to the public.
However, when the availability of those open facilities was closely
looked at throughout the year, it was found that elementary school
gymnasiums (which had the highest availability rate of 95.1%) were notnecessarily available at all times. For example, such facilities were madeavailable to the public only during the school holiday, or only on certain
days when access was requested. Looking at the availability rate by days of
the week during the school term, weekdays had the highest availability rate
at 75.5%, followed by Saturdays at 67.4% and Sundays at 63.9%.
One of the issues affecting the availability of open facilities may
be limitations placed on the use of facilities by any new groups, because
existing groups feel the need to ensure their access to the schools andfacilities during their service hours. Recently, however, some municipalities
Table 4-1 N umber of Public Sports Facilities and School Sports
Facilities by Facility Types
Public sports
facilities

School sports facilities

Multi-purpose
playgrounds

7,346

35,933Gymnasiums

6,949

37,339Swimming pools (outdoor)

2,093

28,171

Swimming pools (indoor)

1,615

788

Tennis courts (outdoor)

4,963

9,542

Tennis courts (indoor)

194

80

Baseball / softball fields

6,279

1,914

Prepared based on the “Social Education Survey” (2011)
andEducation
the “Surveyon(MEXT,the Current
SocialSurvey2011)
SurveyStatuson the Current
Statusforof Facilities
Physical Educationand Sports
Activities(MEXT,
2008)of Facilities
PhysicalforEducationand Sports
Activities”(2008)of MEXT

72 Sports Facilities
have commissioned the operation of school facilities to comprehensive
community sports clubs (see page 110), which have helped to raise theoperation rates of those facilities. In order to make school sports facilities
more open to local residents, it is necessary to take measures that will
facilitate more effective use of these facilities.
2. Financial Resources for Sports Facilities
In Japan, public sports facilities are generally maintained or ownedby the local government where the facility is located. Under the present
difficult financial conditions, maintaining any facility can be a challenge,
whether it be an existing public sports facility or any facility that has been
newly constructed. Although the cost of maintenance or refurbishments forexisting sports facilities is becoming a burden for local government, thesefacilities are still highly important for the local residents. Therefore, further
efforts should be made by local governments to secure financial resources.
Table 4-2 shows some of the main subsidy programs that are available
for maintaining public sports facilities. These programs are financed by
the national treasury, and the financial resources for maintaining public
sports facilities mainly come from the general funds of local governments,
municipal bonds, government subsidies and prefectural subsidies. Among
those subsidy programs, the subsidy from MEXT for the maintenance of
public sports facilities and the subsidy from Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism (MLIT) for the Maintenance of City Parks have madea particularly strong contribution to maintaining public sports facilities.
Subsidy for Public Sports Facility Maintenance
The Subsidy for Public Sports Facility Maintenance of MEXT wasa financial assistance program which was intended to address the expenses
occurring for the maintenance of community facilities including sports
centers, swimming pools, outdoor sports centers and martial arts centers.
This subsidy was available between the 1950s and 2005. When it reacheda peak in 1985, the total amount of the government subsidy was 7.8 billion
yen, however, this amount decreased to 1 billion yen in 2005 (Table 4-3).
In 2006, the main subsidy program was renamed as “Grant for Safe andReliable School Development”, and in 2011 it was again renamed as the“Grant for School Facility Improvement.” As the Subsidy for Public Sports
Facility Maintenance has been included in the grants mentioned above since2006, the exact amount of funding is unknown.

2004〜2009

Grant for community development

Sports or recreational facility (gymnasium, sports
ground, park, etc.)

Nature trail within a national park

The amount of the grant is determined by eachmunicipality.

exchagesis till 2009）subject to the subsidy

Research on Research
the Public
Facilities
Management
Fund Fund(Miyazaki& SSF,
2012)
onSports
the PublicSports Facilities
Management(Miyazaki& SSF,
2012)

In principle, around 30% of the expenses are

2002〜

Grant for maintenance of facilities for regionalSports and recreation facility

promenade, cycling road, etc.

determined by each municipality.

Up to 45%

（new program

Gymnasium, swimming pool, sports ground, park ,green area, ski resort, skating rink, camp ground,electric power stations. The amount of the grant isbased on the facility and operational conditions of

The maximum amount of the grant is decided

2005〜

1974〜

1974〜

rugby ground, tennis court, basketball court, ski

If the subsidy rate is indicated by any existing resort, swimming pool, boating course, skating
law, that rate shall be applied, otherwise the rink, sumo arena, horse riding center, etc.
subsidy rate is 50%.

Grant for maintenance of the natural environment

specified defense facilities

Grant for environmental improvement of areas with

Grant for areas with electric power stations

development

2010〜

1/3 for the land 1/2 for the facility〜2009

Subsidy for city park maintenance

Grant for comprehensive social infrastructure

etc.

1/3

2011〜

Grant for school facility improvement

Baseball field, track and field ground, football pitch,outdoor sports center, public martial arts center,

Approximately 40% of the project cost

Public sports center, public swimming pool, public

1/3

2006〜2010

Grant for safe and reliable school development

Subject (Sports facility)

1/3

Subsidy rate

〜2005

PeriodSubsidy for public sports facility maintenance

Program

Table 4-2 Major Subsidy Programs for Sports Faclity MaintenanceSports Facilities 73

74 Sports Facilities
Table 4-3 Trends in the Amounts of Subsidies for Public Sports
Facility Maintenance from MEXT
Fiscal year

Amount(in thousands of yen)

1985

7,791,344

1986

6,672,682

1987

5,801,441

1988

5,801,441

1989

6,346,479

1990

6,346,479

1991

6,647,369

1992

6,684,800

1993

6,640,757

1994

5,116,912

Subsidy for

1995

4,712,016

public sports facility maintenance

1996

4,793,715

1997

4,387,695

1998

4,033,650

1999

3,011,936

2000

2,369,554

2001

1,472,114

2002

1,286,094

2003

1,169,080

2004

1,060,420

2005

1,023,000

2006

49,449,000

2007

70,970,000

2008

74,867,000

2009

75,068,000

2010

78,354,000

2011

43,587,000

Grant for school facility improvement2012

24,339,0002013

39,477,000＊The amount of the subsidy for public sports
facility maintenance is included in this grant,
but its details are unknown.

Program

Grant for safe and reliable school
development＊The amount of the subsidy for public sports
facility maintenance is included in this grant,
but its details are unknown.

Note: Only
: Onlyinitialbudgetis shown. Funding related to the National stadiumNotethetheinitialbudgetis shown.
Funding
relatedto theolympic
National games
stadium isandtheincluded.
Nagano Olympic games is not included.
and the
Naganonot
MEXT (2013)

Prepared based on data from MEXT (2013)

Sports Facilities 75
Subsidy for City Park Maintenance
The Subsidy for City Park Maintenance of MLIT was a financial
assistance program which was provided for maintenance projects of cityparks, including district parks for neighboring residents, general city parks,
large-scale parks, government-run parks and green parks. This program was
implemented between the 1950s and 2009. Among these city parks, many
playgrounds (used as the major public sports facility) were categorized asa type of general city park by MLIT. This subsidy program was available
to a wide range of facilities, including large-scale facilities such as baseballfields, track and fields, football grounds, sumo arenas and archery ranges(Table 4-4).
Currently, the Subsidy for City Park Maintenance has been integrated
with the “Grant for Comprehensive Social Infrastructure Development”,
which is a system established in 2010 to provide individual subsidies to the
local governments under the jurisdiction of MLIT as lump sum payments.
Subsidy for Community Sports Facility MaintenanceIn addition to the government-funded subsidy programs, there isa subsidy program which is financed by revenue from the sales of theSports Promotion Lottery (toto). This program, operated by the JapanSport Council (JSC), is known as the “Sports Promotion Lottery Subsidy.”
Among the various subsidy programs offered under the Sports Promotion
Lottery Subsidy, the “Community Sports Facility Maintenance Subsidy” andthe “Large-Scale Sports Facility Maintenance Subsidy” are the two main
programs available for sports facilities.
The Community Sports Facility Maintenance Subsidy supports
three types of projects: maintenance of sports clubhouses, planting lawnon pitches, and maintenance of sports facilities. Subsidies are available
to eligible candidates from local governments, sports associations andcomprehensive community sports clubs with a corporate capacity. In 2013, a
total subsidy amount of 4.13 billion yen was provided to 190 projects.
The Large-Scale Sports Facility Maintenance Subsidy is a program
intended to support the maintenance of the stadiums of J. League clubs andthe venues for the Winter National Sports Festivals. In 2013, a total subsidy
amount of 1.57 billion yen was provided to 7 projects.

Category

Type

Slide

Seesaw

Jungle gym

LadderBench

Outdoor table

Camping area

OthersGroundVolleyball court(stands, shower rooms, etc.)

Skating rink

Boating course

Accompanying structures

Sports facility for rehabilitation

MEXT(2013)
MEXT(2013)

Others (similar to those listed above)

Rings

Horizontal bar

Horse riding course

Archery range

Sumo arena

Ski resort

Sport facility

Hot spring health and sports faclity

Swimming pool

Gateball court

Basketball court

Shallow pool

Tennis court

Rugby ground

Football ground

Track and field

Baseball field

SandpitSwing

Resting place

GardenRecreation
facility

Leisure facility

Garden/GroundTable 4-4 Main Facilities of City Parks subjected to the Subsidy

76 Sports Facilities

Sports Facilities 77

II. Sports Facilities for High Performance Sports
1. The National Training Center
For the purpose of enhancing Japan’s international competitiveness,
the National Training Center (NTC) was opened in 2008 (following the
opening of the track and field training zone in 2007). It is currently the
primary training center responsible for: (a) conducting intensive andcontinuous activities to enhance performance of athletes in a national team;(b) fostering junior athletes based on athlete development programs; and (c)improving the quality of instructors (national coaches) for high performanceathletes.
The NTC is managed pursuant to the development policies ofcore facilities on a national level specified under the “Basic Plan for
the Promotion of Sports”, that was formulated by MEXT in September
2000. Based on these policies, its management was delegated to JSC. The
annual operating expenses of the NTC have varied from 1.07 billion yen(in FY2010) to 1.33 billion yen (in FY2011) and then 960 million yen (inFY2012). With regard to the operations of the NTC, the Japanese Olympic
Committee (JOC) is striving to make more effective use of the center by
expanding projects that include athlete training camps and the JOC Sports
Academy (JOC Elite Academy Program, JOC National Coach Academy
Program and JOC Career Academy Program) in cooperation with thenational governing bodies of sports (NGBs). For the first time in Japan, the
NTC has a sponsor with the naming rights, and the center is often referred toas the “Ajinomoto National Training Center.”
The NTC has training facilities dedicated to 17 different typesof sports. Its indoor training center consists of various training fields
exclusively dedicated to ten different types of sports, as well as a track andfield complex (containing a 400m all-weather track with six lanes, an infield
track, a sloping track, a sand track, etc.) and an indoor tennis court (withtwo hard courts and two en-tout-cas courts). Furthermore, more facilities forfive other sports are available at the Japan Institute of Sports Sciences (JISS)
adjacent to the NTC.
Each training facility is exclusively designed for a particular sport
and is equipped with the tools and equipment that conform to internationalrules with the aim of providing an environment where elite athletes canconcentrate on their training in a relaxed state. The “Athlete’s Village”
can accommodate 448 people, and is used for various types of camps andlong-term stays. The “Sakura Dining” facility also provides well-balanced
and high quality meals which are essential for maintaining the physical78 Sports Facilities
condition of athletes. By collaborating with the Sports Medicine/Science
Research Program and the Sports Clinic Program operated by the JISS, the
NTC is able to provide effective training that incorporates sports medicine
and science.
Among the 38 medals won by athletes at the 2012 London Olympics,
34 medals were received by the 17 sports where the NTC provides exclusive
training facilities. Moreover, 69 out of the 80 top-eight finishes were fromthose 17 sports. As indicated by these results, the highly advanced trainingthat is provided to athletes at the NTC, development in sports medicine
and science at the JISS, and multi-support programs provided to sports thathave potential to win medals, have all contributed to the results achievedat the 2012 London Olympics. Although NGBs used to arrange their own
training facilities individually in the past, as a result of the establishment of
the NTC, there has been more active communication between and acrossorganizations at all levels, including between athletes, coaches and support
staff, all of which further deepen the sense of unity as “Team Japan.”Some sports such as water sports (sailing, boating and canoeing),
outdoor sports (football, hockey, cycling, horse riding, rifle shooting,pentathlon and archery) and high-altitude training cannot be accommodated
by the NTC, therefore, existing training facilities throughout the country
have been designated as “Event-Specific Affiliated National Training Center
Facilities” since 2007. Strong collaborations, as well as an information
network system, have been built between the NTC and those facilities.
Usage of the NTC
To ensure the effective and efficient operation of the NTC’s exclusive
training facilities, an annual usage plan is prepared by national coaches,
assistant national coaches and coaching directors. In the four years from2008 to 2011, almost all of the NTC’s exclusive training facilities showeda high occupancy rate and were occupied over 300 days every year. By
using the facilities at the NTC, sports organizations are now able to conductnational level practices and training camps in a more stable and productive
manner.
The “Athlete’s Village” has also been designed to accommodate thevarious needs of athletes by offering different types of rooms, such as single,
twin and apartment-type rooms, where the JOC Elite Academy athletes canstay on a longer term. The “Athlete’s Village” offers comfortable living
environments as well as various amenities such as a large public bath, atheater room and a Japanese-style room. Compared to the number of users in
FY2008, which was 52,132 people in total, the number in FY2011 increased

Sports Facilities 79
to 78,773. The occupancy rate (which was obtained by dividing the numberof rooms in use by the total number of rooms) was 68.8% in FY2008, 75.7%
in FY2009, 75.2% in FY2010 and 59.7% in FY2011.
2. Event-Specific Affiliated National Training Center Facilities
Since 2007, MEXT designated a number of existing facilities
as “Event-Specific Affiliated National Training Center Facilities”. The
background for such designation is the need to establish a network between
sports in which training facilities for elite athletes are available at the NTC,
and those sports in which training facilities are not available at the NTC.
This includes winter sports, water sports and outdoor sports, as well as highaltitude training. As of October 1, 2013, 22 facilities have been designatedas “Event-Specific Affiliated National Training Center Facilities” for 19
sports and a high-altitude training activity (Table 4-5).
The Nagano Municipal Bobsleigh & Luge Park (The Spiral)
The Spiral was constructed as an Olympic venue for the 1998 WinterOlympics held in Nagano City. It is the only facility available in Asia where
official competitions for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton can be held. The
construction cost of the Spiral was approximately 10.1 billion yen (witharound 9.5 billion yen for the facility itself and 600 million yen for theland) and it is managed directly by the Physical Education Division of the
Nagano City Board of Education. In 2007, the Spiral was designated as the
Event-Specific Affiliated NTC Facility for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton by
MEXT, and since then it has contributed to enhancing Japan’s international
competitiveness as the training base for elite athletes in those sports.
The bobsleigh/luge track is 1,700 meters long and has a total of 15
curves. With a high regard given to its environmental impact, the course
was designed to suit the shape of the land, resulting in a unique design with
two uphill sections in the middle of the course. A short course has also beencreated to accommodate visitors who would like to experience luge/skeleton
rides. The long track can be used only for about two months every year, in
December and January when the track is artificially frozen. In addition to astarting hut, a control building, measurement facilities and storage facilities
that are all necessary for the sports, and a 120m push-start track (a wheeledtraining course) has also been built within the facility. Moreover, after being
designated as the Event-Specific Affiliated NTC Facility, the Spiral added
a training gym as a separate facility for carded elite athletes, and two fulltime NTC staff are employed to provide athletes with support around sports
medicine and science.

Tomakomai city Hakucho arena
Nagano bobsleigh luge park, "The Spiral"
Karuizawa kazakoshi park arena curling stadium (Karuizawa ice park)
Nishioka biathlon stadium
Wakayama sailing center (Dinghy marina)
Toda park boat course & Toda boathouse
Kibagata canoe course
J-Green Sakai
Gifu prefectural green stadium
Japan cycle sports center
Gotenba horsemanship and sports center
Nagatoro shooting range
Japan Self-Defense Forces physical training school
Yamaha resort archery stadium, "Tsumagoi"

Ice hockey

Bobsleigh/luge

Curling

Biathlon

SailingBoating

Canoeing

FootballHockeyCylingEquestrian

Shooting raifle

Modern pentathlon

Archery

Total：20 sports, 22 facilities

Zao bodaira athlete village

Hida ontake kougen highland sports training area

Teisan ice skate training center

MEXT (2013)

Yamagata

Gifu

Shizuoka

Saitama

SaitamaShizuoka

Shizuoka

Gifu

Osaka

Ishikawa

Saitama

Wakayama

Hokkaido

NaganoNaganoHokkaido

NaganoAichi

Chukyo university, "Aurora hall"

Figure skating

Short track speed skating

NaganoHokkaido

Nagano olympic memorial arena, "M-Wave"
Meiji Hokkaido-Tokachi oval (an indoor speed skating rink in the Obihiro-no-mori)

Speed skating

Location
Hokkaido
NaganoDesignated facilities
Sapporo jump stadium (Okurayama, Miyanomori)Hakuba ski jumping stadium and Hakuba cross country course

SportsSki Jumping
Nordic skiing

High-altitude training

Outdoor sports

Water sports

Winter sports

Category

Table 4-5 Event-Specific Affiliated National Training Center Facilities

80 Sports Facilities

Sports Facilities 81
In 2012, a total of 2,221 athletes ran the course for 4,516 times.
Additionally, there were 4,595 visitors to the Spiral (not including athletes),
meaning that about 380 people visited the facility on a monthly average.
Freezing the surface of the 1,700 meter long course requires a great
deal of maintenance and labor costs. In order to cool down the entire
course, a non-freezing liquid which is cooled to minus 20 degrees Celsius
is continuously poured into the pipes that run through beneath the course.
Around 50 staffs are required to make surface ice around-the-clock for two
weeks. Damage caused by the aging of the facility cannot be avoided, resulting inannual operational and repair costs to reach around 200 million yen.
Although the presence of the Spiral is quite significant, it is possiblethat sports like bobsleigh, luge and skeleton may not survive in the sports
market, and the characteristics of its high cost place a serious burden on themunicipal government.
The Karuizawa Kazakoshi Park Curling Arena (The Karuizawa
Ice Park)
The Karuizawa Ice Park is the largest year-round curling arena inJapan, and opened on April 1, 2013. In accordance with the project specified
in the “Act on the Construction of Karuizawa as Town of International
Goodwill, Culture and Tourism” enacted in 2001, the “redevelopment of acultural resource for winter sports” has been carried out, and the Karuizawa
Ice Park is conceived as a park that will also boost tourism. The total
construction cost was approximately 2.1 billion yen and was covered by the
Karuizawa Town and Government Subsidy for Park Maintenance project.
The designated manager is the Kazakoshi Park Co-operation (a joint ventureof the public corporation “Karuizawa Town Sinko Kosha” and the NPO“SC Karuizawa Club”). Since this appointment, the company has managed
the park through funding of approximately 100 million yen every year. The
primary training base for curling has now moved to the Karuizawa Ice Park
from the SCAP Karuizawa, which had been the major base for curling since
the opening of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. Meanwhile, the SCAP
Karuizawa will be refurbished, and reopen in 2014 as an indoor swimmingpool.
The Karuizawa Ice Park is installed with six curling sheets and 367
audience seats (including those for coaches) and is fitted with permanent
panel heaters, staff rooms, an ice making room, a doping control room,
dressing rooms and shower rooms. It has a total seating capacity (including
temporary seating) of approximately 1,000 people. The facility also has
ceiling-mounted TV cameras that can track every move of players and the82 Sports Facilities
curling stone. Other features include a multi-purpose space from where thecurling sheets can be viewed, a cafe and conference rooms. Adjacent to
the facility, there are also other outside sports facilities that include a roller
skating rink and an artificial turf-covered Futsal court that are open during
the summer season, and a 400m2 ice-skating rink that is open during thewinter season.
In total, the number of people who used the facility for the four months
from April through July 2013, was 8,617 people for the curling hall, 391
people for the roller skating rink and 637 people for the Futsal court. As wellas curling-related sports organizations, the facility was used by a wide rangeof groups such as college students participating in college teams or researchseminar camps, individuals or companies participating in conventions held
in town, and companies or organizations visiting Karuizawa for company
retreats or training. This “curling town” has contributed to the revitalizationof the local community as well as promotion of curling.
Through the MEXT’s project to ensure proper utilization of the
Event-Specific Affiliated NTC Facility, a national subsidy of approximately
15 million yen has been allocated to the Karuizawa Town Sinko Kosha toimprove the training environment of the curling facility, and to enrich theathletic support provided through sports medicine and science. This subsidy
has been used to cover the cost of rinks and training center rooms for boththe men’s and women’s national teams. Curling became an official Olympic
event at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics (although previously held at the1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix for the men’s division). There is a highexpectation within the community that the Karuizawa Ice Park will not only
increase the number of curling players and enhance Japan’s international
competitiveness in curling, but also attract more tourists to Karuizawa.

Karuizawa Ice Park AppearanceSports Facilities 83
The Zao Bodaira Athlete Village
The Zao Bodaira Athlete Village is a high-altitude training facility
which was built in Kaminoyama City, Yamagata Prefecture in 1997. In
Kaminoyama City (where track and field has always been popular) the
construction of the Village included land reclamation work that took place
at a cost of approximately 1 billion yen. Since 2008, the Village has been
designated as an Event-Specific Affiliated NTC Facility.
There are three main facilities within the Village: the Bodaira Green
Ground which is an all-weather sports ground; the Cross Country Course
which is the first permanent course in Eastern Japan; and the ZAO Tairagura
which is equipped with indoor training rooms and a gymnasium.
There is another Event-Specific Affiliated NTC Facility for highaltitude training in Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture - the Hida Ontake
Highland Training Center. However, because its altitude exceeds 2,000
meters, it is considered the most suitable for senior athletes who haveprevious experience in high-altitude training. Zao Bodaira Athlete Village,on the other hand, with an altitude of around 1,000 meters, is suitable forjunior athletes and beginners, and can be utilized for other sports or events
that are not limited to track and field, such as ball games and winter sports.
The facility is administered by the Tourism Division of Kaminoyama
City and is managed by the Yamako Resort, a local company appointed as
the designated manager. The designated management fee is between 25 to 30
million yen per year, and the revenue and expenditure are almost balanced.
The Yamako Resort also operates a ski resort near the facility, and its lodges
have been accommodating athletes, allowing to serve both the training
facility and the accommodation at the same time. Moreover, the lodge hasa low oxygen chamber and a high pressure oxygen cabin installed, offering
an environment where athletes can focus on their training and recovery in amore structured manner.
Since its designation as an Event-Specific Affiliated NTC Facility in
2008, the number of users has been on the rise, reaching a total of at least
70,000 people in FY2012 (users of the three facilities and guests of thelodge combined). Future plans are to promote the Village as the main venue
for high-altitude training in Japan to improve international competitivenessby developing a better quality training environment, increasing access forjunior athletes and local sports organizations, and establishing a sports
medicine and science-based framework of support.

84 Sports Facilities

III. Sports Facilities for People with Disabilities
1. Sports Centers for People with Disabilities
Sports centers for people with disabilities allow people withdisabilities to have exclusive or priority access. These centers areequipped with a range of facilities, such as gymnasiums, swimming pools,
playgrounds and training rooms, which have been designed to be moreeasily used by people with disabilities. As of 2013, there were 114 of thesefacilities located throughout Japan. Of these sports centers, 96.5% areequipped with a gymnasium, 41.2% with a training room, 39.5% with aswimming pool, 22.8% with a playground, 17.5% with an archery range,
15.8% with a table tennis room and 9.6% with a tennis court.
Along with universal design features, such as the elimination of steps,
the installation of Braille blocks and barrier-free restrooms, to accommodate
the needs of people with disabilities, these facilities also offer a variety
of information resources to assist people with disabilities. Such resources
include the use of visual displays for people with intellectual disabilities
and an electronic bulletin board to assist people with hearing impairments.
Moreover, tools and equipment that allow people with disabilities toparticipate in sports, as well as full-time disability sports instructors areavailable in most of the centers, which often serve as a community hub fordisability sports activities.
Regarding the management system of these facilities, 83.3% of thecenters are managed by designated managers, 15.8% are managed directlyby the local government and 0.9% are managed by the central government. Of
those 95 facilities with designated managers, 67.4% are managed by Social
Welfare Council, Social Welfare Corporation or Rehabilitation Corporation;
9.5% are managed by Sports Association or Sports Promotion Foundation;
7.4% by sports association for the disabled; and 5.3% by private companies.
About half of the sports centers for people with disabilities werebuilt in the 1980s, and only a few centers have been constructed after 1980s(Figure 4-2). Based on the background purposes for their establishment,
sports centers for people with disabilities can be divided into the following
four types (Figure 4-3):

Sports Facilities 85(Number)

120

112

114

1976〜 1981〜 1986〜 1991〜 1996〜 2001〜 2006〜
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010

2011〜

107
100

90

110

96

80
67
60
40
20
0

32
11
〜1975

(Year)

SSF
Sports Facilities
for People
Disabilities(2013)The SSF’s “Survey
onSurvey
SportsonFacilities
for People
with with
Disabilities”(2013)

Figure 4-2 Trends in the Number of Sports Centers for People
with Disabilities

Others14.9％

Education, culture
and sports centers
for workers withphysical disabilities

28.9％

Welfare centers
for persons withphysical disabilities

30.7％

Gymnasiums for workers
with physical disabilities

25.4％

SSF
Sports Facilities
for People
Disabilities(2013)The SSF’s “Survey
onSurvey
SportsonFacilities
for People
with with
Disabilities”(2013)

Figure 4-3 Categories of Sports Centers for People with Disabilities
Based on the Purpose of their Establishment

86 Sports Facilities
1. Welfare Centers for the Persons with Physical Disabilities (Type A)
Facilities specified in the Act for the Welfare of Physically Disabled
Persons, aimed at supporting social participation of persons withphysical disabilities.
2. Gymnasiums for Workers with Physical Disabilities
Facilities formerly known as “Gymnasiums for Workers with Physical
Disabilities” were established in 1961 by the Employment Promotion
Corporation, with the aim of improving welfare and more stable
employment of workers with physical disabilities.
3. Education, Culture and Sports Centers for Workers with Physical
Disabilities (The Sun Centers)
Facilities formerly known as “Education, Culture and Sports Centers
for Workers with Physical Disabilities (The Sun Centers)” werealso established by the Employment Promotion Corporation, withthe aim of making use of available facilities to improve the physicalfunctions, physical fitness, communication, education and cultural
welfare of workers with physical disabilities.
4. Others
Facilities that have been established by prefectures or ordinancedesignated cities for purposes other than those listed above (1 to 3).

Human Resources for Sports 87

Chapter 5
Human Resources for Sports
I. Professions in Sports
1. Human Resources in Local Sports Administration
Sports administration in prefectures and municipalities is mainly
governed by the local Boards of Education, pursuant to Article 23 and24-2 of the “Act on the Organization and Operation of Local Educational
Administration” enacted in 1956. However, after the revision of the Act
in 2007, many local governments transferred the responsibilities of sports
administration to their own jurisdiction. Sports administration offices
governed by local governments are often referred to as Sports Promotion
Division or Health and Physical Education Division, depending on themunicipality.
According to the “Survey on Local Sports Policies” (2013) of
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT),
there was a total number of 1,209 staff members in sports related
departments in 47 prefectures. Looking at their speciality in sports,
18.3% of staff members were in charge of “lifelong sports”, 30.7% were“high performance sports”, 17.0% were “school physical education” and34.0% were “others (facility management, etc.)”. Moreover, there wasa total number of 6,289 staff members in sports departments in 1,397
municipalities. The municipal departments were composed of 41.7% ofthem in charge of “lifelong sports”, 16.9% were “high performance sports”,
14.1% were “school physical education” and 27.3% were “others (facility
management, etc.)” (Figure 5-1). These results showed that the proportionof staff members involved in “lifelong sports” tends to increase as the
population size of the municipalities decreases. In addition to staff members
who are in charge of sports administration in local governments, employees
in affiliated organizations (such as Sports Promotion Foundations and Sports
Associations) of other prefectures or municipalities engage in a variety ofsports promotion activities within the local government.
2. Human Resources in Sports Organizations
There are various sports organizations throughout Japan. With afew exceptions, the national governing bodies of sports (NGBs) serve as

88 Human Resources for Sports
the main administering body of each sport, and have a number of affiliatedorganizations including prefectural associations. In order to understandthe current number of staff members in NGBs who are engaged in the
promotion of each sport, the results of the “SSF Census of the National
Governing Bodies of Sports” (2013) were examined. The subjects of thesurvey were 91 sports organizations that were affiliated organizations ofeither Japan Sports Association (JASA), Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC)or Japan World Games Association (JWGA).
Staff members in National Governing Bodies of Sports (NGBs)
NGBs were asked for the number of staff members in each of thefollowing positions: directors (full-time and part-time), auditors, councilors,
regular employees, contract/commissioned workers, temporarily assigned
workers (from other companies, etc.), agency workers, part-time workers,
interns and others. The total number of staff members in the 71 organizations
that responded to the survey was 3,681 people. Of this number, 1,428 weredirectors (including auditors), 1,476 were councilors and 777 were operating
staff members (Table 5-1).
The average number of operating staff members (excluding directors
and councilors) was 10.9 persons per organization. However, this number
varied depending on the organization. For example, some organizations had
no operating staff members, while another had 160. With regard to thoseorganizations that had no operating staff members (7 organizations), it isassumed that the directors worked in various positions.

Prefectures（n=1,209）

18.3

30.7

Municipalities（n=6,289）

41.7

0

20

17.0

16.9
40

34.0

14.1
60

27.3
80

Lifelong sports

High performance sports

School physical education

Others (facility management, etc.)

100
（％）

Local Sports
Policies(MEXT,
2013)
Survey onSurvey
LocalonSports
Policies(MEXT,
2013)

Figure 5-1 Composition of the Departments in Charge of Sports
Administration in Prefectures and Municipalities

Human Resources for Sports 89
By gender, the proportion of men working as operating staff members
was higher, accounting for 58.0% of the total while women made up theremaining 42.0%. Looking at the employment status of those operating staff,
excluding directors and councilors, 60.7% were regular employees, 34.4%
were non-regular employees (such as contract/commissioned workers,
agency workers and part-time workers) and 4.5% were temporarily assigned
workers from other companies.
The average number of directors was 20.1 persons per organization,and 9.5% of these were full-time directors. By gender, male directors
accounted for 92.6% of the total and female directors accounted for 7.4%,
showing that female directors were less than 10%. Among the respondents,
22 organizations (31.0%) did not have any female directors present, andthose that had two or fewer female directors accounted for 85% of the total
respondents.
3. Human Resources in Sports Industries
In order to understand the number of employees in Japan’s sports
industries, the “Japan Standardized Industrial Classification” of the Ministryof Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) was used to extract a list of
all the sports industries in Japan. Then, the number of employees in eachof those industries was obtained from “Economic Census” by the MIC. A
Table 5-1 N umber of Staff members in National Governing
Bodeis of Sports
Position

Men

Women

Total

Director (full- time)

109

12

121

Director (part-time)

1,069

84

1,153

Auditor

144

10

154

Councilor

1,380

96

1,476

Full-time employee

284

188

472

Contract/commissioned worker

103

55

158

Temporarily assingned worker

31

4

35

Agency worker

3

42

45

Part-time worker

27

37

64

Intern000Others

3

0

3

3,153

528

3,681

Total

Note:The
Theresults
resultsshow
showthethetotal
totalnumber
numberworkers
affiliatedorganizationsof JASA,or andJWGA.
That responded
Note:
of of
workers
arearein in
7171
affiliatedorganizationsof JASA,JOCJOCor andJWGA
that responded
to theto the survey.
survey.
SSF Census
of theGoverning
BodiesSSF Census
of National
the National
Governing
BodiesofofSports
Sports(2013)(2013)

90 Human Resources for Sports
total of 14 different types of industries were examined, all of which were
not involved in any businesses other than those sports-related. The industry
that had the highest number of employees was “golf courses” (with 121,227
people), followed by “sporting goods retailers” (82,300 people), “fitness
centers” (73,664 people) and “sports and health classes” (65,863 people)(Table 5-2). When all of the workers in these 14 industries were combined,
the total number was 494,863 people. However, this is in fact accounting for
only 0.9% of the total number of employees in all Japanese industries (55.83
million people in total) in 2012.
Compared to the results obtained in 2009, the number of employees
in 2012 had decreased in almost all sports industries. This decrease wasparticularly high in “gymnasiums” and “facilities for public gambling sports(horese race, bicycle race, motorboat tace and motorcycle race)”.
4. U niversity Students and Faculty Members in Physical
Education
The number of university students and faculty members in physicaleducation and sports departments were examined based on the findings fromthe “Schools Basic Survey (for higher education institutions)” (2010 and2013) conducted by MEXT. The total number of students in departmentsthat were exclusively devoted to physical education and sports -“School
Table 5-2 Number of Employees in Sports Industries
Number of Employees
2009

2012

Increased/Decrea
sed Number (%)
ー2,475 （ー12.6）

19,663

17,188−16,146

Sporting goods retailers

94,01382,300 ー11,713 （ー12.5）

Sports and hobby goods rental outlets

3,149

4,369

Facilities for public gambling sports(horse race, bicycle race, motorboat race and motorcycle race)

32,572

21,795 ー10,777 （ー33.1）

Sports facilities

Sporting and athletic goods manufacturers
Sporting goods distributors

5,555

1,220 （38.7）

ー4,655 （ー45.6)

Gymnasiums

10,210Golf courses

147,431

121,227 ー26,204 （ー17.8）

Golf ranges

31,324

31,235

Bowling alleys

12,592

13,303

711

Tennis clubs

3,097

2,985

ー112 （ー3.6）

ー89 （ー0.3）（5.6）

Batting tennis centers

3,816

2,954

ー862 （ー22.6）

Fitness centers

73,98173,664ー317 （ー0.4）

Sports facilities (other than those above)

35,94835,415

ー533 （ー1.5）

Sports facilities (that cannot be otherwise classified)−

864

Sports and health classes

68,90765,863ー3,044 （ー4.4）

Economic
Census(MIC,
2009
Economic
Census(MIC,
2009andand2012)2012)

Human Resources for Sports 91
of Physical Education”, “School of Health and Physical Education”,“Faculty of Sports and Health Science”, “Department of Sports Science”
and “Department of Sports”- was 28,124 in the survey conducted in 2004.
However, new sports departments have been established every year since2009, and the total number of those students studying sports has steadily
increased to 36,754 in 2010 and 41,317 in 2013 (Table 5-3).
The number of students in other departments (such as Departmentof Education or Department of Human Sciences) who might have studied
physical education or sports were not included in this survey. Thus,
the actual total number of students may be greater than those obtained.
Additionally, the number of faculty members in physical education andsports departments has increased from 1,167 in 2010 to 1,288 in 2013.

1

Department of Sports and
Human

27

1

School of Lifelong Sports

Total

2

36,754

233

399

2,420

1,167

21

21

78

32

1

1

2

1

4,777

3

125

3,200

2

established in 2013

173
5,339

7

140

3,118

5

1,288

21

29

81

21

17

Basic Survey(MEXT,
2010&and2013)
Schools Schools
Basic Survey(MEXT,
2010
2013)

41,317

384

778

2,380

211

558

39

1,146

1

37

850

1

1

—
1,039

1

—

1,039

1

established in 2011

686

23,051

12

691

24,202

12

167

54

FacultyMembers

1,654

Students

2

Universities

54

FacultyMembers

1,293

Students

2013

2

Universities

Department of Sports

Faculty of Sports and
Health Science
School of Physical
Education
School of Health andPhysical Education
Faculty of Culture
and Sports Policies
Faculty of Sports
and Health Studies
Department of Sports
Science
School of Health and Sports
Science
School of Childhood Sport
Education

Department Name

2010

Table 5-3 Number of University Students and Faculty Members in Physical Education and Sports Departments

92 Human Resources for Sports

Human Resources for Sports 93

II. Sports Instructors
1. Sports Instructor Qualification Scheme
Japan’s Sports Instructor Qualification Scheme was developed
from the qualification system established by the Minister of Educationin 1987 (“Assessment Project of Knowledge and Skills of Social Sports
Instructors”). This was an instructor development project implemented by
sports organizations. Instructors who satisfied the standards determinedby the Ministry of Education (currently MEXT) received a so-called“stamp of approval”, indicating that their level of knowledge and skills
was officially recognized. Previously, the Japan Sports Association (JASA)
had launched the Instructor Qualification Scheme for each sport in 1977
(which was somewhat similar to the current scheme) with the cooperationof NGBs. There were only about 32,000 people registered for certification
till 1988. In 1989, the scheme was revised, and was incorporated into theproject authorized by the Minister of Education. As a result, more people
were interested in obtaining an instructor qualification and the number ofregistered instructors exceeded 50,000 in 1994.
With the trends of administrative reforms, since 1996 ministry
approval towards any qualification scheme operated by a public interest
corporation is required to be in accordance with the Act. This came tobe recognized as the “Regulations relating to Assessment Project ofKnowledge and Skills of Social Sports Instructors” of the Ministerial
Ordinance, specified based on Article 11 (Improvement of Instructors) of
the “Sports Promotion Act”. All organizations operating the qualification
scheme (including JASA, NGBs and National Recreation Association ofJapan (NRAJ)) became the government-authorized qualification providers.
However, in 2002 the Cabinet office approved the “Implementation
Plan for the Reform of Modalities in the Administration of Public Service
Corporations” and abolished the Minister’s responsibility to ensure the legalityof examinations conducted by public service corporations at the end of 2005.
After this abolition, the JASA reshaped their qualification scheme,
and has been operating their officially authorized “Sports Instructor
Qualification Scheme” ever since. In response to Article 11 (Training ofInstructors) of the “Basic Act on Sport”, the Sport Basic Plan (2012) has set
the following new policy goals: promoting the training of sports instructors,
taking into account the needs of local residents and sports organizations;effectively utilizing qualified sports instructors; training sports instructorsthat can contribute to the success of high performance sports; and enriching
the career paths of top-level athletes and sports instructors.

94 Human Resources for Sports
2. JASA Sports Instructor Qualification Scheme
Table 5-4 shows the five categories and 15 different types ofqualifications that are offered by JASA. With the cooperation of NGBs,JASA provides “Qualifications of Instructors for per Competition” which
are intended to train instructors of each sport, and are composed of six typesof qualifications according to their age and level of skills. To date, JASA has
trained instructors in over 50 different types of sports.
The “Fitness Regime Qualifications” include: “JASA Sports
Programmer” which is a qualification to offer guidance for the maintenanceand improvement of fitness to adults; “JASA Fitness Trainer” which isfor professional fitness instructors to provide various basic fitness training
at private sports facilities; and “JASA Junior Instructor” which is a
Table 5-4 Number of Registered JASA Certified Sports Instructors
Category

Qualification

Number of Registered
Instructors
2010

2013

184,935

247,824

JASA Coach I

90,248104,309

JASA Coach II

14,56814,784

Qualifications of Instructors for each

JASA Coach III

12,263

14,988Competitions

JASA Coach IV

4,589

5,092

JASA Instructor I

3,803

3,830

JASA Instructor II

1,649

1,549

JASA Sports Programmer

4,679

4,759

JASA Fitness Trainer

770

684

JASA Junior Instructor

4,801

5,436

JASA Athletic Trainer

1,493

2,078

JASA Sports Doctor

5,295

5,512

JASA Sports Dietician

35

127

2,208

5,096

JASA Club Manager

168

326

Sports Trainer I

72

55

Sports Trainer II

156

128

Total (excluding sports leaders)

146,797

168,753

Total (including sports leaders)

331,732

416,577

Basic Qualifications of Sports Instructors JASA Sports Basic Leader

Fitness Regime Qualifications

Medical Conditioning Qualifications

Sports Management Qualifications

Former Qualifications

JASA Assistant Club Manager

asofofOctober
October1,1,
2013
as
2013
Note:
to theSportsLeaderqualification,
the number
registeredregisteredin FY2013 inshows
a significant
This isbecause This
the isNote:With
Withregard
regardto theSportsLeaderqualification,
the number
FY2013shows increase.
a significant
increase.
caluculation
methodwas reviewed
and now
total number
registeredinstructors
years is calculated.
because the caluculation
methodwasareviewed
andof now
a totalnumberoverof theregisteredinstructors over the years is
JASA
(2010
and
2013)
calculated.
JASA (2010 and 2013)

Human Resources for Sports 95
qualification to teach children about physical fitness and motion facilitation
through play at local sports clubs.
The “Medical Conditioning Qualifications” include the following
three qualifications: “JASA Athletic Trainer” which is a qualification toprovide instruction in sports injury prevention and rehabilitation; “JASASports Doctor” to undertake the health care, injury prevention, diagnosis andtreatment of athletes; and “JASA Sports Dietician” to provide nutritional
guidance to athletes and enhance their athletic performance.
The “Sports Management Qualifications” are targeted at individuals
who are involved in the management of comprehensive community sports
clubs. The “JASA Assistant Club Manager” is designed to develop staff
members who possess the basic knowledge necessary for the managementof comprehensive sports clubs, and qualified individuals who are expected
to support activities related to club management. The “JASA Club Manager”
is targeting the individuals to improve their management skills including
securing and enhancing the effective use of financial resources to ensure thesound management of sports clubs.
In addition to JASA Sports Doctor qualification mentioned previously,
other sports-related qualifications are offered to physicians by Japan Medical
Association Certificate of Accreditation for Sports Health Physicians andJapanese Orthopedic Association Certificate for Sports Physicians.
Obtaining Qualification
With a few exceptions, anyone who is over 18 years old can undertakecourses to obtain a qualification. The curriculum is divided into two areas:“General Subjects” that involves topics necessary for all sports instructors;
and “Specialized Subjects” that varies depending on the characteristics ofeach qualification. Courses are offered both in a classroom environment and/or distance learning. For “Qualifications of Instructors for per Competition”,
students are provided with practical training and demonstrations in thespecialized subjects. After completing the course, students will take a final
test that they must pass before JASA certifies them with a qualification. In
order to make the qualification official, it must be registered with JASA
along with the specified registration fee. Once the qualification has beenregistered, it is valid for four years and they are required to participate
in seminars designated by JASA or the relevant NGBs to renew thequalification.
With the aim of developing more certified sports instructors, JASA
has been working in collaboration with various educational institutions
including universities and technical colleges. By acknowledging the

96 Human Resources for Sports
curriculum of sports departments of unviersities or sports colleagues that areequivalent to JASA’s instructor training curriculum as “Accredited Schoolfor JASA Sports Instructor Training”, JASA can accept credit transfers fromthose accredited schools. This allows students to be partially or entirely
exempted from taking further seminars or tests to obtain those sports
instructor qualifications.
Number of Registered Instructors
As of October 2013, there were 416,577 qualified instructors
registered with JASA (Table 5-4). The number of those registerd as JASASports Basic Leaders has significantly increased, primarily because of achange in the calculation method. Excluding those Sports Basic Leaders,
the total number of certified instructors in 2013 increased by about 22,000
people, when compared to that number in 2010.
By sports, the number of registered instructors was highest for“football” (32,386), followed by “swimming” (19,729), “volleyball” (14,666)
and “softball” (13,449) (Table 5-5).
3. Disability Sports Instructor Qualification Scheme
The Japanese Para-Sports Association (JPSA) has established the“Para-Sports Instructor Qualification Scheme” to train and certify fourtypes of instructors in order to accommodate the participation of people
with disabilities in various sports activities. The “Beginner’s Para-Sports
Instructor” is to help people with disabilities within the community tointegrate sports into their daily lives; “Intermediate Para-Sports Instructor”
can provide sports instruction to people with disabilities at a prefecturallevel; “Advanced Para-Sports Instructor” provides advanced sports
instruction to people including people with disabilities and other instructors
at a prefecture or region level by utilizing their specialized knowledge andskills as well as advanced teaching techniques; “Sports Coach” is to train
and develop specific skills of para-athletes and organizations in certain
sports. JPSA also offers qualifications such as “Para-Sports Physician”,
who is qualified to work for the improvement of the physical health andperformance level of para-athletes from the medical point of view, and“Para-Sports Trainer” to support the safety management and improve theperformance level of para-athletes (Table 5-6).

Human Resources for Sports 97
Table 5-5 Number of Registered JASA Certified Sports Instructors
per Sport
Number of Registered Instructors

Sport

2013

Football

30,39332,386

Swimming

19,971

19,729Volleyball11,26014,666

Softball

11,572

13,449Basketball

4,411

6,350

Tennis

5,285

5,429

Ski

5,665

4,850

Kyudo (Japanese Archery)

2,408

4,214

Karate

3,593

4,084

Table tennis

3,138

3,466

127,222

144,552

〜

2010

Total
asofofOctober
October
1, 2013as
1, 2013

Prepared based on data provided by JASA
(2010
and
JASA
(2010
and2013)
2013)

Table 5-6 JPSA Certified Sports Instructor Qualifications
Category

Number of Registered Instructors

Beginner's Para-Sports Instructor

17,965Intermediate Para-Sports Instructor

2,502

Advanced Para-Sports Instructor

686Sports Coach125

Para-Sports Physician

234

Para-Sports Trainer

75

asofofAugustAugust31,
31,
2013
as
2013
Note:
includethose
certifiedas Advanced
and Intermediate
Para-Sports
Instructors.
Note:Sports
Sportscoaches
coaches
includethose
certifiedas Advanced
and Intermediate
Para-Sports
Instructors.
JPSA(2013)(2013)
Prepared based on data provided by JPSA

98 Sports Clubs

Chapter 6
Sports Clubs
I. Sports Club Memberships for Adults
1. Membership Trends and Types of Sports Clubs
Membership Trends
According to “The 2012 SSF National Sports-Life Survey”, thepercentage of adults who were enrolled in a sports club, team or group(hereinafter collectively referred to as a “sports club”) was only 19.7%(Figure 6-1). The MEXT’s “Public Opinion Poll on Physical Fitness andSports” (2013) showed a similar result that only 16.2% of adults wereenrolled in sports clubs.
With regard to gender, the proportion of men who were enrolled ina sports club was 22.3%, which was 5.2 percentage points higher than thatof women (17.1%). Conversely, in terms of those who were not enrolled inany sports clubs, the proportion of women was 8.6 percentage points higher(58.9%) than that of men (50.3%).
By age groups, the over-60 age group showed the highest membershiprate of 24.4%, indicating that one in every four individuals are currently
All

19.7

Men

22.3

25.7

54.7

27.4

50.3

Women

17.1

24.0

58.9

20-29

16.1

25.5

58.4

30-39

17.8

26.6

55.6

40-49

17.9

29.8

52.3

50-59

21.3

28.7

50.0

60-69

24.4

22.6

53.0

70 and
older

19.9

0

19.6

20

60.5

40

Currently member

60

Formerly member

80
Never joined

100
（％）

“The 2012 SSF NationalSports-Life
Survey”
SSF NationalSports-Life
Survey(2012)(2012)

Figure 6-1 Membership of Sports Clubs

Sports Clubs 99
enrolled in a sports club. In terms of those who were not enrolled in any
sports clubs, non-membership rates among the over-70s age group (60.5%)
as well as the 20s age group (58.4%) were higher than other age groups.
Figure 6-2 shows the trends in the rate of sports club membershipbased on the findings of “The SSF National Sports-Life Survey” over the
past 12 years. The proportion of adults who were enrolled in a sports clubremained at around 20% from 2002 to 2012.
Membership Status by Types of Sports Clubs
Figure 6-3 shows the types of sports clubs that people participate in.
The most popular clubs were “community sports clubs (mostly managed by
local residents)” at 49.5%, followed by “private sports clubs / fitness clubs”,“workplace clubs” and “alumni clubs”.
By gender, the proportion of women who were members of“community sports clubs” was 11.8 percentage points higher (56.1%) thanmen (44.3%). The same trend was observed in “private sports clubs”, withwomen (32.4%) leading men (15.4%) by 17.0 percentage points. By age
groups, the proportion of the 20s age group who were enrolled in “privatesports clubs” was 15.2%. This percentage increased as they get older,
and reached the highest in the 50s age group (29.6%). The proportion of
respondents who were enrolled in “community sports clubs” also increased
as the age group increased, and exceeded 80% in the over-70 age group,
clearly showing that community sports clubs played an important role for
（％）30

25.6

25
22.0

20

23.2

22.7

22.1

21.2
19.2

19.0

10

2000

20.6
18.8

18.4

18.5

15

21.6

18.0
16.1

15.9

15.9

2002

2004

2006

Men

22.3
19.7

17.1
16.1

2008

Women

2010

2012

（Year）All“The 2012 SSF NationalSports-Life
Survey”
SSF NationalSports-Life
Survey(2012)(2012)

Figure 6-2 Trends in the Rate of Sports Club Memberships

100 Sports Clubs
seniors to participate in sports.
When the annual trends of membership rate were analyzed by types ofsports club, the “community sports clubs” had the highest membership rates(at around 50%), followed by “private sports clubs / fitness clubs” (at around20%), “workplace clubs” (at around 10%) and “others.” A slight increase
was observed in the “others” category, but generally the membership rates
did not have a significant change over the past 10 years.
Among respondents who were not currently enrolled in any sports
clubs, the proportion of those who would like to become a sports clubmember was 22.5%. This number was 10.1 percentage points lower than
the rate (32.6%) reported in the previous survey (2010). By gender, theproportion wanting to enroll in a sports club was higher in women, and by
age the 30s and 40s age groups were the highest.
2. Sports and Physical Activities in Sports Clubs
According to the “Public Opinion Poll on Physical Fitness andSports” (2013) conducted by MEXT, sports and physical activities
performed in sports clubs include “calisthenics (including radio exercises,
workplace exercises, aerobics and jumping rope)”, which were themost popular type of activity at 20.2%, followed by “tennis, soft tennis,
badminton and table tennis, including wheelchair tennis” at 18.6%, “walking(including community walking events and strolling)” at 12.7%, “baseball orsoftball” at 11.1% and “golf” at 10.7%.

All

49.5

Men

22.8
15.4

44.3

Women

7.4

11.3

56.1

20-29

30.4

30-39

34.3

32.4
15.2

21.7
20.9

40-49

46.0

50-59

49.3

60-69

52.7

70 and
older
20

7.9
29.6
29.0

40

60

15.2

22.4

23.8

9.6

12.2
2.9
2.3
6.4

17.4

11.9

83.3

0

10.7

16.7

12.7

10.4
9.54

5.6 4.2 11.3
2.2
7.5 8.6
1.9
11.1
3.7

80

100
（％）

Community clubs
Private sports clubs and finess clubs
Alumni clubs
Workplace clubs
OthersSSF NationalSports-Life
SurveySSF NationalSports-Life
Survey(2012)(2012)

FIgure 6-3 Types of Sports Clubs

Sports Clubs 101
By gender, “baseball or softball” ranked as the most played sports formen at 18.2%, followed by “golf” at 17.6%, “tennis, soft tennis, badminton
and table tennis, including wheelchair tennis” at 17.1%, “walking (including
community walking events and strolling)” at 12.9% and “football or futsal,(including blind football)” at 11.8%. Meanwhile, women ranked “calisthenics(including radio exercises, workplace exercises, shape-up exercises,
aerobics and jumping rope)” as the most enjoyed activity at 36.5%, followedby “tennis, soft tennis, badminton and table tennis, including wheelchairtennis” at 20.4%, “dance (including folk dancing, jazz dancing, ballroom
dancing, traditional dancing and wheelchair dancing)” at 16.1% and “walking(including community walking events and strolling)” at 12.4%.

102 Sports Clubs

II. P articipation in Sports Clubs and School
Sports Clubs by Young People
1. Sports Club Membership for Young People Aged 10-19 Years
According to “The 2013 SSF National Sports-Life Survey of Young
People”, 50.5% of young people aged 10-19 years were members of sports
clubs (in school sports clubs, community sports clubs such as junior sports
clubs, and private sports clubs such as swimming and gymnastic clubs) in2013 (Figure 6-4).
Moreover, the survey found that 28.1% of the respondents wereformer members of sports clubs, and 21.5% had never been a member ofany sports club. This results showed a similar trend to that of the survey in2009 where 49.3% were current members, 31.3% were former members and19.4% had never been members. When calculated with the total populationof young people in Japan (11,920,393 people, according to the basic resident
register as of March 31, 2012), the number of young people who were sports
club members were around 6.02 million people.
By gender, boys accounted for 61.2% of sports club members, while
girls accounted for 38.8%. By school year, the highest membership rate
(61.5%) was found in primary school years. The membership rate continued
to be around 60% in primary and junior high school years, but decreased
to around 40% in high school years, and then 30% in college years. It canbe concluded that high school years are a turning point for young people insports clubs. Moreover, the membership rate in young workers (aged 15-19
years) was significantly low, at 7.1%.
By type of sports clubs, “junior high or high school sports clubs”
ranked the highest at 54.7%, followed by “community sports clubs (juniorsports clubs, local sports classes, dojo, etc.)” at 19.0% and “private sports
clubs (swimming clubs, gymnastic clubs, etc.)” at 16.6% (Figure 6-5).
The survey also examined the presence of sports instructors for the
top ten sports and physical activities that were “frequently performed”
by respondents. The percentage of those who responded that they had
instructors was 54.3%, which indicates that about half of young people aged
10-19 years in Japan play sports and physical activities under the instructionof them. Moreover, when the results were analyzed by sports, the sports that
had the highest likelihood of having instructors was “soft tennis” at 85.4%,
followed by “baseball” at 80.6%, “volleyball” at 78.0%, “table tennis” at
76.3%, “basketball” at 67.4%, “football” at 62.9%, “badminton” at 55.3%,“jogging or running” at 21.1% and “dodgeball” at 10.9%. With regard to
more competitive sports, over 80% of the respondents played “soft tennis”

Worker(15-19)College(18-19)High(15-18)

0

7.1

29.3

46.1

40

41.9

30.7

Formerly member

60

50.0

20.7

17.3

25.6

80

28.8

30.5

13.2

19.3

16.7

21.2

21.5

100（％）“The 2013 SSF NationalSports-Life Survey of Young People” (2013)
SSF National Sports-Life Survey of Young People (2013)

34.6

28.1

Never joined

Figure 6-4 Membership in Sports Clubs among Young People Aged 10-19 years (2013)

20

42.9

62.7

Junior high(12-15)

61.2

61.5

38.8

50.5

Primary(10-12)

Girls

Boys

All

Currently member

Sports Clubs 103

0

2.0

3.2

10

7.2

10.9

20

16.6

19.0

30

40

50

60 （％）“The 2013 SSF National
SurveySurveyof Young
People”(2013)SSF Sports-Life
National Sports-Lifeof Young
People(2013)

54.7

Figure 6-5 Types of Sports Clubs and School Sports Club for Young People Aged 10-19 years (Multiple Answers)

Not sure

College sports clubs(including those two-year colleges and technical colleges)

College groups or clubs(including those two-year colleges and technical colleges)

Primary school sports clubs

Private sports clubs(swimming clubs, gymnastic clubs, etc.)

Community sports clubs(junior sports clubs, local sports classes, dojo, etc.)

Junior high or high school sports clubs

104 Sports Clubs

Sports Clubs 105
and “baseball” in the presence of instructors. However, “football” and“badminton” were only around 60%.
2. School Sports Clubs in Junior High School
When focused on the changes in the total number of junior highschool students and their membership rate in school sports clubs, the total
number of students has decreased slightly in the past five years. However,
the membership rate in school sports clubs has remained at around 66 - 67%.
By gender, the proportion of boys involved in school sports clubs has
hovered at around 77%, while for girls it has remained at around 55%.
When the number of students registered in 2013 were examinedby sports, “football” had the largest number with 253,517 students (aregistration rate of 18.1%), followed by “soft baseball” with 242,290
students (17.3%), “soft tennis” with 174,435 students (12.5%), “basketball”
and “table tennis”. In 2008, soft baseball was the sport that had the largest
number of students registered (over 20%). However, this number decreased
to 17.3% in 2013 (a decrease of 4.1 percentage points over five years). On
the other hand, “football” has shown an increasing popularity in the last
five years. For girls, “soft tennis” was the sport that had the largest number
registered with 197,227 students (a registration rate of 20.9%), followedby “volleyball” with 159,990 students (16.9%), “basketball” with 140,227
students (14.9%), “track and field” and “table tennis.”
3. School Sports Clubs in High School
The changes in the numbers of high school students, students
registered with the All Japan High School Athletic Federation (JHAF) andthe Japan High School Baseball Federation (JHBF), as well as students
enrolled in school sports clubs were analyzed. The results show that the total
number of students has decreased by about 13% in the last ten years. On theother hand, the enrollment rate in school sports clubs has increased by 4.4
percentage points, from 37.4% in 2003 to 41.8% in 2013.
Table 6-1 shows the number of students registered with JHAF in2008 and 2013 by sports. In 2013, “football” had the largest number with
158,199 registered students (accounting for 20.4% of the total). This wasfollowed by sports such as “basketball” with 92,623 students (11.9%), “trackand field” with 69,385 students (8.9%), “tennis” and “badminton”. For girls,“basketball” had the largest number with 60,215 registered students (13.9%),
followed by “volleyball” with 56,055 students (12.9%), “badminton” with
54,591 students (12.6%), “track and field” and “tennis.”106 Sports Clubs

Rank

Table 6-1 N umber of Students Registered in High School Sports
Clubs (Top 10)
Boys

1

Football158,199

20.4

145,291

19.3

2

Basketball92,62311.9

88,007

11.7

3

Track and Field

69,385

8.9

58,3447.8

4Tennis

66,647

8.6

66,4188.8

5Badminton

50,762

6.5

43,736

5.8

6

Table Tennis

48,407

6.2

51,932

6.9

7Soft Tennis

46,615

6.0

47,6566.3

8Volleyball35,597

4.6

41,252

5.5

9

Kyudo
(Japanese archery)

33,6294.3

32,213

4.3

10

Kendo

30,153

3.9

33,492

4.5

Rank

Sports2013
Number of
students

Girls

(%)

2008
Number of
students(%)

Sports2013
Number of
students

1

Basketball60,21513.9

62,98214.1

2Volleyball56,055

12.9

67,071

15.0

3Badminton

54,591

12.6

51,738

11.6

4

Track and Field

37,346

8.6

34,465

7.7

5Tennis36,4748.4

38,283

8.6

6Soft Tennis

34,587

8.0

39,641

8.9

7

Kyudo
(Japanese archery)

32,9897.6

31,790

7.1

8Softball

22,716

5.2

25,620

5.7

9

Table Tennis

19,466

4.5

18,042

4.0

10

Kendo

16,424

3.8

16,281

3.6

(%)

2008
Number of
students

(%)

Note:
Therankings
rankings
results
from survey.
2013 survey.
Note: The
arearethe theresults
from 2013
Japan
High School
Athletic
Federation(2008,2013)2013)
All JapanAllHigh
SchoolAthletic
Federation(2008,

Sports Clubs 107

III. Private Fitness Clubs
1. Trends in Private Fitness Clubs
Market Size
As of the end of December 2012, the market size (in sales) of private
fitness clubs was 412.4 billion yen (a 0.7% increase from the previous year)(Table 6-2). Until 2009, the market for private fitness clubs remained low
as if synchronized with the slow economy. However, the market slowly
began to rise after 2010, with the efforts in the launch of a re-marketingstrategy (that involved the opening of swimming schools in existing fitness
clubs, for example) and the rise of private fitness clubs in lower-revenue andsmaller-market franchises. Despite these efforts, the market was unable tomaintain its upward movement immediately following the Great East Japan
Earthquake on March 11, 2011. However, the impact didn’t last long, andstarting in July 2011 more fitness clubs began to recover from the recession.
The market has continued to make turnarounds since 2012.
Number of Fitness Clubs
The number of newly opened private fitness clubs has remained ataround 200 sites every year since 2010 and these clubs were significantly
dominated by the small-scale gyms. In 2010, 155 small-scale gyms wereopened, followed by 23 studio/single item facilities and 22 general fitness
clubs. In 2011, 159 small-scale gyms were opened, followed by 21 studio/
single item facilities and 12 general fitness clubs. In 2012, 156 small-scale
gyms were opened, followed by 36 studio/single item facilities and 20
general fitness clubs. The reasons behind this trend could be that consumers
have lost their interest in comprehensive fitness facilities, which are now
viewed as old-fashioned. Instead, they have become more interested infinding facilities that focus specifically on the activities they are looking for.

Table 6-2 Market Trend of Private Fitness Club Industry
2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Sales (in millions of yen)

4,157

4,087

4,142

4,095

4,124

（％）
Growth rate※

▲1.5

▲1.7

1.3

▲1.1

0.7

※Changes
salescompared
comparedto theprevious
The growth
basedon thesalesinreachedin 2007※
Changes ininsales
to theprevious
year.year.
The growthrate inrate
2008inis2008
basedison
the sales
reached2007 (422billion (422yen). billion
Note
1: Estimated by the editorial departments of“Fitness Business”and from the MEXT“Current Survey on Selected Service Industries”
yen).
Note
sales above
do notincludedepartments
facilities with of
only
swimming
pools (about
60 million
yen) but
do include
sales onfromswimming
Note2:1:The
Estimatedby theeditorial“Fitness
Business”
and from
the MEXT“Current
SurveySelectedService(for adults and children) offered within sports clubs. The amount is very low, but sales from boxing gyms are also included.
lessons
Industries”
Note
3:“Otherincome”
relatedtofitness
club
management
isincluded.
Note 2: The above sales do not include facilities with only swimming pools (about 60 million yen) but do include sales from
Editorialdepartments
of“Fitness
Business”(2013)
swimming lessons (for adults and children) offered within sports clubs. The
amountis very low,
but salesfrom boxing
gyms are also included.
Note 3: “Other income” related to fitness club management is included.
Based on the findings from the editorial departments of “Fitness Business” (2013)

108 Sports Clubs
The number of facilities closing down has also leveled out, at around20 stores per year. As of the end of December 2012, the total number offitness clubs operating throughout Japan was 3,945 (a 5.3% increase fromthe previous year) (Table 6-3). By location, Tokyo had the highest numberof fitness clubs (43 facilities), followed by Kanagawa (22 facilities) andOsaka (22 facilities). As these results show, more facilities are operated inareas such as Tokyo Metropolitan area and Kinki region, where the levels of
income and the population densities are high.
Membership
The number of private fitness club members has increased from 2011
to 2012, and also in the four years since 2008, it reached the 4 million mark(Table 6-4). As of the end of December 2012, the total number of members
was 4.03 million (an increase by 2.5% from the previous year), accounting
for 3.16% of the total population of Japan. The price of membership fee
has exhibited a decreasing trend while the number of users has shown an
increasing trend. This is primarily due to the launch of different types ofclubs offering lower membership fees, as well as smaller-scale fitness clubs.
Table 6-3 Number of Private Fitness Clubs Facilities
2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Number of facilities

3,269

3,388

3,574

3,745

3,945

Growth rate※
（％）

7.5

3.6

5.4

4.8

5.3

※Changesfacilitiescompared
comparedto theprevious
growthin is2008
is basedon the numberof facilities※
Changes ininfacilities
to theprevious
year.year.
The Thegrowthrate inrate
2008
based
on the numberof facilities
in 2007. in 2007.
Editorialdepartments“FitnessBusiness”
Business”(2013)
Based on the findings from the editorial
departments
ofof“Fitness(2013)

Table 6-4 Membership and Number of Users in Private Fitness
Clubs (2013)2008
Membership
Membership
penetration rate (%)
Total number of users(in ten thousand)Number of users per
facilities
Frequency of use
per year

2009

2010

2011

2012

4,009,082 3,952,970 3,988,164 3,927,229 4,025,410
3.14

3.10

3.17

3.07

3.16

28,66527,631

28,236

27,72630,63387,68781,55679,00474,03577,434

71.5

69.9

70.8

70.6

76.1

Based on the ﬁndings from the editorial
departments
of“Fitness
Business”(2013)All Japan
High School
Athletic Federation(2008,
2013)

Sports Clubs 109
Additionally, the annual usage per facility, which had remained at around70 times per year until 2011, increased to 76 times per year in 2012. This
increase may have been the result of senior members becoming heavier
users, or the effects of the initial strategies used by each fitness club toattract and hold customers. Nonetheless, there is no doubt that this is an
exciting news in the fitness industry, and the rate of membership withdrawal
has been decreasing every year.
Proﬁtability
Although the profitability of most private fitness clubs dropped
to its lowest level in 2010, the market has been in a slow recovery since2011. Private fitness clubs have implemented strategies to improve theirprofitability, such as expanding swimming pools or dance classes, andreviewing their business expenses including rent, labor costs, advertisement
and sales promotions. Other than these immediate efforts, they have nottaken any dynamic measures to improve profitability that involved structuralchanges. Despite this, the presence of emerging venture capital companies
with a clear business model (such as “Curves”, “Anytime Fitness” and“Zexis”) has become more prominent.

110 Sports Clubs

IV. Comprehensive Community Sports Clubs
1. Establishment and Development of Comprehensive Community
Sports Clubs
A comprehensive community sports club (hereinafter referred toas a “Comprehensive Club”) is a sports club that is independently run by
local residents, usually at a public facility or a school facility that is open
to the public. A comprehensive club has the following features: (a) multicategory (multiple categories of sports are offered so that local residents canchoose the activities they prefer); (b) multi-generation (all age groups canparticipate in a variety of sports); (c) multi-purpose (people can participate
in an activity that is well-suited to their level of skills and purpose). Since
1995, MEXT has been promoting the development of comprehensive clubs.
According to the MEXT’s “Survey on the Development of Comprehensive
Community Sports Clubs”(2013), the number of comprehensive clubs has
increased by six times over the 10 years since the beginning of the survey
in 2002 (Figure 6-6). The increase observed in 2005 was particularly
significant, when the number of clubs almost doubled from 1,117 clubs
in 2004, to 2,115 clubs in 2005. After 2006, the increase rate remained ataround 5-8% when compared to the previous year. However, in 2013 theincrease rate was even lower, growing by only 2.9% from the previous year.
The total number of comprehensive clubs was 3,493, of which 3,237 clubs
were already operational (including 32 clubs now currently inactive) and256 clubs were in the process of establishment.
The Sport Basic Plan sets out policy goals that aim to continuously
develop at least one comprehensive club in each municipality, taking into
account the issues experienced by communities such as de-population andaging. This policy aims that comprehensive clubs to play a major role inestablishing the “New Public Commons”, and also serve as a hub club tobring the community together. Additionally, by aiming for more autonomous
management of comprehensive clubs, the Sport Basic Plan specifies thedevelopment of a hub club in every regional municipality (around 300
municipalities nationwide), which will be able to support other local sports
clubs with their club management or provision of sports instruction.

2002

236

305

541

13.1

2003

424

409

833

17.4

2004

635

482

1,117

22.5

2005

1,412

743

2,155

Development Rates

33.0

2006

1,758

658

2,416

42.6

Under preparation for establishment

Established

2007

2,004

551

2,555

48.9

2008

2,233

535

2,768
57.8

2009

2,425

480

2,905
64.9

2010

2,664

450

3,114
71.4

75.4

2012

3,048

348

3,396
78.2

2013

3,237

256

3,493

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

（Year）

79.0

Based on data from MEXT
(2002
−－
2013)
MEXT
(2002
2013)

2011

2,851

390

3,241

90

（％）

Figure 6-6 Changes in the Number of Comprehensive Community Sports Clubs and the Development Rate
(Nationwide)

Numberof clubs
developing:totalofnumberof thoseestablished
and
under
preparation
for development.
Numberof clubs
developing:
The totalThenumberclubs alreadyestablishedand those
under
preparation
for development.
Development
rate:rate:
The proportionof municipalities
developing comprehensive
clubs to the total municipalities.
Development
The proportionof municipalities
developing Comprehensive
Clubs to the total municipalities.

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

（Number of Clubs）

Sports Clubs 111

112 Sports Clubs
2. Management of Comprehensive Community Sports Clubs
The management of comprehensive clubs, such as the numberof members, the financial conditions, and the employment rate of clubmanagers and staff members, can be assessed by the MEXT’s “Survey on
Comprehensive Community Sports Clubs”, which has been conducted since
2003.
Number of Members
Looking at the number of the comprehensive club members
and the changes observed over the years, the most prevalent size for acomprehensive club was 101 to 300 members, accounting for almost 40%of the total since 2005. Those with 300 or fewer members have shown an
increasing trend, whereas a decreasing trend was seen in comprehensive
clubs with 301 to 1,000 members. Clubs with over 1,000 members
accounted for less than 10% of the total.
Membership Fees
Over 90% of the comprehensive clubs collect membership fees.
The most prevalent amount of monthly membership fee was 101 to 400
yen, observed in around 40% of clubs. When combined with those clubs
collecting a monthly membership fee of 0 to 100 yen, the proportion ofcomprehensive clubs with membership fees of 400 yen or less accounted
for more than 60% of the total. The distribution of these fees has notchanged much since 2003, except for those clubs collecting fees of 1,001
yen or more. However, the survey conducted in 2013 recorded the highest
percentage in that category since the beginning of the survey.
Budget Size and Internal Revenue Rate
Looking at the budget sizes of each comprehensive club, those that
had a budget of 1.01 million to 4 million yen accounted for around 50%of the total since 2005. However, this group decreased to around 30% in
2011, and clubs with a budget of 4.01 million or more increased instead(Figure 6-7). Also, looking at the internal revenue rate (based on the ratioof membership fees, operating costs and consignment costs compared torevenue) more than half of the comprehensive clubs (53.6%) had a 50%
or lower internal revenue rate in 2013, and in fact this trend has continued
since 2005. In most cases, other income came from government subsidies
or grants. To ensure their sustainable operation, it is necessary thatcomprehensive clubs become more independent in their club management
without the government subsidies or grants.

0

20

40

60

80

100

㸦㸣㸧

2003

38.7

24.9

11.5

7.6

17.2

2005

19.9

50.9

13.7

7.7

7.8

2006

24.1

48.8

12.7

6.3

8.1

2007

27.5

47.3

11.1

4.9

9.1

1.01 to 4 million yen

2009

27.8

44.8

2010

29.6

40.0

11.7

6.7

12.1

7.01 to 10 million yen

2011

29.1

38.0

12.4

7.5

13.0

2012

29.1

32.8

11.6

9.7

16.9

2013 㸦Year㸧

30.7

33.5

12.7

7.37.

15.8

10.01 million yen or more

based on the MEXT’s “Survey onSurvey
Comprehensive
Community
Clubs”(2003- 2012)on Comprehensive
CommunitySports
Sports Clubs(MEXT,
2003－ 2012)

2008

27.5

48.5

11.3

5.5

10.9

10.6

9.0
4.2

4.01 to 7 million yen

Figure 6-7 Trends in the Budgets of Comprehensive Community Sports Clubs

2004

40.3

30.4

9.9

6.3

13.1

1 million yen or lessSports Clubs 113

114 Sports Clubs
3. New Initiatives for Comprehensive Community Sports Clubs
MEXT has set out the following policies in the “Strategy for Sports
Nation” (2010): deploying outstanding instructors such as retired top athletes
at comprehensive clubs in every regional municipality (300 municipalities
nationwide) that should serve as a hub for the creation of a virtuous cycleof competitive sports and community sports.; and increasing the pool ofsports personnel in local communities for physical education and sports club
activities at schools for the establishment of a closer link between schools
and the local communities. Upon the establishment of these policies, abudget of 570 million yen from the “Special Fiscal Framework to Revitalize
Japan” was used to carry out the “Sports Community Development Project.”
Under the project, 50 comprehensive clubs in 49 municipalities of 29
prefectures implemented “Lecture Tour by High Performance Athletes”,“Initiatives Towards Resolving Community Issues”, and “Support for
Physical Activities in Primary Schools”.
The basic principles of the “Strategy for Sports Nation” are also
enshrined in the Sport Basic Plan, with a further emphasis on the needfor developing hub clubs which will play a major role in supporting
other comprehensive clubs in the community, in terms of management
or any consultative advice with the goal of developing more autonomous
management among those comprehensive clubs. Since 2012, “Sports
Community Development Project” began its implementation as the “Project
on a creation of a virtuous cycle of competitive sports and community
sports”. A budget of 580 million yen was distributed to 46 comprehensive
clubs in 44 municipalities (30 prefectures). In existing hub clubs as wellas in local sports clubs, several sports personnel have begun an active
contribution to develop a virtuous cycle between competitive sports andcommunity sports through the following initiatives:・ “Support for Junior Athletes by High Performance Athletes”
Utilizing top athletes to provide instruction to junior athletes at a
hub club, and assistance or cooperation for projects to resolve local
community issues and improve physical education in primary schools
when required.
・ “Measures to Resolve Local Community Issues”
Carrying out liaisons and coordination to deploy high performanceathletes and specialists to physical education classes in primaryschools, as well as planning and implementing measures to contributeto improving physical fitness and childcare support throughparticipation in sports by local residents in order to establish the “Newpublic commons” through sports.

Sports Clubs 115
・ “Deploying Elementary School Physical Education Activity
Coordinators”
Providing support for the physical education instruction in primaryschools by deploying personnel who are qualified as “Elementary
School Physical Education Activity Coordinators”. These
coordinators can assist in the planning of the physical education
program at primary schools, as well as co-teaching physical education
with a homeroom teacher, and offer support to build a relationshipbetween schools and local communities.
In 2013, 61 comprehensive clubs in 58 municipalities (36 prefectures)
were qualified for the project, which was the highest number to be involved
since the project started. Table 6-6 shows the results of the project. Whenthe number of comprehensive clubs participating in the project and the
project results were analyzed, a steady growth was seen in the number ofclubs, but the FY2013 budget showed an increase of only around 7 million
yen from the previous year. On the other hand, 41 clubs have been serving
as a hub club since the beginning of the project. Those clubs that haveundertaken the projects for the past three consecutive years are required
to become independent in terms of financial support from the MEXT intheir implementation of the project from the following year. Therefore, it
is imperative that they secure financial resources in order to continually
implement the project with their experiences gained through the projects andthe personal connections that they have built over the years.

FY2011

197

Total

425
403

Number of projects
implemented
Number of primary schools
sent toNumber of coordinators

116

39

Others

492

580

106

236

48

113

98

33
42

22

Olympic Games

319

38

278

International
competitions
National
competitions

FY2012FY2013

585

558

163

403

91

213

53

46

479

(Estimated budget: 570,933,000 yen) (Estimated budget: 581,598,000 yen) (Estimated budget: 588,866,000 yen)

Number of organizations

Category

MEXT (2013)

MEXT (2013)

Note 3 :“Others”in the“Deploying high performance Athletes”category refers to those who have previously competed in J. League matches, overseas professional football, JFL, Women's football League, F. League,
football League, F. League, professional baseball, V. League, JBL or the Badminton Nippon League.
professional baseball, V. League, JBL or the Badminton Nippon League.

Note 3: “Others” in the “Deploying high performance Athletes” category refers to those who have previously competed in J. League matches, overseas professional football, JFL, Women’s

Support for Primary
School Physical
Education Activities

Resolving Local
Community Issues

Deploying highperformance athletesContent

Number of athletes

Table 6-5 Results of the Project on a Creation of a Virtuous Cycle of Competitive Sports and Community Sports

116 Sports Clubs

Figures

1-1
2-1
2-2
2-3
2-4
2-5
2-6
2-7
2-8
2-9
2-10
2-11
3-1
3-2
3-3
3-4
3-5
3-6
3-7
4-1
4-2
4-3

Sports Administration Structure in Japan
Rates of Participation in Sports and Physical Activities
over the years
Rates of Participation in Sports or Art Activities (ByType of Disability and By Age)
Rates of Sports Participation for Children Aged 4-9 years
Frequency Levels of Participation for Children Aged 4-9
years (By Gender and By School Year)
Rates of Sports Participation for Young People Aged 1019 years
Rates of Sports Participation for Young People Aged 1019 years (By Gender and By School Year)
Rates of Adults Spectating Live Sports Events
Rates of Adults Spectating Live Sports Events (By
Gender and By Age)
Rates of Volunteering in Sports among Adults (By
Gender)Rates of Volunteering in Sports among Adults (By Age
Group)
Rates of Volunteering in Sports among Young People
Aged 10-19 years (By Gender)
Trends in the Sports Budget of MEXTSports Budget in Prefectures (2012)Sports Budget in Municipalities (2012)Sports Promotion Lottery System and Allocation ofSales Revenue (2013)
Distribution of Revenue Size (Budgets) for National
Governing Bodies of Sports
Breakdown and Trends in Sports Budget of MEXT
Flow of Funds related to Enhancement of High PerformanceSportsNumber of Public and Private Sports Facilities in Japan
Trends in the Number of Sports Centers for People with
Disabilities
Categories of Sports Centers for People with Disabilities
Based on the Purpose of their Establishment

5
16
22
26
26
30
31
35
36
41
42
44
48
50
50
53
63
65
68
70
85
85

5-1
6-1
6-2
6-3
6-4
6-5
6-6
6-7

Composition of the Departments in Charge of Sports
Administration in Prefectures and Municipalities
Membership of Sports Clubs
Trends in the Rate of Sports Club Memberships
Types of Sports Clubs
Membership in Sports Clubs among Young People Aged
10-19 years (2013)
Types of Sports Clubs and School Sports Clubs for
Young People Aged 10-19 years (Multiple Answers)
Changes in the Number of Comprehensive Community
Sports Clubs and the Development Rate (Nationwide)
Trends in the Budgets of Comprehensive Community
Sports Clubs

88
98
99
100
103
104
111
113

Tables

2-1
2-2
2-3
2-4
2-5
2-6
2-7
2-8

2-9
2-10

2-11
2-12
2-13
2-14
2-15
2-16
2-17
2-18
3-1
3-2

Levels of Participation in Sports and Physical Activities
Rates of Participation in Sports and Physical Activities
over the years (By Gender)
Rates of Participation in Sports and Physical Activities
over the years (By Age)
Rates of Participation in Sports and Physical Activities
over the years (By Types of Sports)
Number of Registered Players and Estimated Participants
Cat egories of Participation in Sports and Physical
Activities for Children Aged 4-9 years
Ranking of Participation in Sports and Physical Activities
by Children Aged 4-9 years (At Least Once a Year)
Ranking of Participation in Sports and Physical
Activities by Children Aged 4-9 years (Those Who “Often
Participated in” By Gender)
Levels of Participation in Sports and Physical Activities
by Young People Aged 10-19 years
Ranking of Participation in Sports and Physical
Activities by Young People Aged 10-19 years (At Least
Once a Year)
Ranking of Participation in Sports and Physical Activities
by Young People Aged 10-19 years (Often Participated in)Popular Spectator Sports (Multiple Answers)
Rates of Sports Viewing and Sports Participation in
Adults (2012)
Rates of Sports Viewing and Sports Participation in
Young People Aged 10-19 years (2013)
Popular Sports Viewing on TV for Adults (2012)
Popular Sports Viewing on TV for Young People Aged
10-19 years (2013)
Types of Volunteering in Sports (Multiple Answers)
Types of Volunteering in Sports by Young People Aged
10-19 years (Multiple Answers)
Trends in the Physical Fitness Budget
International Comparison of the Sports Budgets

15
18
19
21
24
25
27

28
29

33
34
36
37
37
39
40
43
45
47
49

3-3
3-4
3-5
3-6
3-7
4-1
4-2
4-3
4-4
4-5
5-1
5-2
5-3
5-4
5-5
5-6
6-1
6-2
6-3
6-4
6-5

Trends in Sales Proceeds from the Sports Promotion
Lottery and Subsidy Amounts
Trends and Breakdown of Sports Promotion Fund
Subsidies
Funding for Sports Projects through Revenues from
Public Gambling
Revenue and Expenditure of Sports Organizations
Budgets of MEXT and JSC for Policies to Enhance High
Performance Sports (2013)
Number of Public Sports Facilities and School Sports
Facilities by Facility Types
Major Subsidy Programs for Sports Facility Maintenance
Trends in the Amounts of Subsidies for Public Sports
Facility Maintenance from MEXT
Main Facilities of City Parks subjected to the Subsidy
Event-Specific Affiliated National Training Center
Facilities
Number of Staff Members in National Governing Bodies
of Sports
Number of Employees in Sports Industries
Number of University Students and Faculty Members in
Physical Education and Sports Departments
Number of Registered JASA Certified Sports Instructors
Number of Registered JASA Certified Sports Instructors
per Sport
JPSA Certified Sports Instructor Qualifications
Number of Students Registered in High School Sports
Clubs (Top 10)
Market Trend of Private Fitness Club Industry
Number of Private Fitness Clubs Facilities
Membership and Number of Users in Private Fitness
Clubs (2013)
Results of the Project on a Creation of a Virtuous Cycleof Competitive Sports and Community Sports

54
56
58
60
66
71
73
74
76
80
89
90
92
94
97
97
106
107
108
108
116

Picture Credits

Cover center: © Koji Aoki/AfloCover upper: © Aflo
Cover middle: © AP/AfloCover lower: © AfloPage 4: SSF World Sports Photo Contest 1995
Page 32: SSF World Sports Photo Contest 2004
Page 38: SSF World Sports Photo Contest 2004
Page 51: SSF World Sports Photo Contest 1998
Page 59: SSF World Sports Photo Contest 1996
Page 82: The Karuizawa Ice Park
Page 86: SSF World Sports Photo Contest 2002
Page 91: SSF World Sports Photo Contest 1995
Page 101: SSF World Sports Photo Contest 2004
Page 109: SSF World Sports Photo Contest 2004
Page 115: SSF World Sports Photo Contest 2002