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16 December 2015
Sport for Tomorrow Consortium

The Netherlands and Japan Strengthen Relations Through Sport at aWheelchair Basketball Event Held as Part of the Sport for Tomorrow Programme

Photo from Sport for Tomorrow Consortium

As part of the Sport for Tomorrow programme, a Wheelchair Basketball Experience event washeld on 9 November 2015 to mark the official visit to Japan of the Prime Minister of theNetherlands His Excellency Mark Rutte. The event was hosted jointly by the Japanese
Paralympic Committee and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Japan at theShiba Junior & Senior High School, in Tokyo’s Minato ward. Players from both the Dutch andJapanese national teams taught 30 children the basic techniques of the sport and the children
then had the opportunity to try it out for themselves.
Japanese Wheelchair Basketball players, Kiyoshi Fujisawa and Wataru Horie, and Dutch
national team members, Marc van de Kuilen and Mustafa Korkmaz with team manager Toine
Klerks first demonstrated how to pass basketballs and shoot baskets from a wheelchair to 30
elementary and junior high school children, 15 each from Japan and Netherlands. The children
then played a match with these players and experienced the excitement of the sport firsthand.
The players also played a 2x2 match, and the watching children were amazed to see the skills
and intensity of Wheelchair Basketball.
Under the theme “Japan and the Netherlands Connecting through Sports,” the aim of the event
was to send the message that sport fosters health, social unity and self-esteem. It also
highlighted how anyone can enjoy the benefits of sport regardless of physical impairment. Also inattendance were Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Japan■Sport for Tomorrow Consortiumhttp://www.sport4tomorrow.jp/

Radinck Jan van Vollenhoven, Japanese Paralympic Committee President Mitsunori Torihara,
Japan Sports Agency Commissioner Daichi Suzuki, and Governor of Tokyo Yoichi Masuzoe.
The event was co-hosted by the Japanese Paralympic Committee and the Embassy of theKingdom of the Netherlands in Japan, with the cooperation of the Tokyo Metropolitan Sports
Association for the Disabled, and the Japan Wheelchair Basketball Federation. It was also
supported by the Dutch national government, which is promoting the enhancement of sportingties between the Netherlands and Japan. The event has been recognised as an initiative of theSport for Tomorrow programme, a Japanese government-initiated promotion for international
cooperation through sport. The Sport for Tomorrow Consortium coordinated public and private
sector member organisations to identify the best way for them to collaborate to ensure the event
served as a valuable opportunity to promote the power of sport. Sport provides a wonderful outlet
for persons with an impairment to become more engaged in social activities, and pioneers theway towards a fully inclusive society. Recognising these benefits, the consortium is working toeffectively demonstrate the power of sport to act as a force for good through the Sport forTomorrow programme. Kiyoshi Fujisawa, a member of the Japanese team at the InternationalWheelchair Basketball Federation Asia Oceania Championships, was delighted with theopportunity the event offered to the children: “It was fantastic to see children from different
countries interact and get to know each other through Wheelchair Basketball. This kind of event
really shows the true value of sport.”
For further inquiries, please contact:
Weber Shandwick
Email：sportfortomorrow@webershandwick.com
About the Sport for Tomorrow Programme:
The Sport for Tomorrow programme is one of the Japanese government’s commitments toleveraging the power of sport and further promoting the Olympic and Paralympic movements tocreate a brighter future for people throughout the world. The programme aims to implement avariety of sporting events and activities that will engage over ten million people in over 100
countries spanning a seven-year period, culminating in 2020. This will enable Japan to achieve
its objectives of providing assistance to developing countries, training future sports leaders at
new international sports academies, and protecting both athletes and the integrity of sport bypromoting global anti-doping initiatives. In 2014, the Sport for Tomorrow programme engaged
some 520,000 worldwide people through its various activities.

About the Sport for Tomorrow Consortium:
The Sport for Tomorrow Consortium was launched in August 2014 in order to align theconcerned organisations in both the public and private sectors with a common vision. Chaired byrepresentatives of the Japan Sports Agency, the newly established government agency within
the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and the Ministry ofForeign Affairs (MOFA), the consortium’s Steering Committee is made up of key members of theJapanese sporting community with the remit of making the optimal use of existing resources.
The Japan Sport Council serves as the consortium’s secretariat.
###■Sport for Tomorrow Consortium
http://www.sport4tomorrow.jp/