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Every year, Japan holds the Japan Games (previously the National Sports Festival), a multi-sport event that brings together athletes from across Japan to compete in various sports. This article discusses the historical background, key features, and ongoing challenges of the event.
The National Sports Festival, predecessor of the Japan Games, was established in 1946, during the post-war reconstruction period, to give hope and courage to people, especially young people, through sport. In fact, it made a significant contribution to the spread and promotion of sport and the improvement of athletic performance in Japan. It also contributed to the development of infrastructure for local communities and industry, such as paved roads.
The National Sports Festival was previously called Kokumin Taiiku Taikai in Japanese, often abbreviated to Koku-Tai. This year, the Japanese name, Kokumin Taiiku (which means physical education in Japanese) Taikai was changed to Kokumin Sports Taikai. The aim of including the word “sports”, which is commonly used worldwide, is to share the value of sports with people around the world, and to work in cooperation with countries around the world to achieve social change through the power of sports.
Just as the Paralympic Games take place shortly after the Olympic Games, the National Sports Festival for People with Disabilities is held at the same venue shortly after the Japan Games.
The first National Sports Festival was held in the Keihanshin region (Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe), which was spared from extensive wartime damage, and has been held almost every year since. The most recent Japan Games and National Sports Festival for People with Disabilities were held in Saga Prefecture, located on the island of Kyushu, with 37 and 17 sports respectively.
The Japan Games is Japan’s largest and most comprehensive amateur sport festival, often considered as a domestic version of the Olympic Games. The aims of the Japan Games are to widely disseminate sporting activity, spread the sporting spirit, improve the physical health and strength of the people, promote regional sports, contribute to the development of local culture, and enrich the national lifestyle. The Japan Games consists of the main autumn Games along with a Winter Games.
The venue for the autumn Games rotates through the 47 prefectures and has already entered its second round of hosting and will reach its third round in 2035.
The Japan Games is a prefecture-based competition that determines which prefecture will achieve overall victory. To do this, individual event rankings are converted into points, and the prefecture with the highest total points wins. The Emperor's Cup is awarded for overall victory in the men’s events, with the Empress's Cup awarded for overall victory in the women’s.
The Japan Games are at a crossroads. Although they have contributed to promoting sports participation and improving the competitive level of athletes, there have been challenges surrounding the Games.
The event had become more labor-intensive and costly due to rivalry among the host prefectures to make the Games bigger and more competitive. The view that the Games were no longer necessary began to emerge after 1998, as the Games entered their second round of hosting.
The Games have been partially reformed in response to public concerns. For example, the Japan Sport Association (hereinafter JSPO) created a reform plan in 2003, which featured simplified operations, a unified summer and fall event and a reduced number of participating athletes. However, the burden on the host prefectures, especially the cost, has yet to be resolved.
In August this year, one prefectural governor questioned whether the Japan Games truly contribute to community building or revitalization, given Japan’s existing challenges such as an aging demographic, declining population, and the burden of dealing with natural disasters. The possibility of abolishing the Games was also raised.
SSF President Kazutoshi Watanabe has been appointed to an expert panel established by the JSPO. The panel consists of approximately 30 members, including representatives from local governments, sports organizations, and former athletes. He attended the panel's first meeting on September 4 and the second on November 20. The panel is discussing the future vision of the Japan Games and ways to make the Games more sustainable. Reform proposals compiled by the panel are scheduled to be submitted to the JSPO by the end of March 2025. The JSPO will seek input from panel members on easing facility requirements, utilizing existing venues, scaling back the opening ceremony, reducing the number of participating athletes, reducing the number of sports involved, and encouraging the participation of top-level athletes.
This challenge attracts many people’s attention. SSF will also keep its eyes on how this challenge will lead the reform of the Games.
Japan Games Saga 2024
https://saga2024.com/en/
Japan Games (JSPO website)
https://www.japan-sports.or.jp/english/tabid644.html
Reform plan released by JSPO in 2003 (Available in Japanese only)
https://www.japan-sports.or.jp/Portals/0/data0/kokutai/pdf/reform_gaiyo.pdf
SSF article (Available in Japanese only)
https://www.ssf.or.jp/knowledge/spi/45.html
The first expert panel meeting (Available in Japanese only)
https://www.japan-sports.or.jp/kokutai/news/tabid78.html?itemid=5046
The second expert panel meeting (Available in Japanese only)
https://www.japan-sports.or.jp/kokutai/news/tabid882.html?itemid=5068
