2018 年 3 巻 p. 53-68
Establishment of the Athlete Development System (ADS) has been positioned as an important effort of the success in high performance sport. The review paper summarized the initiatives of the gov-ernments and national sport organizations to establish the ADS after the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games. Also, we analyzed the current situation of the ADS in Japan. As a result, the definition of the ADS has changed from explaining a direct relationship between training volume/intensity and performance to taking a systematic approach incorporating many factors related to the ADS. Since 2010, each na-tional sport organization has formulated a medium to long-term strategic plan. However, we need to reaffirm that the current strategic plan is focusing on the final stage of achieving medals at major competitions. We suggest that the quality and effectiveness of each of sport organization is positioned as an important effort of the success in high performance sport. The review paper summarized the initiatives of governments and sport organizations’ youth programs, which are the foundation for the success at the senior level. If the national sport organizations were not able to improve their athlete development pathway program, it would not lead to the sustainable ADS in the near future. Therefore, looking ahead to 2020 and beyond, each sport organization needs to establish a unique Japanese athlete development framework by considering the background of Japanese society.