2010 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 27-42
The Japan Sports Association (JASA) and the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC), which are the overall supervisors of sporting activity in Japan, were established in 1911. However, neither organization has been considered to be constitutionally or financially independent, as they have historically relied too much on the Japanese Government or financial institutions since their establishment. Therefore their projects, since before the Second World War, have been constructed to emphasize national policies that aim at the improvement of top athletes’ performance. Furthermore, both the JASA and the JOC have not been active in efforts to popularize sports for ordinary Japanese citizens.
These organizations turned their focus around 1970 from the strengthening of athletes to the popularization of sports by following the worldwide “Sports for All” movement. However, the idea of “Sports as National Policy,” based on an ideology favoring great powers, has been prevailing once again since just before the beginning of the 21st century, as nations began to prefer top athletes that would produce more medals at the Olympic Games.
This study historically reviews the notion of “Sports as National Policy,” and points out the current policy aimed at strengthening top athletes in an effort to increase performance or to obtain more medals. I argue that the policy itself is focused mainly on statistics, and that it ignores the essentials of sports. The study proposes a scheme through which this fault can be overcome, through the unification and popularization of sports.
