2012 Volume 22 Issue 1 Pages 209-214
In this article, the authors studied how the strength of sports could contribute to reconstructing Japan after the great East Japan earthquake, based on the following two researches. One was a survey of the sports-related associations and companies to figure out the actual situation of the kind activities they carried out for reconstruction. The other one was a survey of people who were living in the ruined area caused by the great East Japan earthquake to assess how they felt about the efforts for reconstruction which the sports-related associations and companies did and what effects these efforts had on them.
The study revealed that about 80% of the sports-related association and companies carried out some efforts for reconstruction, such as monetary donations, charity events and relief supplies. On the other hand, it showed that very few people in the disaster area had met these efforts for reconstruction. However, regarding TVCM including the message from sport athletes to encourage people for reconstruction, it showed that 80% of people in the ruined area watched TVCM and more people who watched TVCM answered “sports can contribute to reconstruction” in comparison with people who did not watch TVCM.
These results lead to the suggestion that the power of sports could contribute to reconstructing Japan and that promoting the communication of efforts by the sports-related associations and companies for reconstruction will help to enhance the power of sports for reconstruction.
