This paper deals with the motion analysis of skiing turns using joint angle and gliding velocity of skier. The joint angle is calculated from the 3D orientation estimated by using information from an orientation measurement system. The gliding velocity is estimated from GPS receiver output, accelerometer output and 3D orientation.
    The measurement experiment was conducted by skiers, to whom the measurement system was attached. The hip joint angle and the gliding velocity of skidding turn and carving turn were estimated by sensor fusion. The joint angle and the gliding velocity indicated the different motions in these turns. Furthermore, the motion analysis using both the joint angle and the gliding velocity indicated the motion timing at switchover and change of turns and the effect of side skidding.
    The results of motion analysis using both the joint angle and the gliding velocity obtained more major features than the motion analysis obtained by using each one alone. The proposed motion analysis method can be used to evaluate the skill quantitatively.

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    Although there have been numerous reports on decision-making process models attempting to explain various consumer behaviors, no study applying the decision-making process to sports training camps had been undertaken thus far. The purpose of this study was to clarify the decision-making process and to identify the decision-makers in high school and university sports teams. Aiming toward this objective, a semi-structured interview method was adopted. The respondents were from 12 sports teams that visited four cities in Niigata Prefecture. These teams were further broken down into eight university teams, one university club, and three high school teams. As a result, the decision-makers of the sports training camp were divided into two categories : the coach/advisers and the student leader/student in charge of the camp. The decision-making process was carried out by two groups: the groups asking travel agencies for proposals and the groups not asking for the same. Moreover, it was clarified that there were two factors influencing the decision-making process in the sports training camp. The first was the process of arranging and changing reservations in the sports training camp, and the second was the associations needed to be formed in order to reserve accommodations toward securing available sports facilities for the sports teams. Though the common prerequisite for attending the sports training camp was found to be circumstances that were amenable to training, certain differences between the groups were also revealed, and it was clarified that factors such as enthusiasm on the part of the sales person of travel agencies and the flexibility exhibited by the local organizer regarding the sports teams influenced the re-visit behavior. Contemplating these results and exploring the decision-making process carried out in the sports training camp, the decision-making process DAAR [comprising Desire, Association, Action, and Re-visit] was developed in this study.

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    The purpose of the current study was to investigate the need for media training among athletes in Japan. This study was the culmination of a two part project. In order to examine the need for media training, the first data set was collected from Japanese national athletic federations, using survey questionnaires. The results indicate that approximately 80% of the national athletic federations need media training for athletes and coaches. Further qualitative interviews were also conducted with two informants in order to gain insights into the relationships between the media and the national athletic federations. The second data collection was conducted with three interviewees who work at broadcasting companies. The results indicate there are specific needs for media training among athletes in terms of promoting (1) a better understanding of sport media and (2) an appropriate response to media interviews. We believe the findings and results will make a significant contribution to the study of athletes’ media training, impression management, public relations, and branding.

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    The purpose of the study was to examine the association between participation in an event for promoting cervical cancer screening through a sports activity called "The Cervical Cancer Awareness Walk" and behavior, knowledge and attitude associated with screening and prevention of cervical cancer. The participants included 142 women who participated in the awareness walk. Among these women, 17 were in their teens (12.0%) , 47 were in their twenties (33.1%) , 15 were in their thirties (10.6%) , 31 were in their forties (21.7%) , 14 were in their fifties (9.9%) and 18 were over 60 years old (12.7%) . A survey was conducted that included questions pertaining to the purpose of participation in the awareness walk and behavior, knowledge and attitude associated with screening and prevention of cervical cancer. Chi-square test showed a significant relationship between age and cervical cancer screening behavior. The rate of cervical cancer screening in participants over 30 years was high (>50%) , but the rate of participants in their teens and twenties was low (13%) . There was a similar tendency for the relationship between age and past experience of participation in cervical cancer screening events. Of the participants, there were a few people who had been inoculated by the HPV vaccination in all age groups. Women who participated in the cervical cancer awareness walk and who knew about prevention of cervical cancer and were interested in prevention of cervical cancer comprised 27% and 51%, respectively, and the rates in young women aged in their teens and twenties were higher than those in middle-aged and older women. Furthermore, there was a high percentage (95%) of young women who wanted to receive vaccination and screening for cervical cancer after participating in the cervical cancer awareness walk. These findings suggest that an event for promoting cancer screening though sports activity is positively related to knowledge and attitude regarding cervical cancer.

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    The purpose of this study was to clarify the education received by young top athletes in their youth, by holding interviews with the parents who brought them up.
    The semi-structured interviews had thirteen points in common, for example; the aim of special sports was a pleasure in a happy home and parents were absorbed in supporting their children. These results suggested it is important for the parents to give their children environments to form abilities of communication and idea circulation through sports.

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    The purpose of this study was to clarify the features of domestic marathons, and to present the problems and remedial measures of each feature. 51 domestic marathons were classified into four groups, based on the time limit, the hosting institution, the size of the turnout, and the rate of female participants. The features from the results were considered, and the rallies that made the best use of the characteristics of the game and of the region were presented.

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    The aim of this study was to trace the historical evolution and trends of the research areas of sports. Recently not only has the sports industry been growing, but also many universities have started to engage in research and education on sports. However, it is very difficult to comprehend all the perspectives of the research areas of sports which include such a wide variation.
    We analyzed the citation networks of the research areas of sports and sports management, which has been growing rapidly, in 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003, and 2008.
    As the outcome of this study, we realized that the numbers of papers has been increasing in both the areas of sports and sports management. In particular, study of sports ethology, including “motivation management” or “participation motivation in sports” has been studied continually. In the 2000s, in addition to the rapid growth of studies of sports business such as those regarding management of professional sport teams or economic impact of sports, studies of sports sponsorship and brand equity have also greatly developed. Also, the study of sports medicine has been segmented according to affected areas and the evolution of sports. Moreover, study of people’ s health and the rehabilitation has increased from the late 1990s. However, it can be considered that the study of social sciences, including women’ s participation in sports, or drug-use, has diminished.
    This study’ s results will help identify the research trends and historical evolution of sports. We hope that analyzing the front-line of the research areas of sports periodically using our method will contribute to the development of the study of sports in Japan.

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    The purpose of this research was to find out the performance of the players from youth teams in Japanese Professional Football League (J-League) clubs. Firstly, to measure the performance of the players from youth teams, we researched the J-League’ s official website referring to the players’ participation records. Secondly, we used the Youth Development Index (YDI) and classified the players from youth teams into three groups (starters, substitutes, others) . In this research, we used YDI as the number of the players from youth teams who are starters or substitutes in each club. As a result, it was found that YDI of the entire J-League clubs rose between the 2002 season and the 2010 season. The average YDI of J-League clubs increased from 1.22 (2002 season) to 2.52 (2010 season) . It can be said that youth development achievement has gone up in the entire J-League. On the other hand, it was found that “the others” (the players who were not in YDI) who scarcely participate in the games in top teams increased more than YDI. It was shown that the number of “the others” increased from 1.33 (2002 season) to 4.11 (2010 season) . Thus it can be said that this is a problem to be solved in the entire J-League.

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    This study aimed at clarifying the differences between the biggest and smallest attendances in the J. League, as influenced by away club. The background is that case management using the popularity of the away club was reported, and precedence research was done to analyze the attendance according to away club.
    We analyzed the J. League from 1993 to 2010 to clarify the influence of the away teams on away game match attendance. We searched for the differences between match attendance in away games and the season average match attendance of home clubs over 18 seasons.
    The following results were obtained. In 18 seasons, 4 clubs had maximum differences and 8 clubs had minimum differences. The difference between maximum and minimum attendances was 10,000 to 15,000. Regarding the trend since 2001, we found that the differences tended to be larger.
    From the obtained results, it was considered that club management in the J. League should consider the influence of the popularity of away clubs on attendance.

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    “Jian Shen Lu Jing” (JSLJ) is an installation site located in places like parks, residential areas, etc. At such places, health appliances are installed, which use one’ s body weight as the load, and JSLJ are a public sports establishment for physical activity. JSLJ was first established in September 1996 at the TianHe Gymnasium of Guangzhou, China. The health appliances are mainly used outdoors. Further, their durability, maintenance, and safety design are taken into consideration. On the basis these facets, the basic apparatus gymnastics tools such as iron bar and wall bar are included. Additionally, some original health appliances are also installed to strengthen the entire muscles of the body and to improve the joint movements, which become feeble as we grow older.
    The Chinese State General Administration of Sports and the Sports Bureau play a vital role in developing JSLJ. The Chinese State General Administration of Sports had conducted 12 fitness programs from 1997 to 2008. The total number of JSLJ maintained throughout the country is 8,727. The eastern region comprises of 1,958 centers, whereas the middle and western regions have 3,091 and 3,678 fitness centers respectively. The development of JSLJ is based on regions; in the middle and western region (the internal region) , there are a higher number of JSLJ as compared to the ones in the eastern region. In China, it is considered that the development of JSLJ tends to move from the coastal area towards the internal region. JSLJ complements the lack of adequate public sports establishment and it has shown that the regional health disparity can be alleviated or minimized through policy intervention.

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    The purpose of this study was to describe the establishment process of the Exercise self-help group “Hatsuratsu Kenkou Kyoshitsu (Classroom for Healthy Living) ” established through cooperation between the community-dwelling elderly and a health fitness instructor. Based on the needs of the community-dwelling elderly persons who “want to exercise” , an exercise program was provided by a health fitness instructor from April, 2008. Registration membership in 2010 was 45 people (average age 73.3 years old) . By October 2010, a total number of 2,589 people participated in the program (the mean participation number of each program was 28 people) . One entrance fee was 500 yen and the program has been continued without showing a loss. “Keeping the safe place” will be an important issue for maintaining program in the long term.

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    We developed an evaluation system for helping the social value management of Japanese rugby and for generating a synergistic effect between the economic value and social value of Japanese rugby. “Social value” refers to the social role of Japanese rugby and the value of Japanese rugby parties and other such activities.
    In this paper, we explain a method of research and analysis regarding the social value of Japanese rugby for developing an evaluation system. We regard the social value of Japanese rugby using a broad image. This method consists of collecting and analyzing information about the social value of Japanese rugby. Questionnaire surveys regarding 2,268 rugby parties and interviews with 91 important figures of Japanese rugby were conducted to collect a large amount of diverse qualitative information. The analysis results obtained were as follows. First, 38 elements of the social value were consolidated from the information. Next, 76 key statements were extracted from the information.

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BACKGROUND : Since the decline of children′s muscle strength has become a problem, resistance training (RT) is effective for improving muscle strength even of children. Introducing the circuit training (CT) program into community-based sports clubs (SC) would be a one of the effective strategies to promote RT for children. In order to disseminate this, CT prediction of the market scale is necessary.
PURPOSE : The purposes of this study were 1) to examine whether there is a feasibility of introducing CT programs in urban areas SC from the viewpoint of willingness to pay of potential customers, and 2) to identify the price that will generate the largest market scale.
STUDY I : In the WTP survey, the participants were 694 parents of children attending public elementary school in Tokyo. A questionnaire survey was conducted. The answers of 403 participants were valid. The prevalence of potential customers who were willing to pay was 74.94 ± 4.23% for over 3,000 yen, and was 48.14 ± 4.88% for over 5,000 yen. The percentage of them decreased to 17.62±3.7% in for 6,000 yen.
STUDY II : The market scale was investigated by the offer price based on the results of study I. The price was estimated in the case of introduction to one city in the Edogawa Ward, Tokyo. The largest market scale found in a month was 2.35-2.88 million yen in the case provided by 5,000 yen, 2.01-2.43 million yen in case provided by 4,000 yen and 2.30-2.58 million yen in the case provided by 3,000 yen.
DISCUSSION : These results suggest that introduction of CT programs would be feasible to establish SC in urban areas, and that the price of 5,000 yen a month would be appropriate for creating the largest market size considering operational efficiency.

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    The purpose of this article was to describe and report on our “Child-friendly Yoga Class” for mothers. The class was aimed at contributing the opportunity for mothers in the childcare stage, to gain “exercise” “refreshing” and “contact with society,” since many women who become mothers tend to be temporarily left isolated from society. The yoga class for mothers was organized in order to help solve related problems, such as depression or abuse increased by stress related to childcare. The number of participants gradually increased, and several positive effects for both mental and physical were reported from the participants, such as resolving physical inactivity, improving shoulder stiffness and low back pain, and refreshing for mood change. Furthermore, becoming friends in the yoga class was promoted, so that the mothers were able to achieve a breakaway from “isolated parenting” and increase communication between mothers.
    This report suggests that the “Child-friendly Yoga Class” not only contributed to their physical and psychological health, but also became a “Community” providing a social network for mothers.

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    In order to create a supportive environment for physical activity, the “Jian Shen Lu Jing (JSLJ) ” has been promoted in China. A unique point of the JSLJ is that all JSLJ are funded by the Chinese sports lottery. From 1997 to 2008, a total of 11,000 JSLJ were built and about 30 billion Renminbi (RMB) from the Chinese sports lottery were invested in the JSLJ. This study aims to describe the financial system of THE JSLJ in China. According to the “National Health Promotion Plan,” income from the sports lottery should be provided for the JSLJ every year. In 12 years, a total of 10.2 billion RMB was provided to the JSLJ from the General Administration of Sports and 19.8 billion RMB from the Local Administration of Sports. The fact that the funding of the JSLJ did not increase the government’ s financial burden could also be regarded as suggesting one effective way to promote physical activity among the larger population in China. In conclusion, through a comparison with Japan, the results of the present study show that funding resources of the sports lottery in China were applied to supporting the physical environment. In future studies, further identification of the maintenance of the JSLJ, and of more effective ways to utilize sports lottery to support the physical environment will be important.

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Purpose : The purpose of this study was to investigate how decisions were made to hold or cancel walking events after the Tohoku region Pacific coast earthquake, and whether any problems were caused by the actions.
Methods : Four walking events were selected (2 cases of holding and 2 cases of cancellation) from among the Japanese major walking events which were scheduled from 12^th March to the end of April in 2011. Subsequently, interview surveys were conducted with 4 participants who belonged to the executive committees of each event. The questions included how the decisions were made to hold or cancel the walking events, the actions after their decisions and the problems that resulted from the actions.
Results : The results showed that there was not an unfavorable opinion from stakeholders after holding or cancellation was decided, as far as members of the planning committees knew, in all of cases. The fact that cancellation resulted in deficits because of paid-back registration fees was identified. On the other hand, the fact that the races which were held could avoid deficits by controlling expenses, even though the number of participants decreased by hundreds because of the earthquake disaster, was identified.
Discussion : These results indicate that the planning committees were less likely to be criticized for holding / cancellation of walking events, if they could take appropriate actions after their decisions. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate that taking advanced preparations such as controlling budget carefully might lower the risks after natural disasters occur.

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PURPOSE : The purpose of this study was to report on influence of earthquake disasters on the Tokyo metropolitan municipalities nursing care prevention management.
METHODS : The research targets were the people who were engaged in nursing care prevention projects operated by 3 local governments in the Tokyo metropolitan municipality. There were 13 people in total. The research period started after the earthquake from March 17th to April 27^th, 2011. The research focused on the management of the participants after the earthquake. Interviews on the cases of some participants were conducted with the people engaged. Then a memo was taken and a record and analysis was made.
RESULTS : The results showed that the program was suspended in S-ward for 1 week, for 20 days in C-ward, and in K-ward there was a non-exclusive license. S-ward and C-ward gave priority to safety of elderly persons, and K-ward gave priority to dealing with anxiety in the elderly persons.
DISCUSSION : After the East Japan earthquake, the nursing care prevention project of the Tokyo metropolitan municipality was analyzed regarding environmental change regarding property safety and aftershock, as well as psychological factors due to anxiety.

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Problem : In many public-sector sports facilities in the Kanto area, in addition to the direct damage from the Great Eastern Japan earthquake and tsunami disaster of 2011, various challenges occurred regarding operations and management.
    On the other hand, public-sector sports facilities have been progressing rapidly toward privatization with the introduction of the “Designated Administrator System” .
    We reached two important conclusions from this study regarding operation and management of public-sector sports facilities.
Purpose : The purpose of this study was to elucidate the administrative problems that public-sector sports facilities experienced following the disaster, as well as the problems arising between local governments and designated managers, and thus to contribute to enhanced Public-Private Partnership in providing public services.
Materials and methods : A questionnaire survey was conducted at indoor sports facilities in the Kanto area (253 facilities responded, the response rate was 60.0%) and an interview survey was carried out at 4 sports facilities that provided temporary shelters.
Results and discussion : The key findings of the surveys were as follows:
1) When the earthquake occurred, 84.3% of the facilities implemented safety measures to protect the users.
2) Damage due to the earthquake was found in 44.8% of the facilities. A correlation was found between the age of the building and the amount of damage occurrence.
3) In the restricted electricity situation, 95.5% of the facilities kept providing services while making power-saving efforts.
4) 39.8% of the facilities provided some form of support, such as a temporary shelter, to the evacuees.
Conclusion : The study indicated the following two important implications for Public-Private Partnership:
1) Contribution to the “realization of welfare of residents,” which is one of the fundamental roles of public facilities
2) Establishment of business continuity plans for public facilities

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    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.

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    After the occurrence of the Tohoku Region Pacific Coast Earthquake, many people suggested it was not the time for sports activity. However, there were concerns for the development of pulmonary embolism among the evacuees, and also children at the shelters felt stress due to the lack of exercise. Under these circumstances, the purpose of this study was to research the possibility of introducing a new generation electric system; vibration-driven energy harvesting through sports.
    The results showed that exercise for five minutes generated enough electricity to light a LED lamp for 1 minute. In conclusion, it is valuable to introduce a new generation electric system; vibration-driven energy harvesting through sports, at the shelters.

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    The great East Japan earthquake, which occurred on 11 March, 2011 caused great damage all over Japan.
    In this paper, two Japanese football clubs are discussed to give examples of “assistance to affected areas and sports” . The first, SAGAWA SHIGA FC, is a company team which united to work for earthquake disaster reconstruction assistance and expanded the circle of support together with people’ s activity in the base area. They are an amateur Japanese association football club based in Moriyama, Shiga. They are members of the JFL. The second, SANFRECCE HIROSHIMA, gave reconstruction assistance through a charity match against J1 and J2 teams of the neighborhood and expanded support for activities in sports.

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    In the afternoon on Friday, March 11^th, 2011, the giant tsunami caused by a massive earthquake attacked cities and towns that were located along the shore of the North-Eastern part of Honshu Island. The tsunami destroyed those cities completely and took more than about twenty thousand people’ s lives. After that day, almost all sports competitions and events were cancelled for a couple of months in Japan. Although they quickly made the decisions, the Japanese sports societies could not find out what they should do as a next step for the people who had the miserable damages.
    However, snow sports athletes made a plan to support the people after the earthquake quickly, and they carried it out. The project was named the “I LOVE SNOW/ One’ s Hands Project” . They collected over sixty thousand items which include ski jackets and pants, gloves, knit caps, blankets, and so on, for one week from all over Japan, and visited the regions to provide those items for the people directly.
    The purpose of this study was to introduce the project with detailed information on the factors that made the project successful.

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    Folder, an NPO, has played an active role in disaster relief activities since enormous earthquakes and tsunami hit the coast of Eastern Japan on March 11, 2011. The purpose of this report is to examine how Folder has contributed to community reconstruction on the coast of Iwate prefecture, and to show how sports clubs can take an active role in community-based activities. This report includes a chronological list of Folder’ s relief actions and participation in local events such as needs-based supply delivery, volunteering coordination, and hosting inspirational events for the survivors. As a leading community-sports club of Japan, Folder has gained recognition from the community by networking with and acting as gatekeepers between survivors and those who wish to help with disaster relief.

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Purpose : The purpose of this study was to investigate the number of the running events held or canceled after the Tohoku region Pacific coast earthquake, and to determine how many people lost the opportunity to participate in running events.
Methods : The large internet running information site “RUNNET” was utilized. First of all, our survey was conducted by using a “detail search” on RUNNET to investigate the number of events scheduled to be held from January through May in 2010 and also in 2011. Then each event scheduled was investigated with regard to whether it was held or cancelled after March 11^th, 2011. Subsequently, our survey checked the number of applicants for each event, according to their official homepage or RUNNET event report page.
Results : The results showed that there were 38 events held in the 1^st week of March in 2011, but there was a dramatic decrease in the number of events to 7 in the week following the earthquake. Overall, 118 events were cancelled in the 3 months after the earthquake. The findings of our investigation showed that a total of over 270,000 runners lost opportunities.
Discussion : The investigation confirmed that cancelled events were not only limited to the Tohoku region, but also occurred in areas not affected. It possibly suggests that there were concerns for victims and affected areas. The canceling of many events may have caused behavioral changes for people who tried to start or maintain their healthy lives through participation in running events.

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