Do you know that there is a law that starts with the phrase “Sports are a universal culture of all humankind”?
That’s the Basic Act on Sports, which was promulgated on June 24, 2011, and put into force on August 24 the same year.
The Basic Act on Sports says that its objectives are to stipulate basic ideas on sports and clarify the responsibilities of national and local public entities for promoting sports-related measures.
Based on the Basic Act on Sports, Yokohama City has launched a new program – Yokohama City Sports Promotion Program – taking into consideration the city’s present situation and the problems it faces while at the same time leveraging the characteristics unique to Yokohama. The program is aimed at defining the direction of sports promotion in a systematic way and ensuring more effective and more efficient promotion of sports-related measures.
Here is a brief summary of what I think everybody should know about the current circumstances and future direction of sports promotion in Yokohama. Read each topic in this article from your own perspective and from the perceived perspectives of your family members.

Written and photos provided by: Hiroyuki Yoshiyama (Yokohama Sports Association)

 

The Yokohama City Sports Promotion Program aims to ensure that all citizens of Yokohama, from children to elderly people, live active lives as well as to promote interchanges among local residents and the fostering of spiritually affluent lifestyles. The program focuses not only on people who play sports but also on those who watch top-level athletic competitions and professional sports games and those who support sports activities, such as instructors and volunteers. Its purpose is to create an environment where citizens can enjoy sports throughout their lives.
Here are the four goals of this new sports promotion program that Yokohama City has launched with the target of defining the direction of sports promotion in a systematic way and ensuring more effective and more efficient promotion of sports-related measures, taking into consideration the city’s present situation and the problems it faces while at the same time leveraging the characteristics unique to Yokohama.

Goal 1 Promotion of Physical Strength Enhancement Measures for Children

These measures are aimed at restoring the physical strength of children to the 1985 level in Yokohama City.

What’s in action

– Education on and spread of fitness habits in early childhood [ * ]
– Activities based on Yokohama City’s physical strength enhancement programs for children
– Implementation and expansion of physical strength enhancement programs for children
– Cooperation in after-school children development programs
– Promotion of dietary education

Goal 2 Promotion of Sports Activities in Local Communities

The goal is to see to it that about 65 percent (two in three) of adults in Yokohama City play sports one or more times a week and that those who play sports three or more times a week account for about 30 percent (one in three).
Yokohama City is also seeking to increase the percentage of citizens who have served as volunteers in sporting events to 10 percent or higher.

What’s in action

– Education, development and support activities for multipurpose local sports clubs
– Collaboration with local sports organizations and recreational sports organizations
– Support for sports volunteers
– Provision of sports-related information
– Creation of sporting facilities in local communities [ * ]

Goal 3 Promotion of Sports for the Elderly and Disabled

The goal is to see to it that about 70 percent of senior citizens aged 65 or over play sports one or more times a week. Yokohama City will also establish organizations in 18 wards that will be involved voluntarily in sports for the disabled.

What’s in action

– Promotion of the fitness strategy for 1 million citizens [ * ]
– Sports classes and events for the elderly
– Support for local recreational groups for the elderly
– Dissemination of the know-how about sports for the disabled to local communities
– Hosting of sporting events that are open to able-bodied people and the disabled alike

Goal 4 Promotion of Cooperation and Collaboration with Top-Level Sports Communities

The goal is to increase the percentage of citizens who have watched sporting events attended by top athletes and professional sports games up close to over 50 percent. Yokohama City will provide its residents with more opportunities to see top athletes in order to make them more motivated to play sports.

What’s in action

– Cooperation and collaboration with professional sports teams [ * ]
– Attraction and hosting of large-scale sporting events [ * ]

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