Japan Press Weekly

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2015 April 8 - 14 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Tokyo Olympics might deprive local residents of opportunity to engage in sports

Construction work of venues for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics might deprive Tokyoites of opportunities to enjoy sports.

Tokyo plans to construct a hockey stadium in a public park in Shinagawa Ward. The park now has six baseball fields, and around 100,000 people, young and old, are using these fields a year. The construction plan will eliminate all six grounds.

The Japanese Communist Party Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Members’ Group in May last year urged the metropolitan government to take responsibility to provide residents with alternative sites for the baseball fields.

The Tokyo federation of youth baseball leagues and other local baseball organizations in July last year submitted a petition signed by 38,633 people to the Tokyo government calling for substitute facilities. The Shinagawa Ward Assembly also made a similar request to Tokyo.

The organizing committee for the Tokyo Games in its basic plan published in February said that it will use the Summer Games as an opportunity to improve athletic facilities and promote sports.

Tokyo’s sports infrastructure is already totally insufficient to meet public needs. After well-known rightist politician Ishihara Shintaro became the Tokyo governor in 1999, public sports facilities were closed down one after another. Currently, Tokyo stands at the lowest among all the 47 prefectures in Japan in the number of public and private sports facilities per capita.

Ozaki Masataka, professor at Hitotsubashi University and an expert in community sports, said, “Tokyo should not only construct venues for the Olympics but also help municipalities to promote sports.”