Padel, Go, and Pickleball Newly Join the Japan Sport Association
The Japan Sport Association (JSPO) has announced that three new sports organizations have officially joined as members. The three organizations added this time represent padel, Go, and pickleball. This move is expected to promote these activities and elevate their status as sports within Japan.
The newly joined "padel" and "pickleball" are both racket sports. Padel originated in Spain and is similar to tennis, but it is characterized by being played on a court surrounded by tempered glass and wire mesh. On the other hand, pickleball is a sport that has become extremely popular in the United States, where players hit a plastic ball on a court about the size of a badminton court. Both are easy for beginners to enjoy, and the number of players in Japan is rapidly increasing.
Additionally, the inclusion of the traditional board game "Go" as a sports organization has garnered significant attention. Go is referred to as a "mind sport" (an intellectual sport) and is enjoyed worldwide as a competition of concentration and thinking skills. Joining the JSPO is expected to serve as a catalyst for Go to be recognized by a wider range of generations, not just as a game but as a "sport of the mind."
Membership in the Japan Sport Association signifies that the discipline has been recognized as an official sport in Japan. Moving forward, activities are expected to expand in various ways, such as adoption into the National Sports Festival (formerly the National Sports Meet) and utilization in school education. With the addition of these new genres of sports, Japan's sports culture is set to become even more diverse and enriched.