Established by the Japan Football Association (JFA) exactly 10 years ago today, the JFA Kokoro Project – designed to use the power of sport to help inspire and encourage children to set and reach goals in their lives – has managed since its launch to arrange for more than 900 athletes and non-athletes to meet upwards of 300,000 school children in Japan.
Ten years ago, Japan was facing a wave of negative news stories about children; how they were experiencing bullying, hikikomori (social withdrawal), and mukiryoku (apathy); how their adolescent hearts –kokoro in Japanese – were said to be broken and in need of healing. With a mission to inspire them through sport and to encourage dialogue on overcoming setbacks in their lives, the JFA launched the Kokoro Project, arranging for more than 150 athletes to visit almost 120 elementary schools in the first year after its launch. The athletes spent time with the children serving as “Dream Teachers,” helping the children understand how they could set goals and strive to achieve these.
After ten years the Project has notched up 10,254 ‘Dream Class’ sessions at 3,587 schools, including schools in 18 overseas countries, involving 973 athletes and 16 non-athletes engaging with 309,729 school children,
After the Great East Japan Earthquake struck Japan in March 2011, four of Japan’s sports governing bodies – the Japan Sports Association, the Japanese Olympic Committee, the Japan Top League Alliance, and the JFA – teamed up and agreed to additionally run a dedicated programme called “Sports Kokoro Project Smile Class: Supporting Reconstruction After The Great East Japan Earthquake.” Under this separate initiative, a total of 303 athletes were brought to disaster-affected areas, including Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, Ibaraki, Aomori and Chiba, to meet more than 55,000 school children – all fifth graders – where they played the role of “Dream Teachers”. The project was originally intended to run until 2015, but partly thanks to the collaboration of the four organisations has been extended for another five years until 2020, and now includes eighth graders.
Many athletes in Japan realised there was something they could do to help inspire their nation’s young people. Ayano Egami is one of them. She won a silver medal in synchronised swimming at the Olympic Games Sydney 2000 and currently works as a manager of Sport Competition at the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee. Egami commented at the 10thanniversary celebration party on 19 April at the Tokyo Dome Hotel: “I have taught seven Dream Classes so far, three of which were held in the disaster-hit areas. I was at first surprised to see children, even in towns very far from Tokyo, getting so excited about the Tokyo 2020 Games.” She added, “During the classes, I try to tell the fifth graders how I overcame setbacks in my life. In the end, children always end up cheering when I tell them the work I do at the Organising Committee to prepare for the Games. I feel a great sense of responsibility.”
Japan is looking forward to its future and is actively preparing for it. In particular, the year 2020 will be a landmark year in the nation’s history. The Olympic and Paralympic Games will return to Tokyo after 56 years, and are likely to have a tremendous impact on the city and the country. The Games will also bring a host of benefits to Tohoku and other disaster-hit regions. At the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Fukushima will host Baseball and Softball events and Miyagi will host Football events.
In 2020, the world will witness a vivid demonstration of the power and the value of sport. Going forward, the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee will vigorously pursue its commitment to work closely with partner sport organisations and local communities, in order to enhance engagement in sport at a national level where it is hoped the Games will inspire new hopes, dreams and aspirations.
News courtesy of Tatsuo Ogura.