Paralympic Swimming Medalist Kawai Takes Helm of Japan Sports Agency |
By Yuji Kondo
8:00 JST, November 8, 2025
The Japan Sports Agency celebrated its 10th anniversary on Oct. 1. As the central command for sports administration, the JSA steers efforts across a wide range of areas, including creating environments in which everyone can enjoy sports, nurturing top athletes, and hosting various international competitions such as the Olympics and Paralympics.
The agency has faced two major challenges in its first decade, one relating to major international events and the other relating to school sports clubs. Now it enters its second decade with a new commissioner at the helm.
The sports agency was established in 2015. Two years prior, Tokyo had been selected to host the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The primary reason for the agency’s creation was the need for a national command center to ensure the smooth operation of events and the development of athletes.
In other words, its initial top priority was to ensure the success of “Tokyo 2020.” However, the Games faced an unprecedented situation: a one-year postponement due to the pandemic. Despite the unusual circumstance of having almost no in-person spectators, the Olympics and Paralympics were successfully held in 2021, earning high praise worldwide.
However, corruption and collusion scandals were uncovered after the Games were over. Public trust in hosting large-scale sporting events plummeted, and Sapporo’s bid to host the Winter Olympics and Paralympics came to a halt.
Consequently, “transparency” in sports event management emerged as a new challenge after Tokyo 2020. In response, the Japan Sports Agency established governance guidelines in March 2023 regarding the organization of large-scale sporting events. The guidelines established 11 principles to prevent misconduct, including establishing necessary organizational management regulations, proactively and voluntarily disclosing information, and appropriately managing conflicts of........