CHAPTER4 IMPROVING INTERNATIONA LCOMPETITIVENESS AND PROMOTING INTERNATIONAL SPORTS EXCHANGE
SECTION2: TOWARD THE IMPROVEMENT OF INTERNATIONALCOMPETITIVENESS
6. The National Athletic Festival
The National Athletic Festival(Kokutai)has been held every year since1946in order to improve the stamina of Japanese people by widely disseminating sports among Japanese people,and to contribute to the promotion of local sports and the development of local culture.The Festival,which consists of interprefectural competition,is the largest sports event in Japan,and plays an important role as a national sports festival in the promotion of sports in Japan.
In FY1998 the Summer and Autumn Festivals were held in Kanagawa prefecture,and the Winter Festival in Hokkaido and Nagano.In FY1999 the Summer and Autumn Festivals will be held in Kumamoto prefecture,and the Winter Festival in the prefectures of Aomori and Toyama.Foreign nationals who are enrolled at schools which come under Article One of the"School Education Law"are allowed to participate in the National Athletic Festival.Furthermore,in regard to the promotion of intemationalization,the JASA has made provisions so that since the FY1997 Summer Festival,those foreign students who had until then been allowed to participate,could continue to participate after graduation in the National Athletic Festival.
