Policy Goals
 (1) The goal is to positively promote the development and reinforcement of athletes capable of competing at major events, seeing that the performance of the nation's top-level athletes at international competitions, notably the Olympic Games, fills the hearts and minds of the nation with a vision and with great emotional excitement and thus contributes to the development of a happy and vigorous society.
 (2) Given, in particular, that Japan's Olympic medal award rate (※) at the 1996 Olympic Games dropped to 1.7%, the goal is to double this medal award rate, in other words, raise it to 3.5% by promoting in a general and planned manner a range of measures designed to develop and reinforce Japan's top-level athletes.

(※) The Olympic medal award rate is defined the quotient obtained by dividing the number of medals won at the Olympic Games by the total number of medals awarded at the particular Olympic event. Japan's medal award rate had been 3.5% at the Summer and Winter Olympics in 1976. After these Olympics, however, the medal award rate has shown a long-term falling trend as the various foreign countries have been promoting measures for developing and reinforcing their athletes in an organized and planned manner.

A. Measures Essential for Achieving the Policy Goals

 In order to upgrade Japan's international competitiveness it will be necessary to develop, in an organized and planned manner, top-level athletes capable of competing in the world arena by focusing attention on a broad spectrum of athletes down to the junior segment and give instruction to such athletes endowed with outstanding athletic talents in accordance with the personality features and development characteristics at any particular age.

 The Athletics Association as the organization taking charge of the development and reinforcement of athletes has to prepare guidelines for the development of top-level athletes and establish an organization for developing athletes in accordance with the guidelines. The role of the relevant organizations and clubs, including central government and the local public entities is to promote, in a general manner, the development of reinforcement centers as the basis of this system, train and retain instructors, and establish an infrastructure that enables the athletes to concentrate with perfect ease of mind on athletics.

(1) Establishment of Optimal Training Programs

1. Achievement Targets

 The target is to establish optimal training programs for the development of top-level athletes in an organized and planned manner. Specifically, this means the establishment, by 2005, of a program for the development of athletes indicating the concept and nature of the training for the Athletics Association's rearing top-level athletes and of a system for instructing the athletes in accordance with this program.

2. Present Situation and Problems

 In Japan, the practice is that instructors at schools will give guidance and instructions to athletes in the junior period, and instructors at university or in companies to athletes aspiring to the top level, with each instructor giving instruction in accordance with his own philosophy. The main method for developing athletes is the reinforcement system: When athletes have been successful in scoring favorable results in national competitions and contests they will then receive reinforcement training for participation in international competitive events, including the Olympics.

 With this method, however, it is not possible to give adequate instruction to the athlete in order to stretch his or her capabilities to the appropriate extent in anticipation of his or her future performance. In particular, it is difficult to achieve consistent instruction at the school stages at the all-important junior stage as the most important phase in the development of the athlete. Compared with the various foreign countries that develop their athletes in a planned manner, Japan does not produce many top-level athletes. This is given as one of the factors to account for the decline in Japan's international competitiveness.

 There are also fears that the demographic trend toward fewer children might reduce the athletic population. Amidst these uncertainties, there is little chance if any improvement in Japan's international competitiveness in the foreseeable future with the present development approach that reinforces only those athletes who have been chosen through the process of the natural selection of the fittest.

 It is therefore time to review the present development method and establish, for each athletic discipline, "optimal training programs." The term will be used to denote a system in which outstandingly talented athletes will be trained to the top level by receiving optimum instruction or training on the basis of a consistent training concept and in accordance with personal traits and the stage of individual development, regardless of the instructor staff and the athlete's activity base.

 In developing the optimal training programs, the Athletics Association must identify with absolute clarity the training concept and instruction contents for developing top-level athletes in accordance with the athlete's development stage and level of technique, by taking into account the international trends for developing athletes. It is also necessary to provide ongoing instruction at an advanced level based on the above training concept to those endowed with the unique makings of an outstanding athlete.

 In order to ensure the proper functioning of the optimal training programs it is essential that the Athletics Association and the local sports clubs, including the schools, the Japan Junior High School Sports Federation, the All-Japan Senior High School Sports Federation (referred to collectively as the School Sports Federations) should fully cooperate with each other so as to prevent an major difference in the instruction contents between school conducting the athlete's daily training and the Athletics Association.

3. Deployment of Specific Policy Measures over the Next Ten Years

1) Establishment of a Program for Developing Athletes

 A program manual for the development of athletes should be prepared, by 2005, by allowing for the results of the "model case for the establishment of optimal training programs" implemented by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) assigning the work to the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) so as to establish an instruction program for athletes, indicating the training concept and contents for the development and reinforcement of athletes in each athletic discipline.

 It would be desirable if the Athletics Association could enlist the participation of researchers at the sports-related universities in the preparation of the program so that the latest research results in the sports medicine and science areas can be duly reflected in the program for the development of athletes.

2) Promoting the Development of Athletes on the Basis of the Program for the Development of Athletes

 Fuller support should be given to the Athletics Association or other organizations implementing advanced-level instruction on an ongoing basis in accordance with the Program for the Development of Athletes to athletes with outstanding qualities from all regions and to athletes aspiring to become top-level athletes, at universities and companies.

 The Athletics Association should strives to assess the athletes' stamina, exercise potential, sports aptitude and similar information when it conducts training activities in the various regions, select out, on a national scale, those with a particular promising potential on the basis of this information and give full consideration to the most effective way of providing advanced instruction to the chosen athletes.

3) Establishment of a System for Implementing Fully Integrated Instruction

 It will be important to promote awareness-raising activities to disseminate and propagate a fuller recognition of the significance of the optimal training programs and of the purport and contents of the Program for the Development of Athletes in each discipline among all parties concerned with sports, including the instructors at schools and community sports clubs. In order to ensure the effective development of athletes in the junior stage, efforts will be required to provide opportunities for athletes in the junior stage to experience a range of different athletic disciplines and to arouse an understanding among those concerned as to the mitigation of the athlete's mental and physical strain. Efforts are also needed to foster a mutual understanding and cooperation among those concerned with the organization of competitions so that bouts do not only take the form of contests between schools but that events adapted to the level of development of the pupils are suitably arranged by age and in groups in such a way as to encourage several schools to form a joint team and local sports clubs to participate.

 As part of the awareness-raising activities, the Athletics Association as the central organization should also organizes in a positive manner liaison meetings and joint training sessions with the instructors from the sports clubs of universities and companies and as the regional organization liaison meeting and joint training sessions with the instructors of the schools and local sports clubs. Thus it should create a system for the organized development of athletes combining in one the central and local levels.

 Furthermore, in order to ensure the smooth progress of the various efforts made to upgrade competitiveness, the JOC and the Athletics Association should establish plans for improving athletic performance, engage in a fuller program of training activities for the benefit of personnel engaged in marketing activities and promote the full-time appointment of such personnel. They should thus endeavor to strengthen their management capabilities and consolidate their financial base to the inclusion of their local organizations, with a clear demarcation of responsibilities within their own organizations.

4) Research and Development Concerning Methods of Developing Athletes with Outstanding Capabilities

 The Athletics Association should carry out research studies on methods for scouting athletes endowed with outstanding capabilities by taking into consideration the contents of its Program for the Development of Athletes in the various athletic disciplines. These methods should permit the scouting of highly talented athletes on the basis of objective criteria (indices) that allow for the specific characteristics of each athletic discipline. In conducting such research studies, use should be made of the information on the physical characteristics of top-level athletes stored by the Japan Institute of Sports Science (tentative name) (referred to as JISS in the following), which is currently in the process of being fully established, and the sports-related universities. It would also be desirable that, subject to the cooperation of JISS, the Athletics Association should share the information it carries on athletes endowed with superior capabilities.

(2) Development of Training Centers

1.Achievement Targets

 In order to engage in the development and reinforcement of athletes in accordance with the fully integrated system effectively it will be important to provide centers at which top-level athletes and eminently talented athletes from the regions can assemble for intensive, general training. For the reinforcement of top-level athletes, in particular, it is essential to create within the earliest possible time, full-scale training centers at the national level equipped with a complete spectrum of functions both in terms of equipment ("hardware") and support capabilities ("software").

2. Present Situation and Problems

 For the reinforcement of top-level athletes, it is essential that an environment or infrastructure be created in which the athletes can gather in the same activity location for intensive, continuous training. In view of the prevailing international trends, in particular, it is clear that there is a need for the top-level athletes to spend sufficient time on advanced training by making use of the latest insights of sports medicine and science. It is therefore important that centers for such training should be constantly made available.

 In the various overseas countries, national training centers have been created to serve as locations for top-level athletes to engage in advanced training. Nine of the ten leading medal-winning countries at the Atlanta Olympic Games have such facilities.

 In the interest of raising Japan's international competitiveness it is therefore essential that full-scale training center facilities be established at the national level also in Japan.

 For the development of athletes under the optimal training programs it will be necessary to provide continuous advanced instruction to outstandingly talented athletes from the regions in accordance with their personal characteristics. Since such training may, in some cases, not have an adequate effect even with the use of the facilities it is important that training should be given on a planned basis by securing training centers in each of the regions first.

3. Deployment of Specific Policy Measures over the Next Ten Years

1) Development of a Japanese National Training Center

 Development guidelines for the establishment of a Japanese training center at the national level should be prepared on the basis of the conclusions drawn by the Investigating Collaborators' Council, which deliberates on the way in which the national training center should operate.

 Work to establish a full-scale national training center equipped with a complete range of functions both in hardware and software terms should be initiated at the earliest possible time in accordance with these guidelines.

 In this process, it will be necessary to specify the support measures that can be offered by the research institutions, including JISS and the sports-related universities, in the sports medicine and science domain.

2) Development of Reinforcement Centers in the Regions

 It is important to promote the development of regional reinforcement centers in which the outstandingly talented athletes of the various regions can engage in effective training on a constant basis. In the creation of these facilities, due consideration should be given to the use of the existing public sports facilities and the sports facilities owned by companies.

 In addition, the Athletics Association should make efforts to secure expert coaches for these centers and create a sports medicine and science support system while seeking close cooperation with the local public entities in an endeavor to ensure the appropriate implementation of a fully integrated instruction program based on these regional centers.

(3) Developing and Securing Instructors

1. Achievement Targets

The objective of the optimal training programs is to develop and secure highly specialized instructors capable of training the outstandingly talented athletes and to promote their appointment on a full-time basis.

2. Present Situation and Problems

In order to improve the international competitive of Japanese sport it is, admittedly, essential to have instructors with a full understanding of the world's leading examples in terms of the methods of athlete development and reinforcement and have them spend sufficient time in instructing top-level athletes and outstandingly talented athletes aspiring to become top-level athletes (called collectively "top-level athletes" in the following). The reality regarding Japanese instructors can be described as follows in qualitative and quantitative terms.

(Qualitative Aspects)

 In order to upgrade the international competitiveness of Japanese sport, it is necessary to secure, to an adequate degree, instructors capable of giving expert instruction to the top-level athletes in accordance with their personal characteristics and within the framework of the Program for the Development of Athletes. In particular, the instructors for top-level athletes are required to established tactics and strategies for international competitions, especially Olympic Games, mindful of the international level of sport. They are also required to have the ability to establish and supervise reinforcement methods based on these tactics and strategies by making use of the latest insights of sports medicine and science.

 The present situation in Japan, however, is that there is no system providing training on a planned basis to rear instructors of a high level of specialty.

(Quantitative Aspects)

 Having regard to the international trends in athlete development, there is a clear need for top-level athletes to spend sufficient time on exclusive training. Similarly, there is a needs for instructors to be exclusively engaged in coaching.

 In the various overseas countries, positive efforts are being made to this end to appoint instructors (coaches) on a full-time basis. Thus, Germany has 789 salaried instructors coaching its top-level athletes (1996) and France 1,654 (1991).

 Similarly, full-time coaches have also been appointed in Japan since 1989 by the JOC at the athletic clubs with a prospect of winning Olympic medals, and the Japanese government is equally extending its support to these efforts. However, the number of these coaches is currently only 29 for the total of 29 athletic disciplines. In addition, there are also some sports clubs retaining coaches with their own financial resources but their number is still far from being adequate.

 There is therefore a definite need to upgrade the system so that instructors will be able to coach athletes on a full-time basis in Japan also.

 Apart from expert coaching in techniques it is also important to secure highly specialized staff in those areas that play an important role in upgrading the level of competitiveness of Japanese sports such as stamina training, nutritional guidance, psychological support and conditioning.

3. Deployment of Specific Policy Measures over the Next Ten Years

1) Developing and Securing Instructors for the Optimal Training Programs

 In order to secure instructors capable of supporting the optimal training programs from the central national level to the regions to a sufficient degree, efforts must be made to promote the full-time appointment of instructors for Japan's top-level athletes and to secure instructors in the various regions to an appropriate extent in accordance with the plan for developing and securing instructors as drawn up by the Athletics Association. In this endeavor, the Japan Amateur Sports Association (JASA) and the Member Sports Clubs are cooperating to implement training schemes for sports instructors. These schemes should be reviewed as necessary in such a manner that the instructors participating in them will be able to acquire in an effective manner all necessary knowledge for training in accordance the Program for the Development of Athletes and that, furthermore, the training courses can easily be attended also by the instructors of top-level athletes.

 In order to facilitate the full-time appointment of instructors for top-level athletes by the sports clubs, it is desirable that consideration be given to the establishment of a system in which, for example, such instructors would be able to continue to be active as instructors in their respective regions even after they have ceased to instruct top-level athletes.

 In drawing up the plans for training and securing instructors, JOC and the Athletics Association should also specify, in close cooperation with JASA, the qualification requirements to be met by instructors (coaches) for the implementation of the Program for the Development of Athletes and, furthermore, give due consideration to the training and securing of highly specialized staff in the area of preparing plans for upgrading the level of competitiveness of Japanese sports, stamina training, nutritional guidance, psychological support and conditioning.

2) Establishment of a National Coach Academy

 Efforts need to be made to support the establishment of a training system (National Coach Academy System) for the instructors (coaches) of top-level athletes to acquire the advanced expert capabilities required for developing tactics and strategies allowing for the international level of sports and to plan reinforcement methods and give guidance by making use of the latest insights of sports medicine and science. In the establishment of the system, full consideration should be given to the effective utilization of the training schemes for sports instructors, the provision of practical coaching opportunities in national teams, the effective acquisition of the latest specialist knowledge in the sports medicine and science field, and the use of existing overseas training systems for sports instructors.

 Further, to ensure the effective implementation of such training, efforts should also be made to establish a system of cooperation between JISS and the sports-related universities in an endeavor to achieve close cooperation among the researchers in the field and to utilize to full advantage the research results in the sports medicine and science field.

3) Enhancing the Level of Understanding at Schools and in the Regions Regarding the lly Optimal Training Programs for Instructors

 For the benefit of the instructors active at schools and in local sports clubs as the centers of everyday training for athletes, it will be important to conduct awareness-building activities to elicit a fuller understanding of the contents of the Program for the Development of Athletes and of the significance of the optimal training programs. In this context, the Athletics Association should collaborate with JASA and the Local Sports Associations in order to provide information to instructors at schools and local sports clubs on outstanding examples of instruction in accordance with the principles of the Program for the Development of Athletes.

(4) Creating of an Environment for the Exclusive Safe Use by Athletes for Training

1. Achievement Targets

 The goal is to create a system in which top-level athletes can exclusively engage in sports with a view to rising to the world's top level.

2. Present Situation and Problems

 In order that top-level athletes can unfold their maximum potential at international competitions, especially at the Olympic Games, it is essential that they be able to spend sufficient time on exclusive training. However, the present situation concerning the environment for top-level athletes in Japan can be summarized as follows.

(Changes in Japan's Sports Environment)

 Japan's international competitiveness in sports has been supported by many companies which by way of making a corporate contribution to society are operating sports clubs attracting top-level athletes to train in and which are participating in a great variety of events. In view of the severe economic conditions that have persisted in recent years, more than a hundred company sports clubs have been suspended or closed over the last five years alone (from 1995 through to 1999). This is beginning to cause problems in securing an infrastructure environment in which top-level athletes can concentrate on sports training with an easy mind.

 In order to upgrade Japan's international competitiveness it is necessary, under these conditions, to identify the issues that should be tackled with a view to providing an environment in which athletes can safely concentrate on sports training. This includes the need to make clear the role company sports should play in Japan in the future.

 Since the private sectors, in other words, the Japanese companies have played an important role in competitive sports in Japan, some incentive schemes need to be established to induce companies actively to support sports. This may include efforts to upgrade the social appreciation or standing of companies for supporting sports. In order to attract active support for sports from companies it has also become essential for JOC and the Sports Associations to engages in a fuller range of marketing activities.

(Provisions for Athletes After Retirement from Active Sport)

 The life pattern of our top-level athletes causes some apprehension that they may have difficulties in their post-retirement life in general as they will typically have had to suspend school and work during their period of intensive training.

 It is therefore important to secure a superior social standing for top-level athletes also as personalities and to provide opportunities for acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills for the post-retirement life when they finish their period of intensive training and withdraw from sport.

 In order to upgrade Japan's international competitiveness it is important that the experience of our top-level athletes in international contests and their experience obtained in the course of their everyday training should be stored for generations and generations and used for the benefit of the next generations of athletes.

 Many of Japan's top-level athletes tend to engage after their retirement from sport in work unrelated to sports. The know-how they have acquired during their life phase as athletes can therefore hardly be said to be put to full use. In view of this it will be important to create an environment conducive to their post-retirement activity as instructors or coaches.

(Appropriate Care in Case of Injury)

 In the event of injury sustained by athletes in the course of their athletic activities, the athletes are covered by the Sports Safety Insurance and the private insurance to which their Sports Association or club subscribe. However, the situation is not totally reassuring as the level of subscription to such insurance schemes and the insurance benefits in the case of some insurance companies is not fully satisfactory for the athletes to concentrate on sports with total confidence.

1. Deployment of Specific Policy Measures over the Next Ten Years

1) Meeting the Changes in the Sports Environment

 The present situation in company sports should be assessed by singling out the important issues concerning primarily their management climate and the environment in which athletes do their training. It is also important to carry out studies on the training environment for top-level athletes in other countries. On the basis of these findings, it would then be necessary to prepare guidelines for the development of an infrastructure environment allowing top-level athletes to concentrate on sports in Japan in the future while identifying the role to be played by the administrative authorities, the sports clubs, companies and communities.

2) Promoting the Assignment of Top-Level Athletes as Instructors (Coaches)

 A fuller range of support measures should be created for training activities designed for would-be instructors so that top-level athletes can be active as instructors under the optimal training programs after their retirement from active sport. At the national training centers, in particular, full consideration should be given to enable athletes to receive instruction for becoming an instructor while training.

 It is desirable that the regional public entities use retired top-level athletes as special non-permanent teachers (lecturers) at schools so that their experience may serve to upgrade competitiveness and contribute to the education of the young.

3) Fuller Support Measures for Companies Supporting Moves to Improve Competitiveness

 A medal award system for companies that have contributed to the promotion of sports should be established and the activities of the companies engaging in sports promotion should be consistently made public. In addition, ad broad range of measures should be actively devised to facilitate a wider acceptance of support from companies for sports. This may include efforts to review the administrative procedures and their simplification and to give companies more information so that the tax exempt fund-raising system implemented by JASA and JOC can be applied to companies on a larger scale than until now.

 From this viewpoint, JOC and the National Federations should also devise the necessary measures for marketing activities, including greater diversification of the ways in which portraits of athletes may or should be used. Greater efforts should also be made toward the protection of the intellectual property associated with the use of symbols and emblems so as to prevent an disadvantage being caused to sports-supporting companies as a result of the use by third parties of such symbols or emblems to the use of which such companies are entitled in consideration of their support of sports.

4) Appropriate Care in Case of Injury

 Efforts should be made to further promote the taking our of insurance cover for injury sustained by athletes in the course of their athletic activities. It will also be necessary to review the way in which compensation for injury by athletes should be provided mainly with regard to the amount of insurance benefit and to request the cooperation of those concerned.

B. Necessary Collateral Measures to Ensure Attainment of the Policy Targets

(1) Use of Sports Medicine and Science

1. Achievement Targets

 The goal must be to create a practical research system in the sports medicine and science area to serve as the foundation for the development of athletes with the benefit of the latest research results in sports medicine and science.

2. Present Situation and Problems

 In an endeavor to improve international competitiveness it is essential to apply the research results from the sports medicine and science field constructively to the training and coaching of athletes. To this end, it is essential to carry out general and practical research with a view to applying the basic research results obtained at the research institutions in the sports medicine and science field, notably the sports-related universities, to practical training and to feed the research insights back to the process of developing athletes.

 Japan Institute of Sports Sciences (JISS) which will begin to operate properly in fiscal 2001 will thus have the task of promoting research in sports medicine and science designed to upgrade the international competitiveness of Japanese sport, developing scientific training methods, gather and provide a wide range of sports information, conducting research into the prevention of sports-related injuries or damage, and carrying out general therapeutic treatment and rehabilitation for the recovery of athletes.

 In the context of securing research staff and implementing joint research work, it will be essential for JISS in its research activities to have the cooperation of the various research institutions such as the sports clubs and sports-related universities.

 In order to ensure the nationwide application to athlete training of the research results in the sports medicine and science field it will be necessary for JISS to actively provide a wide range of sports information mainly in the sports medicine and science field to the reinforcement centers for athletes in the regions and to the research institutes in the field of sports medicine and science.

3. Deployment of Specific Policy Measures over the Next Ten Years

1) Development of training and coaching methods based on sports medicine and science

 JISS should conduct general analyses of the capabilities of top-level athletes by using research results from the sports medicine and science field and latest information technology and develop effective training and coaching methods in accordance with the personal characteristics of the athletes on the basis of the analysis results. It should also support the development of sports goods contributing to an upgrading of competitiveness.

 Further, JISS should conduct overall analyses concerning the physical characteristics and exercise potential of the top-level athletes and utilize the results to support the scouting by the National Federations of outstandingly talented athletes in cooperation with the regional sports medicine and science research institutions.

2) Promoting Research in Sports Medicine and Science

 While actively pursuing cooperation in research and conducting information exchange with the various research institutions such as the sports-related universities, sports clubs, and the local public entities, JISS undertakes research in sports medicine and science designed to contribute to the enhancement of the competitiveness of Japanese sport and engages in the therapeutic treatment and athletic rehabilitation for their recovery.

3) Establishment of Headquarter Related to Sports Information in Japan

 As the core institution related to sports information in Japan, JISS should establish a liaison system for close coordination with the various research institutions such as the sports-related universities, sports clubs, and the local public entities to gather and provide information of training and coaching methods based on sports medicine, the latest results of research in sports medicine and science and on outstandingly talented athletes.

4) Upgrading the Management System for Running JISS

 To ensure the smooth running of the JISS, efforts will be required to upgrade the management system for running the JISS in an endeavor to secure research staff and qualitatively enhance the level of research.

(2) Promoting Anti-Doping Measures

1. Achievement Targets

 The goal is to create an anti-doping system in Japan and promote the intensification of cooperation with international organizations.

2. Present Situation and Problems

 Doping constitutes the use of prohibited substances drugs such as muscle building agents for the purpose of enhancing athletic performance. It cannot be admitted on any grounds as it opposes the spirit of fair play in sports and carries a risk of causing harm to the athlete's own health and of encouraging the use of drugs by minors. However, the number of athletes suspected of doping offenses and found to have contravened the anti-doping rules is sharply increasing both abroad and in Japan. It rose from 805 in 1991 to 1,926 in 1998. In Japan, this number increased from 15 in 1991 to 32 in 1998. Although the number of Japanese athletes who were discovered to have used doping agents is at a low level it is not true to describe the incidence of doping offenses in Japan as small by international standard since the number of tests performed is also small.

 In November 1999, a system for promoting anti-doping activities on a worldwide scale was created with the establishment of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). This international move was made mainly by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and with the cooperation of the International Fedetrations, governments, athletes and experts in the field in order to unify the international doping test standards and the procedures for imposing sanction against doping offenses and to conduct awareness-raising and education activities on anti-doping actions.

 Under these conditions, the leading Europe and America have established an official organization engaging in anti-doping activities independently of the sports world and are actively pursuing awareness-building and education activities directed at athletes and instructors with the implementation of tests outside the sports area. In contrast, the anti-doping activities implemented by Japan are limited to the carrying out of the doping tests that are currently compulsory mainly at international sporting competition.

 It will therefore be necessary to reinforce the anti-doping activities also in Japan by instituting an organization (National Anti-Doping Organization) responsible for conducting activities on a unified and neutral basis.

 In the active promotion of anti-doping activities it is important that vigorous awareness-building and education activities on anti-doping be launched since in many cases, doping offenses are due to a lack of knowledge about doping on the part of the offending athletes and their instructors (coaches).

3. Deployment of Specific Policy Measures over the Next Ten Years

1) Establishment of, and Support for, a National Anti-Doping Organization

 National government, the sports clubs and the research community in the sports medicine and science field should cooperate in the establishment of a National Anti-Doping Organization as a non-profit entity embracing the sports community as a whole. Its role should to establish and promote official anti-doping measures. For its operation, efforts need to be made to provide the necessary support to ensure the reinforcement of fuller anti-doping activities, including awareness-building and education activities directed at the athletes.

2) Ensuring Coordination with the International Organizations

 As the executive member representing the Asian region in the WADA, Japan should embrace a positive commitment anti-doping activities, including awareness-building and education campaigns.

(3) Smooth Organization of Sports Events on an International and Nationwide Scale

1. Achievement Targets

 The goal is to establish a system for the smooth organization of sports events on an international and nationwide scale.

2. Present Situation and Problems

 The organization of sports events on an international and nationwide scale such as national athletics contests not only serves the purpose of raising the level of sportsmanship and the diffusion of sport but is also contributory to a more interesting way of life for many people. The actual participation as spectators in international sports contests by young people arouses a keener interest in sport and helps to promote sport in Japan. It also provides an opportunity for enriching international contact.

 In order to ensure the smooth organization of international sports contests it is essential to make full use of information concerning the convening, preparation and running of competitions in the past as well as information on volunteers supporting sports events. It is therefore necessary that an organization for gathering and providing such information be established.

 In view of the severe economic conditions prevailing in Japan in recent years it is important to give due consideration to ways of simplifying the organization of sports events such as international contests or national sports competitions and of making them more efficient so that they will not pose an undue burden on the locality in which they are held.

 Sports contests for the handicapped such as the Paralympics not only provide an opportunity for handicapped people to take part in sports but also offer fun and excitement to a large spectator audience. The sports clubs should therefore cooperate in ensuring the organization of sports events for the handicapped in Japan and achieving the smooth participation of the handicapped in sports contests on an international scale.

3. Deployment of Specific Policy Measures over the Next Ten Years

1) Smooth organization of international sports events

 Japan should actively organize international sports contests in the country and offer the necessary support for their organization. Efforts will be needed to simplify the holding of international sports events and to make them more efficient. There is also a need for efforts being made in raising highly experienced staff in international event organizing as an essential condition for the effective convening of such event and their smooth preparation and running.

2) Sharing of the necessary know-how for international sports events

 For the convening of international sports contests and their smooth preparation and running, JISS should collect and provide information on the convening, preparation and running of events held nationally in the past.

3) Organizing volunteers taking part in international sports events

 The regional public entities and sports clubs should mutually cooperate in the creation of an organization for coordinating volunteers at international sports contests and should conduct the PR activities required for enlisting volunteers.

4) Support for the Paralympics

 The sports clubs should intensify its cooperation with the Japan Handicapped Sports Association in an effort to ensure the smooth participation of handicapped persons in sports contests for the handicapped such as the Paralympics.

(4) Promoting a Greater Contribution from Professional Sports Athletes to Society

1. Achievement Targets

 The goal is to promote the activities of professional sports athletes toward the promotion of sport and the shaping of a more dynamic society.

2. Present Situation and Problems

 Spectator sport as one way of enjoying sport, be it by attending a sports match on the ground or by watching it on television, is becoming increasingly more important. In this way, professional sports so close to the hearts and minds of so many does very much to raise interest in sport among the young and to spread sport at the broad grassroots base. In this sense, professional sport and the high-level techniques displayed by the professionals are of the greatest significance as a contributory factor to raising the competitiveness of Japanese sport in general.

 However, many people still have the image that professional sports is an industrial concern. In order to promote professional sports still further it would be desirable for the professional athletes to convince all segments of the nation with their splendid technical performance and let the recognition penetrate that professional sports contributes greatly to society through the enjoyment and excitement it offers.

 Under these conditions the professional athletes, both active and retired, should actively contribute to society by conveying, for example, their outstanding techniques and experience to the young and the local sports fans and work towards a greater social recognition of professional sports.

 At present, the wording "amateur" is being deleted in the Olympic Charter of the IOC and progress is being made in opening amateur and profession sports, with an increasing number of contests taking place in which professional athletes can participate such as the Olympic Games and international competitions. From the viewpoint of sports promotion and enhancing Japan's international competitiveness it will be necessary to strengthen cooperation between professional and amateur sports.

3. Deployment of Specific Policy Measures over the Next Ten Years

1) Promoting Activities of Professional Sports Athletes Contributing to Society by Offering Technical Instruction

 "Activities by professional sports athletes making use of their techniques" should be more actively promoted and opportunities provided for professional sports athletes to instruct primarily the young amateur athletes.

2) Strengthening Cooperation between the Professional Sports Clubs and the National Federations.

 Efforts should be made to provide ampler opportunities for study conferences and information exchange with the members of both the professional and amateur sports communities so that both join together in creating an environment that will help to develop and reinforce athletes.

(Policy Planning Division, Sports and Youth Bureau)