The Japan Sports Agency supports the Sports Yell Company program which certifies companies actively promoting measures to improve employees’ health through sport. The initiative aims to promote sport particularly among people in the prime of their lives who lack exercise, to create a social movement for sport.

According to a poll implemented in FY2016 by the JSA, 42.5 percent of adults played sport more than once a week. For the age group between 20 to 40-years-old who are in the prime of their lives, only 30 percent responded they play sport which is lower than the national average.

People between the ages of 20 to 40 answered they lacked time to play sport due to office work, house work or raising children. In order for this age group to establish a healthy lifestyle, the workplace which this generation spends most of their day, must create opportunities for employees to enjoy sport.

The Sports Yell Company program is a system which certifies companies actively promoting measures to improve employees’ health through sport. These measures are not limited to people playing competitive sport, but also include measures to provide employees with physical activities such as exercise and stretching, encouraging the use of stairs, walking or cycling to work and holding stand-up meetings.

The JSA hopes this certification system will help improve the social evaluation of companies promoting measures for employees to enjoy sport, and ultimately lead to expanding the population of people in the prime of their lives and the entire nation’s participation in sport.