A city made for sport
One aim in staging the Games of the XXXII Olympiad was to turn Tokyo into one big “sports field” and create a barrier-free environment across its parks and streets so that people of all ages and abilities could access sport.
Their increased participation has been made possible in part by significant investment in new venues and the refurbishment of existing ones.
For example, the venues built for the Olympic Games in the Tokyo Bay Zone, which include Ariake Urban Sports Park, Sea Forest Waterway and Yumenoshima Park Archery Field, offer the city’s residents, including the elderly and those with disabilities, increased opportunities for skateboarding, bouldering, canoeing, archery, running and rowing, among other sports. Ariake Urban Sports Park epitomises the citywide approach to growing participation by providing new sporting experiences and creating stronger ties between venues and their surrounding communities. Having staged a skateboarding experience for local residents as part of celebrations held to mark the one-year anniversary of the Games, it reopened to the public in October 2024 as a three-hectare, multi-purpose sports legacy zone. Designed to serve local people, it features a skate park, 3×3 basketball court and a bouldering wall.
Both new and existing venues offer other sports aside from those they hosted at Tokyo 2020. Oi Central Seaside Park Hockey Stadium can be used for lacrosse and touch rugby, while Yumenoshima Park Archery Field welcomes people to try out flying disk and make use of it as a place to relax when it is not hosting competitions. Building on many pre-Games initiatives designed to boost participation, Tokyo residents can enjoy skateboarding in the city’s parks, with greater use also being made of roads, pavements and parks as routes for running, cycling and walking.
Tokyo residents wanting to be healthy or try new sports have no shortage of facilities to choose from. In addition to the showpiece venues – both new and refurbished – nearly 2,000 local sports facilities, ranging from green spaces to swimming pools, are also open. Some JPY 7 billion – more than USD 50 million – was invested in the six years leading up to the Games in 248 projects across 48 municipalities. Sports facilities at 25 schools have also been opened up for public use.