Getting involved
There were many ways for the people of Japan to engage with the Olympic Games, with the Tokyo 2020 Participation Programme providing for more than 140,000 certified actions between 2017 and 2021, with around 170 million people taking part right across the country.
The Let’s 55 programme was a key initiative that gave people both young and old the opportunity to try Olympic and Paralympic sports. Between 2018 and early 2020, approximately 100,000 people nationwide, including thousands of children, tried their hand at various sports such as karate, wheelchair basketball, cycling, fencing and kayaking. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the Tokyo 2020 Let’s 55 Virtual Experience was launched, providing online content that allowed people to see and experience sports as athletes did.
A mix of virtual and live events, the No Limits Challenge increased public awareness and understanding of Paralympic sport. This initiative, which ran from 2015 to 2021 in municipalities across Tokyo, featured taster sessions that introduced Para sports to a wider audience. Together with the NO LIMITS SPECIAL initiative, over 200,000 people took part in it.
Meanwhile, Japanese Para sports federations organised international competitions through the Team Beyond initiative, which embraced different viewpoints to bring athletes, spectators and supporters together as one, exposed the public to new sports, and attracted their support for athletes with disabilities. As of November 2021, more than 1.4 million people had registered for Team Beyond.
The people of Japan also played their part in the creation of the 5,000 Olympic and Paralympic medals awarded to athletes at Tokyo 2020, through a national scheme involving the collection of used mobile phones and other household electronic devices. In total, around 32kg of gold, 3,500kg of silver and 2,200kg of bronze were collected at participating stores and local government offices up and down the country. The public also provided the plastic waste – the equivalent of 400,000 detergent bottles – used to make the medal podiums.
Created by the designer and illustrator Ryo Taniguchi, the Paralympic mascot Someity and its Olympic counterpart Miraitowa were selected by the schoolchildren of Japan. Over half the students from 205,755 elementary school classes across the country voted for the duo, from a shortlist of three mascot pairs.
Another engagement initiative aimed at youngsters was the Tokyo 2020 School Sports Day Project, which was created to inspire children to lead healthy lives and saw many Japanese schools organise sports days to encourage their students to play more sport.