- Traditional Strengths, Problem-solving Critical to Building Legacy; Fostering Talent among People with Diverse Viewpoints Key to Legacy -

Tsukuba International Academy for Sport Studies (TIAS), a part of the “Sport for Tomorrow” programme by which the Japanese government is promoting the sports and Olympic/Paralympic movement, hosted a roundtable presentation in Tokyo on Monday, 22 January, to spread awareness and understanding of the Olympic legacy as an aspect of Japan's societal heritage. Key members of industry and Olympic-related organisations took the dais to engage in discussions before an audience of industry and media representatives.

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With the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 coming soon, attention is now focused on the question of what kind of ongoing and positive Olympic legacy the Games will leave behind for the host city as well as for related organisations, society and people in general.

In addition to University of Tsukuba Professor and TIAS Chairman Hisashi Sanada, the roundtable attended by members of the press and industry stakeholders included Takanori Ishikawa, Senior Director of Action and Legacy for the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, a key player in the effort to foster a lasting Tokyo Olympic legacy. Other participants representing industry actively engaged in the Olympic legacy effort included Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games General Manager for Coca-Cola (Japan) Co. Oliver Takahashi, and Naoki Matsushita, Senior General Manager of Global Sports Marketing Division at ASICS Corp. The roundtable participants engaged in discussions sharing each perspective and deepened understanding of the crucial importance of generating an Olympic legacy.

In his presentation, Prof. Hisashi Sanada (University of Tsukuba/TIAS) noted the example of automaker Subaru “Legacy, the great heritage” as he reiterated the basic question of what constitutes a legacy and explained how the IOC conceives of the origin and definition of a legacy. “Amid developments such as the withdrawal of bids by European cities, the IOC has come to acknowledge a crisis in sustaining the Olympics in Europe. It has become necessary to hold the Olympic Games in ways that generate value to make them worth the cost.” he said, explaining how leaving a legacy came to be seen as so crucial. He added that in the Tokyo 2020 Games, as in the past Games held in Japan in 1964 and also the Games originally scheduled to be held in 1940, the vision has always been recovery. In the field of education, he said, the “One School for One Country” movement typifies the Olympic-related projects unique to Japan, which are crucial because through them “we can build a legacy founded on our strengths of tradition and problem-solving.”

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Noting “making the Tokyo 2020 Games available for participation by everyone possible throughout Japan,” Takanori Ishikawa (the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games) spoke on the stated vision for the Games: “Sports has the power to change the world and the feature,” and gave an account of the programmes currently under way. He expressed the critical importance of spreading awareness and meaning of the 2020 Olympics and of sports tournaments in general through programmes that people nationwide can participate in. Given that the Tokyo 2020 Olympics are expected to have record-high numbers of athletes and spectators participating, the Games will leave behind more than just the physical legacy of new national sports arenas. They are also the focus of efforts to create the intangible legacy of contributing to a more vibrant society that can accommodate more than 90,000 expected volunteers and numerous foreign visitors while also assisting disabled people in actively thriving throughout society.

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Emphasising “a legacy is something that reminds us decades later that what we did was meaningful,” Oliver Takahashi (Coca-Cola (Japan) Co.) introduced his vision, and the process by which a legacy can be built up through continual evolution across every competitive event. He noted how important it will be to have workshops conducted not just by management, but by staff on the scene. “In close proximity to customers and accessible to their views, we will carry out projects that are easy for everyone to understand and will encourage them to join in,” he said. “We hope that this will enable us to build a ‘Japan 2020’ legacy that will envelop the whole country.”

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Expressing “training talent is a major element in creating a legacy,” Naoki Matsushita (ASICS Corp.) also spoke from the perspective of industry. He said that the Olympics will provide the occasion for companies to create their own legacy through internal personnel training, as well as employment of people from organisations such as TIAS and elsewhere worldwide. With respect to Asia in particular, he said, “Since we will have increased opportunities to use Japanese content for PR purposes, there will be a need to actively employ people with international connections who can make use of them in Asia.” He said that the development and supply of products to actually be used directly in the competitions means “posting specific Olympic schedules within the company, which helps elevate our employee motivation.” In this way, he introduced the unique ways in which manufacturing firms experience the run-up to the Olympics.

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Prof. Sanada concluded by speaking from the perspective of TIAS in its role as personnel of an educational institution. “I believe that we can generate a problem-solving legacy through our traditional strengths and it will therefore be necessary to foster talented people who share this perspective,” he said. “Leveraging the traditional strengths that each country, city, company and university bring to the table as we consider what issues confront us will, I think, give rise to diverse legacies.” In this way, he expressed the future orientation of TIAS in Japan beyond 2020.

About TIAS

As part of the Sport for Tomorrow programme put forward by Japan's central government to further the sport and Olympic/Paralympic movement, TIAS has full government support. The University of Tsukuba, the parent organisation of TIAS, has been the driving force behind the Olympic movement in Japan, which dates back more than a century to Jigoro Kano, the first Asian member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and chairman of the school that was the forerunner of the University of Tsukuba. In anticipation of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, TIAS is offering wide-ranging studies, encompassing Olympic and Paralympic education including the state of the art in sport management, teaching and coaching, as well as interaction with select scholars from around the world. For details, please visit us at: http://tias.tsukuba.ac.jp/.

Admission Guidelines for 2018 Master’s Programme in Sport and Olympic Studies

Master’s Programme in Health and Sport Sciences

Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences

- Enrolment: 1 October 2018

- Programme Term: Oct. 2018 - Mar. 2020(18 months) The TIAS master’s programme is to be completed within 18 months instead of 2 years - through the recruitment of top students from across the world.

- Expenses: International students are exempt from paying examination fees, admission fees and tuition.

- Eligibility for Application: Applicants must meet one of the following criteria:

1. Individuals who have graduated or who will finish a four-year programme at a Japanese university by September 2018.

2. Individuals whose education spans 16 years or more and includes a bachelor’s degree from outside of Japan, or individuals who will obtain their bachelor’s degree by September 2018.

3. Individuals who have received or will receive a bachelor’s degree in Japan by September 2018.

4. Individuals who are 22 years of age or older by September 2018, and whose qualification is recognized as equivalent to a bachelor’s degree through eligibility screening conducted by the University of Tsukuba.

- Schedule (JST):

-- Web entry: 24 January 2018, 12:00 - 23 February 2018, 15:00

-- Deadline for document submission: 12 March 2018, 17:00

-- Announcement of results of document screening: 23 March 2018, 15:00 on website

-- Oral examination (Skype interview): 3 April 2018 - 5 April 2018

-- Announcement of final results: 10 May 2018, 15:00 on website