Japan has taken steps to protect athletes from abuse, four years after hosting the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. This month, the Japanese National Diet revised the Basic Act on Sport (2011), mandating national and local governments to implement measures against physical, sexual, verbal, and other forms of abuse by coaches and others in authority.
Human Rights Watch highlighted Japan’s use of corporal punishment in sports through a 2020 report that exposed systemic child abuse from school-level training to elite institutions. The organization called for a ban on all forms of abuse against child athletes in organized sports and launched #AthletesAgainstAbuse with partner organizations as an international campaign to stop such practices.
The need for reform remains critical. In April, a high school baseball coach faced consequences for slapping players. Similarly, in February, a junior high school kendo coach was disciplined for hitting students with a shinai (kendo stick) and denying water to an ill student during summer practice.
Japanese athletes’ leadership combined with domestic and international pressure has been pivotal in pushing legal reforms forward. In August 2020, the International Olympic Committee urged the Japanese Olympic Committee to address abuse and harassment in sports. By April 2023, six major Japanese sports governing bodies had initiated the “No! Sports Harassment” campaign to raise awareness about these issues.
Additional efforts include interventions by the Japan Sports Agency (JSA), which published a list of abuse-reporting hotlines for each sport organization. The Japan Sport Association introduced a disciplinary code for coaches. The JSA also plans to establish guidelines for disciplining external school coaches.
The amendment to the Basic Act on Sport could signify progress toward ending physical violence as a coaching method. However, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is encouraged not to halt efforts here but instead establish an independent body dedicated solely to reporting and addressing child abuse in sport—a crucial step if Japan aims to eradicate athlete abuse effectively.
