Give a big hand to the Asian junior athletes' exciting games!
Report on the Asia Junior Sports Exchange Games 2012
The Asia Junior Sports Exchange Games 2012 was held in Tokyo from August 31 to September 2 in 2012. Here is a report from a member of its organizers' team, Mr. Kizaki from Tokyo Sport Benefits Corporation.
REPORT: Mr. Kizaki, Tokyo Sport Benefits Corporation
An exciting match between accomplished players
The Asia Junior Sports Exchange Games 2012 was held with 256 junior athletes of 18 or younger from 19 Asian cities in order to enhance athletic skills of young athletes and deepen their mutual understanding.
They showed very exciting performances in badminton and judo games. The winner of the badminton competition was Bangkok, who defeated Jakarta and won the games for three years in a row. On the other hand, Japanese juniors ranked high in most of the classes in the Judo games although a player from Ulaanbaatar did a great job coming in second in the men's over-90-kilogram weight class. Asian athletes fared well in Olympic Badminton and Judo games in the past. I hope the junior athletes who participated in the tournament this year will meet in Tokyo again in the near future!
The young athletes participated not only in the competitions but also in cultural exchange programs, went sightseeing around Tokyo and international sports camps (explanations of techniques). At a cultural exchange program held to promote friendship between overseas players and Japanese students of the same age, school students from 4 middle schools and 11 senior high schools welcomed the overseas players. Some visitors enjoyed taking photos with students in Kimonos and enjoyed a relaxing time thanks to the Japanese students' hospitality. At the end of the party, they exchanged messages such as "Good luck in your games!" "Please come to our country next time!" and they seemed very sad to part from each other.
A visit to a restaurant in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building on the first day.
One of the tough aspects in organizing the event was preparing the food. Japanese people do not have many food taboos while many others have a restricted diet for religious reasons. Therefore, we collected requests of the visitors beforehand to prepare for their needs, expanded the menu, and added vegetarian dishes. Some asked for more Japanese dishes, vegetables, or hot bento boxes, but most of them were happy with what we prepared. The young athletes with a healthy appetite care about food the most, I thought.
The view from Tokyo Sky Tree was a great hit!
I was personally happy to see the successful end of the program with no big accident, as it was my first time organizing the event. The sixth Asia Junior Sports Exchange Games was greater than ever. We hope to make it even more successful in encouraging exchanges among players and officials in the future.
returns to contents