A Symposium “Business x SPORT – Sport is Necessary in this Anxious Society!” Held in Hamamatsu, Japa
■The Power of Sport Vol.3 –Thinking about Next Generation City Brand and Citizen Identity■
A symposium on sports business from the perspective of sociology and psychology “The Power of Sport Vol.3 –Thinking about Next Generation City Brand and Citizen Identity” was held at Any in Hamamatsu, on Sunday, November 20 2016. The symposium, hosted by Shizuoka Baseball Fan Club, was a successful meeting. The Japan Sports Agency, formed in October 2015, plans to expand the sports market size in Japan to 15 trillion yen, which is three times larger than the present market. The Government Growth Strategy, whose aim is 600-trillion yen of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), expects the sports industry to develop significantly and become a large industry to support Japan in the future. Why people expect nothing but sports so much? This symposium was held as an opportunity to think about sports in the future and relationship between citizens, sports and towns by probing the basic ideas that “what role should sport play?” and “what is the social function that only sports can perform?” The participants were about 20 Hamamatsu residents including officials from sports promotion departments and business people dealing with sports.
What is Sport for Humans?
The lecturer, Mr. Machida, says that sport is the “social device” that is indispensable for many people in local community. A social device is “what makes it possible for all people living in one country or a specific area to live affluent lives, develop great cultures, and maintain an attractive society in a sustainable and stable manner”.
Mr. Machida emphasizes that sport business is one of a few industries that were developed rapidly since 2000s after ending the economic growth of developed countries. In his introductory remarks before the speech of sports business, he talked about trends of times and the current society situation dispassionately:
●Even though the society succeeded in gaining freedom by accepting each other’s sense of values, did the matured society after economic development cause people to feel lonely and anxiety by making them lose “metanarrative” consisting of rightness, goals, or models to be shared? ●Is “matured” Japan suffering from confronting to several social problems and stressful days seized with questions having no answer as well as the USA and European countries have been? ●Are Japanese people living their lives with feeling of dyspnea because overflowing information forces them to judge every day and makes them tired, and want to forget everything even for an instant of time? Mr. Machida explained; That is why the depth psychology or desire was born among many people who pursue ‘self-esteem in living’ such as ‘open feeling’ or ‘belongingness, which are unavoidable and universal problems that matured societies face. Sport is the “social device” that people cannot miss as the excellent solution for the ‘problem’. Sport can reach anyone’s heart and is easily shared, which is a common feature it’s gates with other cultural activities such as movies and music. Sport has such different solution from other cultures. Why is sport attractive? The power of sport lies not only in competition which attracts people with outstanding physical abilities. The emotion of excitement one feels during high school baseball tournaments and “Nadeshiko Japan”, the female football league, are the very solution that those who cannot stop feeling anxious in this modern society long for. As Mr. Machida said in his lecture, sport can certainly be such a solution.
I really saw the light! –Comments from Participants-
Symposium participants had an opportunity to learn more than just about sport business. The following are some of their comments:
“I really understood why people ask the identity to sports”
“I understood that sport fits community platform.”
“I found out why young people gather in Fuji Rock Festival and Summer Sonic.”
“Now I realized the reason why recently a lot of TV programs seem focus on interhuman connections and ties.”
The Japan Sports Agency, formed in October 2015, plans to expand the sports market size in Japan to 15 trillion yen, which is three times larger than the present market.
【Event summery】 ■Date: Sunday, November 20 2016
■Time: 16:00 to 18:00
■Place: Any (91-1 Chitose-cho, Naka-ku, Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka)
■Application: Web platform Peatix
■Composition: 1st Lecture, 2nd Panel Discussion
■Host: Shizuoka Baseball Fan Club
■Support: Hamamatsu-shi, Hamamatsu Chamber of Commerce and Industry
■Fee: 4,000 yen (Adults), 2,000 yen (Students)
■Lecturer: Hikaru Machida
Senior Director of Sports Branding Japan Co., Ltd.
Member of J-league Marketing Council
Invited Researcher at Waseda University’s Research Institute for Sport Knowledge
Guest Professor at Waseda University
CEO of NFL JAPAN, the branch of NFL (Professional Football League in Northern America) for over 16 years since 1996His current main filed of study is relationship between sports and societies from sociological and philosophical point of view.
【Shizuoka Baseball Fan Club】
The Shizuoka Baseball Fan Club acts aiming at social contributions through sports and solving social problems through baseball. Our activities focus on promoting sports, in order to achieve our aim to contribute to interculturalsociety and local community with co-creation by social contributions through sports for children living in and nearby the Enshu area.
Main activities include managing sports clubs / facilities, organizing sporting events or classes for the public, providing training sessions for coaches and planning international exchange programs through sport.
Yutaka Kuroda, Representative Director of Shizuoka Baseball Fan club,
Takehito Akima, Director of Shizuoka Baseball Fan club, ##### For more information, please contact Shizuoka Baseball Fan club Management office Email: hamamatsu.baseball@gmail.com Tel: +81-(0)90-4176-1547
