Edogawa-ku General Gymnasium – Sports classes for people with disabilities

Edogawa City (Tokyo/Japan) is aiming to increase the rate at which people with disabilities engage in sports. Following the model set by the Netherlands, a global para-sports powerhouse, the City has launched the Netherlands Club project and is running classes and other initiatives to enable people with disabilities to engage in regular exercise.

At Mizuno, we manage and operate the Edogawa-ku General Gymnasium and provide a variety of programs there that enable people with disabilities to engage in regular exercise. We run a boccia^*1 class for anyone of elementary school age and above, both for people with disabilities and those without, as well as classes for people with disabilities, including a buddies exercise class, and aerobics, swimming and basketball classes. The instructors are all highly experienced and include those who have instructed people with disabilities for many years or are teachers at special support schools. The Mizuno Sports Service staffs who work there have also obtained certification as para-sports instructors so that they can help people with disabilities get greater enjoyment out of sports.

*1　A sport to throw leather balls as close to a target ball as possible. Anyone can play it together.

By holding sports classes and other initiatives at public facilities and the activities by the para-sports instructors needed to run such activities, we are working with local communities to achieve a bright and fulfilling future, where people with and without disabilities can all freely enjoy sports whenever they want.