Case study: Eliminating corporal punishment in sport in Japan
A 2020 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report ‘“I Was Hit So Many Times I Can’t Count”: Abuse of Child Athletes in Japan’ documented Japan’s history of corporal punishment in sport—known in Japanese as taibatsu—and found child abuse in sport training throughout Japanese schools, federations, and elite sport.[1] The report documented experiences of more than 800 former child athletes—more than 50 from in-person interviews, and 757 from an online survey—including Olympians and Paralympians. The survey had participants from 45 of the 47 Japanese prefectures, and 50 sports.
In the report Naoko D. (pseudonym), a former professional basketball player, described her experience as the captain of her high school team in Aichi in the mid-to-late 2000s:
“Everyday someone was hit, and even during the game … I was the captain at the time, so I can’t even count how many times I was hit ... The coach would pull my hair and kick me … I was getting hit so much [on my face] that I had bruises ... drawing blood.… But I still, even now, like the coach.... [Then] I felt he trusted me as a player and he also helped me…. No one hated him [but] we were so afraid of the coach ... [When it comes to abusive coaches] … it’s the feeling of a person who has experienced domestic violence, it’s a similar feeling–the love and the abuse.
In 2013 in the wake of public outrage at violent punishment of young athletes, and facing pressure as Tokyo bid and prepared for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Japanese government and leading sports organizations undertook a series of reforms. Most notably, the 2013 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence in Sport (a written statement exhorting sports organizations to track athlete abuse and establish reporting systems for victims), and the 2019 governance codes for national sports federations and other sports organizations (meant to establish guidelines across sports bodies).
However, HRW reported that in 2020, while some progress had been made, child abuse in sport remained accepted and normalized in many parts of Japanese society. It was still difficult for young athletes to file complaints against a powerful coach or official, and schools and federations rarely punished abusive coaches, often allowing them to continue coaching. In 2020 Japan enacted prohibition of corporal punishment of children, in all settings. HRW argued that it should be made explicit that legal prohibitions on corporal punishment also extend to the world of organized sport.
Four years since the publication of the HRW report, Japanese Lawyer Shoichi Sugiyama calls on the Japanese Government to take further action to address violence against children in sport.
Shoichi Sugiyama, Lawyer at Field-R Law Offices writes:
In July 2020, HRW published a report titled ‘“I Was Hit So Many Times I Can’t Count” Abuse of Child Athletes in Japan’ , reminding us that abuse still takes place in Japanese sport. In October 2021, HRW, together with Japan Safe Sport Project and other organizations, submitted a request to the Japan Sports Agency for the establishment of a Japanese version of a dedicated entity for Safe Sports, similar to the U.S. Center for SafeSport. However, the Third Basic Sport Plan, issued in March 2022, did not adopt a proposal to establish such a specialized entity to prevent and respond to child abuse in sport[1]. The prospect of establishing a specialized entity to prevent child abuse in the next 5 years since 2022, has almost disappeared.
This situation in Japan goes against global trends. Since around 2020, new safe sport initiatives or entities have been established in several countries, including Sport Integrity Australia in Australia, Abuse Free Sport Program in Canada, and Sport Integrity in the UK. Meanwhile, Germany is making progress towards the establishment of a safe sports centre, following publication of a report by Athleten Deutschland, an association of athletes in February 2021. Comparing Japan and these countries, Japan has been left behind over the past four years. While some countries are building systems and services for preventing and responding to violence against children in sport with the involvement or support of the governments, Japan seems to be lagging behind.
There is also a growing international movement to gather expertise using Safe Sports International as a hub. And the focus of debate is shifting. At a global conference held in London in 2023 attended by many sport and specialized organizations working to prevent abuse, discussions focused on taking a survivor- and human rights-centred approach to reviewing systems in sport. However, in Japan, we still see the prevention of abuse in the context of sport integrity, which starts from the protection of sport itself, not human rights.
Four years on from the HRW report, Japanese sports systems are still fragmented, with different ethics or other rules for each sport. In contrast, other countries, including the U. S., Canada, Malaysia, and Singapore, have unified code to prevent abuse in sports. As a preparatory step for the establishment of a safe sports centre, Japan could begin by creating uniform rules for the prevention of abuse.
How serious is Japan about tackling the issue of corporal punishment of children in sport? Can Japan catch up with other countries in its policy for safe sport over the next four years? I believe it is necessary to change Japanese culture and public awareness by changing the legal system and policy for safe sport.
- Read our blog 'Safe Sports Day and Olympics 2024: High time to #EndCorporalPunishment of children in sport'
- See our other 2024 Guest Blogs
[1] Human Rights Watch, “I Was Hit So Many Times I Can’t Count”: Abuse of Child Athletes in Japan (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2020), https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/07/20/i-was-hit-so-many-times-i-cant-count/abuse-child-athletes-japan.
[2] Japan Sport Agency(2022), Third Sport Basic Plan, https://www.mext.go.jp/sports/en/b_menu/policy/sysbudget/thirdsportbp.html
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