On 6 June 2024, IAKS Japan welcomed Mr Masami Okabe (Sports Agency, Parks, Greenery and Landscape Division) to speak about “Creating places where everyone can easily become active through the use of open spaces”.
The Assistant Counsellor spoke about exemplary experiments conducted by the Sports Agency on the use of open spaces to realise the Basic Law and Basic Plan for Sports. He shared examples of various spatial approaches, from relatively simple ones such as marking the ground in parks, walking spaces and squares (e.g. Kenkensha) to ones that require enclosures (e.g. street football), how they have been used and what challenges have occured.
From children to elderly people (some of them walking their dogs), passers-by and those who came to the open spaces for a different purpose were also impressed by the way how people became active, sometimes using their imagination in unexpected ways.
More than 100 people attended the webinar on 6 June, including local authorities, park managers, developers, NPOs, researchers and students.
