NIPPON



 

Skateboarding has been gaining attention in Japan since the street sport was selected as an official event at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, with a growing number of skateboard parks opening across the country.

Efforts to promote the sport have also begun to involve local governments, such as skateboarding classes in public elementary schools.

According to Tokyo-based sports equipment retailer Murasaki Sports, the number of skateboarding practice facilities in Japan has increased 1.2- to 1.5-fold in the past three years. Lessons, competitions and events for the sport are expanding.

"People used to have no way of learning how to skateboard other than watching someone skateboarding," said Shunichiro Shimada, who has been in charge of the sport at the company for many years. "But the way of learning is changing."

Murasaki Park Kasama, one of the nation's largest skateboarding practice facilities, was opened in April 2021 in the city of Kasama, Ibaraki Prefecture, east of Tokyo. The prefectural and city governments covered 740 million yen of the construction costs.