Japan is big when it comes to health. You may have heard that the Japanese are the healthiest people on the planet and the Japanese live longer than in any country. And not only because they have a healthy diet but also they actively promote sports and an active lifestyle.
Most Popular Sports In Japan
One major reason why Japanese are healthy is because they love doing sports as part of their lifestyle. But what are the sports in Japan that aids them to a healthy body and mind? Read this article and you will know the popular sports Japanese love to do.
1. Baseball
Baseball is the most popular sport in Japan and is even dubbed jokingly as Japan’s national sport. In 1971, Horace Wilson, an american professor working at University of Tokyo, introduced baseball to his students and it became highly popular in Japan. Today, Japan has 12 professional baseball teams playing in the Japanese national league. This strenuous sport is the most favorite of Japanese that is played all over Japan by all ages.
2. Soccer
Like most countries, soccer is a popular sport and in Japan, both young and old play soccer.
In the olden times, there was an ancient game named “kemari” or kickball in Japan. And in the 19th century, soccer was introduced in Japan as a modern kickball game. Nowadays, soccer is still a popular sport all over Japan and even in Junior High and High School play this game and have matches and tournaments the whole year round. Because of this popular sport, most Japanese who play and enjoy soccer have evidently good physique, low body fat and toned muscles.
3. Hakone Ekiden
A traditional Japanese sport, Hakone Ekiden is a huge annual competition held throughout the country every 2nd and 3rd of January. Recognized as a national sport, Hakone Ekiden is a long-distance relay race in Japan and the most important race of all marathons in Japan. University students join this race. This sport requires athletes to do various cardio exercises and
Japanese athletes and enthusiasts train hard to participate in this event.
4. Golf
Similar with baseball, golf was introduced to Japan during the Meiji Restoration era by a British expat. It was practiced by western-educated Japanese and foreigners but nowadays it is a popular sport among all age groups and not exclusive for wealthy people. As a well-known sport, there are a vast variety of golf courses throughout the country for every level that are open to the public. Japanese are serious golf lovers and they have nearly 2,500 golf courses, the most courses in all of Asia. Nowadays, Japanese enjoy the abundance of golf courses as one of their favorite sports.
5. Tennis
It is believed that tennis was introduced in Japan in 1878. Now it is one of the prominent sports in the country because Japan won its very first first Olympic medals through tennis. Soft tennis was taught in schools by 1886 and is still being taught in public schools all over the country to this day. There are several public tennis facilities in Japan and Japanese enjoy this sport for pastime and also for exercise.
Conclusion
Which sports do you think is the most beneficial to Japanese health? What do you think is the best sports for exercise? Let us know in the comments.
References:
https://allabout-japan.com/en/article/4175/
https://blog.japanwondertravel.com/popular-sports-in-japan-20565
https://programminginsider.com/the-most-popular-sports-in-japan/
BY TW