There is no law in Japan imposing criminal penalties for doping. The Japan Anti-Doping Agency (the “JADA”), which is responsible for all anti-doping activities in Japan, was established in 2001. In addition to determining standard doping test processes for Japan and implementing doping control procedures, the JADA conducts anti-doping education and awareness campaigns. The JADA established the Japan Anti-Doping Code (the “JADC”), which is based on the World Anti-Doping Code established by the World Anti-Doping Agency (the “WADA”) and incorporated the WADA’s prohibited list. The prohibited list is updated annually by the WADA and includes substances such as cannabis, cocaine and heroin, which are illegal drugs in Japan.

In October 2018, the Act on the Promotion of Anti-Doping Activities in Sport (Law No 58 of 2018) was enacted as Japan’s first anti-doping law. In March 2019, the Basic Policies for the Comprehensive Promotion of Measures Related to Anti-Doping Activities in Sports, which establishes the basic policy frameworks for anti-doping activities, were enacted in line with Article 11(1) of the Act on the Promotion of Anti-Doping Activities in Sport.

In 2017, a candidate for inclusion on the Japanese national canoe team mixed a banned substance in the beverage bottle of one of his rivals causing the rival to be suspended. This disqualification was later nullified and the player who mixed the banned substance was banned by the national federation from competing for eight years. Instances of doping violations in Japan are published on the JADA website, and last year eight instances of doping violations were reported.

There is no law in Japan that specifically deals with an athlete’s misconduct/cheating and match-fixing offences. That said, if an athlete commits an act alleged to be illegal under the Penal Code or public gambling laws, the athlete will be punished. In addition, the sports organisation to which the offender belongs may punish them under its own rules.

Each sports organisation offers compliance training to its athletes in order to prevent illegal acts and misconduct from occurring.

For example, in the J.League, the top professional football league in Japan, the early warning system introduced by FIFA is used to prevent match-fixing.

In 2011, a sumo wrestling match-fixing scandal arose, causing the spring tournament to be cancelled. More than 40 sumo wrestlers and masters were asked to retire or had their dismissal recommended. In 2020, a boat racer was sentenced to imprisonment with labour for three years and a supplementary fine of approximately JPY37 million for their involvement in a match-fixing scheme whereby they intentionally delayed finishing a boat race in order to receive an illicit payment. In the same year, a director of a football club that belonged to the J.League (fourth division) unfairly requested the coach and players to fix a match. The request was rejected and the Japan Football Association banned the director from any football-related activities for two years.

Under Japanese law, gambling activities, including running a gambling establishment or organising a group of gamblers, are subject to punishment under Articles 185 and 186 of the Penal Code, except where public agencies are specifically authorised by special laws to run gambling establishments in the fields of horse racing, boat racing, bicycle racing, auto racing and sports promotion lotteries. In 2020, the Act on the Implementation of Sports Promotion Lotteries was amended, and since 2022, basketball has been subject to such a lottery, in addition to football (soccer). According to the Act, athletes, managers, coaches and referees of the games subject to the lotteries, as well as those under the age of 19, are not allowed to participate.

Persons who engage in illegal gambling may not only be punished by law, but also by the sports organisation or companies to which they belong.

The JADA implements doping control in line with the JADC. In the event a positive doping test is obtained, a hearing will be held and sanctions (such as suspension) may be decided by the Japan Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel. Although the body for sanctions is the Japan Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel, the sports organisation to which those who are found to be in violation belong may impose separate sanctions.

Disciplinary procedures for other acts that violate the principle of integrity will be imposed under relevant regulations if:

• the prohibited acts are subject to disciplinary procedures;
• a person is subject to disciplinary procedures;
• the details of the disciplinary action are known; and
• the procedures leading to the disciplinary action, are provided for in the regulations, although the disciplinary action will vary from one sports organisation to another.

In addition, sports organisations or companies may punish their members for unethical behaviour in their private life (eg, for acts of infidelity).

In addition to sponsorship and broadcasting revenues, merchandising rights as well as ticket and hospitality revenue are major sources of revenue for sporting events. For example, the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (the “TOCOG”) received approximately JPY14.4 billion in licensing fees and had forecasted about JPY90 billion in ticket revenue at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games (the “Tokyo 2020 Games”). However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tokyo 2020 Games were held without spectators and all tickets were refunded. The Rugby World Cup 2019 Organising Committee received ticket revenues (JPY38.9 billion) from the 2019 Rugby World Cup, with no sponsorship, broadcasting and licensing revenues coming in.

Official resale services were provided for the Rugby World Cup 2019. Tickets for the Rugby World Cup 2019 were allowed to be resold at regular prices via official resale sites. Resale of tickets by other methods, such as auction websites, was prohibited by the terms and conditions applicable to ticket purchase and use. However, the official resale service for the Tokyo 2020 Games was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The unauthorised resale of tickets, or acquisition of tickets for the purpose of unauthorised resale, is subject to criminal penalties under the Act on Securing Proper Distribution of Entertainment Admission Tickets through Prohibition of Unauthorised Resale of Specified Entertainment Admission Tickets (the “Anti-Scalping Law”), which came into effect on 14 June 2019.

A sponsorship contract is a contract in which a company or individual becomes a sponsor of sports rights-holder(s) and/or sports competition(s) and receives a certain sponsorship benefit in return for paying a sponsorship fee and/or providing its products and services as value-in-kind. The motivation for concluding sponsorship agreements is that sponsors can increase their brand value by associating their products and services with sports competition(s) and athletes while also leveraging the data of sports rights-holder(s) and relevant stakeholders to develop their businesses.

Sports rights-holder(s), on the other hand, use sponsorship fees to stabilise and enhance their events/competitions and improve the performance and competitiveness of their athletes. In sponsorship programmes, particularly in major sporting events and international scale sporting events, it is common to differentiate tiers of sponsors while granting exclusive rights to certain products or services categories. Please see 4.4 Recent Deals/Trends for details of a different type of sponsorship programme that was in place for the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Sports rights-holder(s) grant broadcasters and media organisations broadcasting and media rights, which include:

• the right to bring recording and broadcasting equipment into venues; and
• the right to record the sports competitions and events by themselves or through a third party and then to transmit and screen the same using live or delayed broadcasts, wire broadcasts, internet distribution or other means.

Broadcasters often attempt to increase viewer revenues by broadcasting high-value-added sporting content, while also increasing advertising revenues by increasing the value of their own media.

In order to obtain greater broadcasting rights fees, several sports rights-holder(s), such as the leagues, collectively manage the broadcasting rights of their competitions and sell them on an exclusive basis to broadcasters or media organisations. While the granting of broadcasting rights and the ownership of copyrights to the audio and video of broadcast games and others are separate issues, ownership of copyrights is also agreed upon in broadcast rights agreements.

For example, in July 2016, the J.League concluded an agreement with the Perform Group, which provides the DAZN live streaming service, for the sale of the broadcasting rights of approximately JPY210 billion for a ten-year period beginning in the 2017-18 season. In 2023, the contract was extended until the 2033-34 season with broadcasting right fees of approximately JPY239.5 billion set for the contractual period starting from 2023. In this agreement, it was agreed that the copyrights in, and to, the footage of the matches belong to the J.League.

Because broadcasting rights fees for large-scale international sporting events are increasing for certain events such as the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup, the Japan Consortium, an organisation composed of NHK, a public broadcaster, and private broadcasters, has been formed to allow for the sharing of broadcasting rights, the securing of personnel and systems for jointly creating and broadcasting programmes, and the provision of more viewing opportunities.

The broadcasting rights for the Olympics have been agreed upon through several contracts between the International Olympic Committee (the “IOC”) and the Japan Consortium, covering television, radio broadcasting, and all media rights, including the internet. These agreements included JPY66 billion for the 2018 and 2020 Olympic Games and JPY44 billion for the 2022 and 2024 Olympic Games. They also include JPY47.5 billion for the 2026 and 2028 Olympic Games and JPY50 billion for the 2030 and 2032 Olympic Games. However, for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the framework of the Japan Consortium broke down as several private broadcasters withdrew due to the soaring broadcasting rights fees, and only NHK, two private broadcasters and an internet video streaming platform company ended up acquiring broadcasting rights.

In addition, there are no specific laws or regulations in Japan which guarantee free-to-air coverage of designated sports events, unlike for example in the UK.

There is no right that protects the sporting events themselves and matches themselves are not protected by intellectual property rights under Japanese law.

Sports event organisers, including national federations, leagues and clubs, control their facilities and games by securing property rights, leasehold rights and other facility use rights through contracts with the owners of the facilities and by granting access to athletes, coaches and spectators. In granting access, sports event organisers obtain permission to include the grantees’ likenesses in the footage of the games. Furthermore, to protect broadcast rights, sponsorship rights and other commercial rights, organisers will:

• enter into contracts with athletes and coaches participating in the sporting events that set the terms and conditions of the participation;
• set out various rules and regulations; and
• impose terms and conditions for tickets sold by sports event organisers to spectators.

Sports event organisers are legally obliged, when holding events, to consider the safety of participants. Although the obligation to give consideration to safety is not explicitly stated in Japanese law, judicial precedents stipulate that “the parties who have entered into a special social contract relationship based on a certain legal relationship are obliged to protect their lives and personal safety from the dangers associated with a legal relationship by one or both of them under the doctrine of good faith and mutual trust, as supplementary duties”.

Sports event organisers should work to prevent violence and disorder by implementing rules applicable to athletes and coaches, as well as rules applicable to spectators. They should collaborate with police and security companies. If an athlete violates the rules, they will be punished by sports event organisers.

Depending on the location and content of a sporting event, the relevant parties, including sponsors, may be subject to the Urban Park Law, the Road Traffic Law, the Outdoor Advertisement Law and related ordinances, the Anti-Nuisance Ordinance, the Fire Service Law, the Food Sanitation Law, and other relevant laws and regulations.

Event organisers may have clauses in their contracts with participants and spectators that restrict their liability, but any provisions in the terms and conditions with spectators purporting to exempt the organiser from liability to provide compensation are always void as a breach of the Consumer Contract Act.

Professional sports clubs generally operate as joint stock companies while sports organisations that are not professional sports clubs may operate in a variety of forms, including as joint stock companies, incorporated associations, incorporated foundations, specified non-profit organisations (NPOs), or voluntary organisations. In many cases, national sports federations in Japan operate as incorporated associations or foundations.

There are many possible reasons for opting for corporate status or a certain entity type, including tax benefits. For example, the primary reason for selecting a joint stock company is that the organisation’s activities are for profit. The primary reason for choosing an incorporated association or foundation is that the organisation’s activities are not for profit. Certain incorporated associations and incorporated foundations are authorised by a Public Interest Corporation Certification. Having a Public Interest Corporation Certification offers tax advantages, such as income tax exemptions.

In 2019, the Japan Sports Agency (the “JSA”) developed two sports governance codes: one for national federations and the other for general sports organisations. In 2020, the Japan Sport Association (the “JSPO”), the Japanese Olympic Committee (the “JOC”) and the Japanese Para-Sports Association (the “JPSA”) began evaluating their respective compliance with the code for national federations. As of the end of 2024, second evaluations have already started, but no major problems have occurred.

In September 2023, the JSA revised the governance code for national federations. While 13 rules contained in the governance code remained as they were the explanations were slightly amended to help ensure the effectiveness of the governance code. A national federation that is evaluated as non-conforming in the examination may be subject to a reduction in the amount of subsidies provided by the Japan Sport Council (the “JSC”). Furthermore, when a general sports organisation applies to the JSC for a grant, it is required to self-explain and publicise its compliance status with the governance code. The governance code does not specifically provide for matters regarding the bankruptcy of a sports organisation.

The JSC, the JOC, the JPSA and the JSPO are awarded administrative grants, subsidies, etc, by the JSA. They then provide funds to the various national federations to improve athletic performance and international competitiveness as well as enhance the competitive environment. This sports promotion fund is also provided to athletes and coaches of Japan’s national teams. These subsidies are estimated to account for over 20% of the income of the national federations.

Subsidies may also be granted to other athletic organisations by the JSA and the JSC as sports promotion lottery subsidies. Furthermore, lottery tickets for the Tokyo 2020 Games and for the Rugby World Cup 2019 were sold and a portion of the proceeds was used to support each event respectively.

In Japan, the Rugby World Cup 2019 was held in 2019 and the Tokyo 2020 Games were held in 2021, with both events being extremely important to the Japanese sports industry. For the Rugby World Cup 2019, there was a total of JPY67.6 billion in revenue, including JPY38.9 billion in ticket revenue. The total revenue for the Tokyo 2020 Games was JPY640.4 billion.

In sponsorship contracts for large international sporting events and other events, the sponsor is often granted exclusivity over a particular product or service category in order to increase the value of its sponsorship. However, at the Tokyo 2020 Games, with the approval of the IOC, a scheme was adopted whereby multiple companies coexisted as sponsors in the same categories, such as banking, aviation and newspapers, which is a new and unique form of sponsorship. As a result, domestic sponsorship revenues for the Tokyo 2020 Games reached an Olympic-record of JPY376.1billion.

In Japan, major international sporting events, such as the TOKYO 2025 Deaflympics and the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026/5th Asian Para Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 are scheduled to be held.

A trade mark right only arises after registration with the Patent Office by identifying the trade mark to be registered and filing an application with the Patent Office specifying the scope of the designated goods or services for which the trade mark is to be used.

Trade marks which do not have a distinctive function, which are contrary to the public interest, or which are similar to another person’s trade marks, cannot be registered.

Sports organisations often register trade marks in the categories of clothing (class 25), toys and sports equipment (class 28), advertising (class 35), and the organisation, arranging and conducting of sports competitions (class 41).

The duration of a trade mark right is ten years, but because it is renewable, it can be made semi-permanent by repeating the renewal, which makes it easier to use in the sports business.

For this reason, sports event organisers, such as leagues, may require their member clubs to register the trade marks for their logos and emblems.

Anticipation and Abuse of Trade Mark Rights

Anticipatory trade mark applications have been filed for famous names in the sports world. For example, this sort of anticipatory activity was disputed in the Juventus case. In that case, the plaintiff, who held a trade mark registration for Juventus despite being unrelated to the Juventus football club in Italy’s Serie A, claimed infringement of a trade mark right against a defendant who had been licensed by the club and used the mark domestically. The court rejected the claim on the ground that the plaintiff’s position constituted an abuse of rights.

The Copyright Act grants copyrights and moral rights to the author of a work which is a cultural product. Databases that display creativity through the selection or systematic construction of information are protected as copyrighted work. Because a copyright accrues automatically when content is recognised as creative, sports organisations create content themselves and acquire rights to copyrights under contracts with copyright holders.

Unlike trade mark rights, copyrights have the advantage of being granted without applying for registration or involving complex procedures and are therefore widely used in sports businesses. That being said, it is necessary to bear in mind that copyrights may be unclear in terms of copyrightability or the attribution of rights, and it is therefore not easy to determine the presence of infringement. For example, the official emblem of the Tokyo 2020 Games was said to resemble the logo of an overseas theatre, and because the existence of copyright infringement was therefore at issue, the TOCOG changed to another emblem.

Although not stipulated by Japanese law, the rights to the names and portraits of celebrities, such as athletes (their image rights), are recognised. They are generally recognised as:

• the right to exclusively use names and portraits to attract customers and promote the sale of goods; and
• publicity rights in the context of Supreme Court rules on tort under the Civil Code.

In the case of infringement committed by a third party for the purpose of exploiting an athlete’s ability to attract customers by their own portraits, injunctions against infringing acts in tort and claims for compensatory damages are allowed. The following three types of infringement of publicity rights are common:

• the portrait being utilised as an independent product;
• placing portraits on products in order to differentiate products; and
• using the portrait as an advertisement for products.

Under Japanese law, there are no special restrictions on the licensing of intellectual property rights, such as trade mark rights and copyrights, to third parties. In addition, the Supreme Court considers that the basis of publicity rights, such as names and portraits of athletes, as described in 5.3 Image Rights and Other IP, is a moral right.

Publicity rights are therefore construed as personal and cannot be assigned. However, there is no restriction on the licensing of these rights to third parties. For this reason, sports organisations and athletes often licence their intellectual property rights and publicity rights to sponsors and licensors for remuneration.

The data of athletes is used for coaching and training as well as to improve their athletic performance. It is also used for fan engagement and to develop products and services for sponsors and other stakeholders.

On the other hand, by accumulating and analysing spectator data, such as visit history to venues, age of fans and purchase history of tickets and goods, sports organisations have refined their marketing activities and increased the number of visitors and fans and acquiring sponsors, as well as improving product development and sales promotional activities for sponsors and other stakeholders.

Sports data is subject to protection under the Personal Information Protection Law when it falls under the category of personal information (defined as information concerning an individual that can identify a specific individual by name, date of birth or another piece of information contained in that data). Specifically, when providing this information to a third party, it is necessary to obtain the individual consent of the person in question or clarify in advance, by way of a privacy policy, the content, purpose of use and method of provision of the information. In situations where personal data will be used jointly, the privacy policy should stipulate the categories of the jointly used personal data, the scope of the jointly using persons, the purpose of use, etc.

In addition, information regarding the results of doping control testing is strongly protected as “special care-required personal information” and it is essential to obtain the consent of the person in question when acquiring this information.

GDPR Issues

When handling the personal data of individuals residing in the EU, it is necessary to comply with the GDPR. The European Commission adopted a privacy adequacy decision for Japan in January 2019, whereby the transfer of personal data between Japan and the EU has been made much simpler and smoother.

Any disputes concerning the existence or non-existence of specific rights and obligations or legal relationships between the parties, which can be finally settled through the application of law, can be heard in court. However, non-legal disputes such as those involving athlete selection or those that fall completely within the jurisdiction of an organisation, cannot be settled in court.

Domestic sports-related arbitration and mediation is undertaken by the Japan Sports Arbitration Agency (the “JSAA”), detailed in 6.2 ADR (Including Arbitration), and by those sports organisations that have their own mechanisms for dispute resolution. It is not necessary to use the arbitration or mediation of the JSAA, or dispute resolution procedures by sports organisations, prior to resolving a dispute in court.

Any dissatisfaction with a decision made by a sports organisation may result in an appeal within the sports organisation itself or to the JSAA. Sports disputes that cannot be resolved in court may also be appealed. The scope of sports arbitration conducted before the JSAA covers “a decision made by a sports organisation or its organs in relation to a sporting competition or its operation”.

Dispute resolution using the JSAA is conducted in line with the Rules of Sport Arbitration and other regulations. Any appeal to the JSAA must be filed within six months from the date on which a party became aware of the decision by the sports organisation concerned, and the arbitral award rendered by the JSAA will be final and binding upon both parties. The sports governance code for national federations requires that national federations establish an automatic acceptance clause regarding the jurisdiction of sports arbitration conducted by the JSAA. As of 1 October 2024, the adoption rate of the automatic acceptance clause in sports organisations is 82.7%.

Sports governing bodies may dismiss or suspend persons, reduce subsidies or impose sanctions in line with their own rules. Any person who wishes to challenge the decisions made by a sports organisation may file an objection under the appeal system established within that sports organisation. The proceedings will be in line with the rules established by the organisation.

See 6.2 ADR (Including Arbitration) for further information on the appeals system administered by the JSAA.

There are several types of relationships between sports organisations and players. These relationships depend on:

• the nature of the sport (eg, individual or team);
• the history of the sport;
• the degree of professionalisation of the sport;
• the level of popularity of the sport;
• the level of competition; and
• the policies of the governing body.

For example, players who engage in individual sports, such as tennis or golf, may conclude a contract with each sports organisation hosting each competition and receive remuneration from the organisation concerned. In contrast, players who engage in team sports, such as baseball, football or basketball, may receive remuneration from their club (or the company that owns the club).

Player Contracts

In general, a professional player contract is considered to be a consignment contract, instead of an employment contract. That being said, for certain sports, such as rugby, in addition to having professional player contracts, semi-professional contracts, having the characteristics of a consignment contract and an employment contract, are sometimes concluded depending on the degree of professionalisation of the sport and the skill and competence of the athletes. These semi-professional contracts may include provisions wherein each player of the club becomes an employee of the company owning the club and continues to work for the company after retirement.

In addition, there are some sports where professional athletes have different contracts, and some where all professional athletes enter into the same uniform player contracts. Uniform player contracts are particularly present in large-scale and established sports, such as baseball, football and basketball in Japan.

Salary Caps and Transfer Restrictions

Salary caps have been introduced in some sports. For example, in the J.League, there are certain limitations on players’ salaries, which are based on contract type. A salary cap of JPY6.7 million applies to Professional A contract players in their first year, but there is no cap from their second year on. An annual salary cap of JPY4.6 million applies to Professional B and Professional C contract players.

Starting from the 2026 season, the J.League will revise its player contract system. The existing contract categories (Professional A, Professional B, Professional C, and Amateur) will be abolished and will be simplified to Professional and Amateur. The first-year salary cap for Professional players will increase to JPY12 million and a minimum salary will be introduced. This will be JPY4.8 million for J1, JPY3.6 million for J2 and JPY2.4 million for J3.

The Japan Fair Trade Commission (the “JFTC”) has officially announced that any rules that limit or restrict the transfer of athletes indefinitely may violate the Anti-monopoly Act. On 19 September 2024, the JFTC issued a warning to Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), stating that its practice of prohibiting players from appointing individuals other than lawyers as agents for contract negotiations, as well as its restriction preventing players from appointing agents who are already representing other players, could potentially violate the Anti-monopoly Act. In response, NPB decided to discontinue this practice. Sports organisations having rules limiting or restricting the transfer of athletes are therefore required to verify the rationality and necessity of the rules.

In general, a professional athlete does not fall under the category of a “worker” under the Labour Standards Law. A “worker” under the Labour Standards Law is “a person who is employed at a business and to whom wages are paid regardless of the type of occupation”. In addition, labour unions may be organised and collective bargaining may be sought against employers if an athlete is recognised as a “worker” under the Labour Union Law.

Under the Labour Union Law, a “worker” is a “person living on wages, salaries or other equivalent income regardless of the kind of occupation”. In fact, the Japan Professional Baseball Players Association and the Japan Pro-Footballers Association are recognised as labour unions under the Labour Union Law. In these cases, relevant leagues and teams may therefore not treat an athlete in a disadvantageous manner because of the activities of the athletes’ union, and they may not reject the collective bargaining sought by the athletes’ union without due cause.

There is no Japanese law directly restricting the participation of foreign athletes in sports tournaments/competitions. That said, all activities undertaken in Japan by foreigners seeking entrance to Japan must correspond to an authorised activity under one of the residence statuses provided in the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act. In general, the activities of a professional athlete would fall under the residence status of “entertainer”, and the activities of amateur athletes (when the company pays the athlete a monthly remuneration of JPY250,000 or more) would fall under the residence status of “designated activities”.

Certain leagues have established foreign player quotas, including the leagues for baseball, football, basketball and sumo wrestling. For example, in the J.League, each J1 club is currently allowed to include five “foreigners” in the starting line-up, with exemptions for players from J.League partner countries. These countries are Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.

One of the most noteworthy events demonstrating the recent development and growth of women’s sport in Japan was the establishment of a women’s professional football league, known as the WE League in 2020. The first season of the WE League commenced in September 2021. As the name WE League comes from women’s empowerment it is not only about promoting women’s football but also about upholding its mission to “promote a society which allows everyone with a diversity of dreams and ways of living to individually shine through women’s football and other sports” more generally.

Furthermore, as described in 4.2 Corporate Governance, the JSA developed its sports governance code in 2019. This code requires each sports organisation to secure diversity in the composition of its officers and counsel. In particular, the code requires each sports organisation to set a target percentage of female officers and counsel of at least 40% and to implement specific measures to achieve that target.

Consequently, each sports organisation is now making efforts to comply with these requirements and the percentage of female officers and counsel within each sports organisation is steadily increasing. In particular, the percentage of female directors of all national federations increased from 15.6% in 2018 to over 30% in 2024.

Another noteworthy development in relation to women’s sport in Japan is the 1252 Project, which is promoted by a general incorporated association Never Stop Playing Sports, led by a number of famous and successful athletes, including Olympians. The 1252 Project confronts the issue of “female athletes and periods” together with top athletes and experts in the fields of education and medicine. The name of the Project comes from the fact that females are affected by periods for 12 weeks out of the total of 52 weeks each year. In August 2024, the 1252 Project won an award granted by Olympism 365 Innovation Hub, which is a collaboration between the IOC, Beyond Sport and Women Win designed to support a diverse community of innovators leading new and impactful approaches to sport for sustainable development. It was the only project selected from Asia.

In addition, in order to eradicate covert filming/photography of female athletes for the purpose of sexually harassing them, and to thereby ensure a safe environment in which athletes can focus on their performance, seven sports organising bodies, including the JOC, the JSPO, the JPSA and the JSC, are working together to try to resolve this issue. From a legal perspective, covert filming/photography is currently regulated by ordinances set out by each prefectural government. It is worth noting that Kyoto Prefecture has recently revised its ordinance to add a blanket restriction on “indecent words and actions”. As a result, filming/photographing females’ breasts and buttocks in a persistent manner will now be restricted, even if the targeted female is wearing clothes/uniform.

In Japan, esports have been attracting increasing attention in recent years. Many large companies have entered the market, which was estimated to be worth over JPY12.5 billion in 2022, compared to approximately JPY9.8 billion in 2021. It was expected to grow to approximately JPY16.2 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow to approximately JPY21.7 billion in 2025. Many esports competitions have been held recently with increasing numbers of professional esports teams. Guidelines and manuals have been developed by the Japan Esports Union (the “JeSU”) and several legal issues relating to esports competitions with prizes and/or participation fees have been clarified to a certain extent.

Esports are characterised by the ability to compete remotely and can therefore hold competitions while maintaining physical distance, which makes them uniquely suited to an online format. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, some events were held online without a reduction in their size. In addition, esports have been embraced by traditional sports players, as these players can easily play esports titles and organise esports competitions.

Children have recently become interested in esports and the number of young esports players is increasing. As a result, it has become necessary to consider the effects of esports on children’s health (eg, gaming disorders and gaming addiction) and to think of ways to improve the environment for young esports players. In March 2020, a local authority enacted Japan’s first ordinance aimed at reducing internet and video game addiction among young people, which recommends that guardians ensure children under the age of 18 play computer games for a maximum of 60 minutes per day and turn their smartphones off by 9pm, in principle.

In response, certain residents filed lawsuits alleging violations of human rights such as the freedom to play games and the right to enjoy esports under the Constitution of Japan. The District Court, however, dismissed their claims, finding that the ordinance did not impose any specific restrictions on their rights and did not violate the Constitution on the grounds that the act of enjoying esports could be said to be merely a hobby or a preference.

On 11 June 2024, the JeSU was approved as a provisional member of the JOC until March 2027. Esports has been confirmed as an official event for the 20th Asian Games, scheduled to be held in Aichi-Nagoya in 2026, following its inclusion in the previous edition. The JeSU will serve as the governing body for esports.

Non-fungible token (NFT) markets have emerged and been developed around the world since 2021, with NFT businesses also commencing in various industries in Japan in the spring of 2021. Several NFT markets have also launched in Japan, with an initial surge in NFT issuances, particularly in the arts, gaming and talent-related industries. In the field of sports, several professional baseball, soccer, and basketball leagues and teams and a women’s professional wrestling organisation have launched licensed games and trading card services, etc, using NFTs.

Some sports teams have also begun issuing “fan tokens” using blockchain technology as a new source of funding. NFTs therefore have the potential to become a new revenue source for both teams and leagues.

However, as NFTs are traded on the market for an unspecified period of time by an unspecified number of people, rights clearance becomes an issue. Proper clearing and agreement must be reached among all parties involved, including players, teams, issuers and purchasers. The handling of portrait rights and rights to team uniforms, how returns from primary and secondary distributors are distributed and how the NFTs are to be used by purchasers are issues that also need consideration.

In addition, the enthusiasm which was generated when NFTs first appeared has cooled in recent times, and we have gradually seen a number of NFT businesses being terminated due to failing to generate the revenue that was initially anticipated. In fact, a video collection service using NFTs for a professional baseball league and a game using player image NFTs for a professional soccer league stopped their services in 2024. It is now time to explore new ways to utilise NFTs in the sports industry, not only for trading cards and games but expanding into new areas. There is a Japanese ski resort using NFTs for tickets, which can be seen as a pioneering use of NFTs.

At present, there are no laws or regulations that cover matters around AI in Japan. However, guidance on the development, provision and use of AI is provided through government guidelines, such as the AI Guidelines for Business Ver1.01 dated 22 November 2024. The AI Guidelines were jointly issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The General Understanding on AI and Copyright in Japan dated 15 March 2024 was issued by the Agency for Cultural Affairs.

Examples of the use of AI within the sports industry include analysis of players’ performance, development of data-driven game tactics and strategies, supporting player adjustments to various conditions, supporting referee’s decision-making and scoring, improving fan engagement (eg, enrichment of the fan’s viewing experience), analytical predictions of degree of congestion around the stadium, and dynamic ticket pricing.

Since the logical process underlying the results of AI is not clear, and there is no guarantee of the correctness of the results, it is necessary to sort out to what extent the results generated by AI should be accepted/utilised and not to thoughtlessly overestimate the results, as this could pose risks.

In addition, any results generated by AI may infringe upon third-party copyrights, and this issue is currently being discussed and deliberated on by the relevant authorities together with lawyers and scholars in the field.

The metaverse is currently being practically applied in various areas across Japan, such as in live music concerts, e-commerce, housing exhibitions, new car release events, virtual towns and medical operations. Some examples of the metaverse being utilised within the sports industry are:

• the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks (professional baseball team)’s service, which allows users to enjoy a variety of content at the team’s home stadium, the PayPay Dome, by recreating it in the metaverse;
• the AR Cheering Challenge by KDDI and Kyoto Sanga F.C. On 2 March 2024, KDDI and Kyoto Sanga F.C. held the “AR Cheering Challenge Beta Version” utilising AR technology at a J1 League match. Fans were able to use their smartphones inside the stadium, enjoy the AR presentation, participate in the game and support the team by giving gifts;
• a women’s handball team, Omron Pindies promotes fan interaction through the use of the metaverse. The team provides a place where players and fans can interact through fan events and virtual games in a virtual space and goods can be purchased at a store in the metaverse; and
• the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (professional baseball team) have introduced V-BALLER, which reproduces the speed and type of pitches of actual pitchers in the metaverse. This allows the team to examine methods of attacking pitchers and visualise and analyse players’ swinging habits, helping them to improve their competitive performance.

Use of the metaverse may carry the risk of infringing upon another party’s rights, including copyrights, trade mark rights and portrait rights, and issues relating to unfair competition may also arise. Therefore, it is important to have proper rights clearance in place.