Since the Meiji Restoration of 1867, the Japanese society has actively embraced the advanced civilization and ideas of the western world and began to modernize itself.　Modern sport were introduced one after another mainly in port towns, Kobe and Yokohama, where foreign people settled first in their residences and organized such sport clubs as Kobe Regatta and Athletic Club and Yokohama Cricket and Athletic Club.

　Before the World War II, sport programs for the population as a whole were limited to building up physical fitness in line with the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW) policy of creating a powerful army. Only after the war did the government begin encouraging the people to participate in sport for enjoyment.　The National Sports Festival (Kokutai) served as a pillar of these efforts following its inauguration in 1946, and its scope and popularity grew rapidly after 1959, when Japan was chosen as the host of the 1964 Olympic Games.

　During the period of the rapid economic growth (1965-1975), the promotion of Sport for All (SfA) was conducted by both governmental and non-governmental organizations.　At the legislative level, the Sports Promotion Law was passed in 1961 just before the 1964 Tokyo Olympics to encourage the general public to participate in various sport.　This first governmental initiative to promote community sport led to the adoption of the Health-Sport Day, the institutionalization of the National Sports Festival, and the establishment of the community sports commissioners system.　The idea called lifelong sport was proposed by the government to encourage people to adopt exercise and sport activities, and generally to enhance healthy lifestyle.　Lifelong sport is promoted primarily through municipalities' subsidized projects.　The purposes of these programs were:

　In fact, such governmental efforts have produced significant results, and the participation rate of those who engage in exercise and sport activities has risen from 14 percent in 1957 to 68 percent in 1979 (Prime Minister's Office, 1957, 1979).

　The introduction of a popular European campaign known as Sport for All in Japan in the 1970s and a recommendation by the Health and Physical Education Council of the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture (MESSC) that standards for maintaining public facilities be established along the lines of West Germany's Golden Plan gave impetus to the construction of sport facilities and the establishment of sport clubs in the communities all over Japan.

　In this period of time, a variety of phrases for promoting sport for the general population had been used: "trim", "lifetime physical education", "lifelong sport" "community physical education", "health and fitness", "physical recreation", and so on.　In the 1970s, the trend toward shorter working hours and more holidays led to a boom in the number of people participating in sport during leisure time.　Jogging became a craze, and joggers around the Imperial Palace in Tokyo came to symbolize the surging popularity of sport.　Meanwhile, the number of private golf courses, swimming clubs, and fitness clubs soared from the latter half of the 1970s through the 1980s, leading MESSC to attach importance to the role of profit-oriented facilities in the promotion of sport.

　Development of SfA in Japan was enhanced by the organizational reform of national government in MESSC in 1988.　In MESSC, the Division of Sport for All was established and it started policies to promote sport activities for everyone more strongly than before.　The first National Sport and Recreational Festival was held in 1988 co-sponsored by four governmental and non-governmental agencies: (1)MESSC, (2)Japan Amateur Sports Association (JASA), (3)National Recreation Association of Japan (NRAJ), (4)the National Federation of the Commissioners of Physical Education and the local governments.

　However, due to traditional bureaucratic systems, the promotion of sport for the handicapped and the elderly were administered by the separate organizations.　MHW is responsible for promotion of sport for those who are disabled and for the elderly Still in 1988, MHW held the first National Health and Welfare Festival (Nenrinpic).　Their sport activities have been regarded not as competitive endeavors but a way of rehabilitation until very recently.　MHW awarded athletes those who won the medals for the first time in the 1994 Atlanta Paralympic Games.　The 1998 Nagano Paralympic Games, after the 18th Nagano Winter Olympics, made a significant step toward the further development of sport for the disabled.

　Both the National Sports and Recreation Festival and the National Health and Welfare Festival introduced many of the new types of sport and games as these sport events.　These new types of sport and games can be divided into three types:

(1) Imported types (e.g., lawn bowls, petanque, flying disk)

(2) Modified types (soft volleyball, short tennis, park golf

(3) Newly-developed types (gateball, ground golf, target bird golf

　These new types of sport and games have become widespread in Japan since they offer fun and easy access activities for everyone.　These two national SfA events have contributed to the institutionalization of those new types of sport and games.

　Before TAFISA (Trim and Fitness International Sport for All Association) Conference was held in Bordeau, France in 1991, sport and recreation organizations got together to discuss an integrated body which promoted SfA in Japan, and then.　TAFISA-JAPAN was established.　TAFISA-JAPAN, consisting two governmental agencies and four non-governmental organizations, hosted the 13th TAFISA Conference in Chiba, near Tokyo in 1993.　In 1991 ASFAA (Asiania Sport for All Association) as an organization for the promotion of Sport for All in Asia and Oceanian region was founded.

　Local governments increasingly entrusted the construction and maintenance of public sport facilities to private companies, causing a rapid transition to private-led initiatives in the area of sport promotion in the 1990s.　This trend was prompted by the recommendation of the Research Committee on Sport Industry of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI).　It was to put promotion in the hands of the sport industry for its role in providing goods, places, and services.　In December 1990, the Sports Promotion Fund was established at the National Stadium and School Health Center of Japan as one of the measures to secure revenue sources  for promoting sport.　Until FY2001, 3,115 persons and 2,594 organizations received subsidies from this fund.

　MESSC prepared the Basic Plan for the Promotion of Sports in September 1999 in an attempt to further promote sport in our country, This plan sets a policy goal that is to be materialized in 10 years from FY 2001 (for example, it aims at achieving one in two adults (50%) is engaged in sport with the frequency of more than once a week).　And in accordance with this plan, a promotion policy in which the whole country development of Comprehensive Community Sports Clubs will be proceeded as a priority project.

　Due to the Central Government Reform Law (1999), the Japanese government structures were reorganized effective from January 6, 2001.　Accordingly MESSC and the Science and Technology Agency were merged into the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). Ministry of Health and Welfare and Ministry of Labour were merged into Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW).

　

　

* From the next chapter on, the reference to the government institutions will be made by the new names where applicable.