ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses developments regarding sports policy in Japan. Participation by female athletes has reached a higher level of achievement in terms of competition in the Olympic Games and number of medals won, but there are still issues regarding support for women’s sports and their participation in sports governance. The careers of female athletes, including their educational background, are important for addressing these issues. This chapter notes that despite the decreasing disparities between men’s and women’s participation in exercise and sports, the percentage of physically non-active women is higher than that of men. There is a strong tendency for teenage girls to become physically non-active during their high school years, which might be linked to the characteristics of school sports club activities. Finally, the relationship between coaches’ and athletes’ attitudes toward sexual harassment in sports presents examples of increasing autonomy on the part of female athletes in Japan, who in the past survived only by being compliant.
