TOKYO: Municipalities around Japan are setting up facilities for skateboarding after a surge in popularity for the sport following the Tokyo Olympic Games last summer.

Local governments are looking to offer environments for people to skateboard safely and keep good manners, as the population of skateboarders is expected to increase. Also, some governments apparently want to use skateboarding to attract young people and liven up the local community.

Tokyo’s Koto Ward, which hosted the skateboarding events at the Tokyo Games, plans to set up a skateboarding park in a general sports complex in the Yumenoshima district. The facility, slated to open in November, is envisaged to be accessible to all.

The ward is also the hometown of Yuto Horigome, who won gold in the men’s street skateboarding competition at the Tokyo Games.

“We want to promote urban sports while raising awareness about manners,” Koto Mayor Takaaki Yamazaki said.

The city government of Matsubara in Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, will install an expert-level course in a skateboarding facility that is used by Momiji Nishiya, who became Japan’s youngest Olympic gold medalist after winning the women’s street skateboarding competition at the Tokyo Games.

The city will seek to brand itself as a skateboarding town for regional revitalization by hosting skateboarding tournaments.

The town of Watari in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, will utilize donations through the corporate version of the “furusato nozei” hometown donation system to build a new skateboarding park in its coastal area.

“We hope to attract young people so that we can increase the number of people with ties to the town,” a Watari government representative said.

The western city of Kyoto set up skateboarding areas in three parks on a trial basis last December. The southwestern city of Kumamoto opened up a section of a parking area of an indoor pool for skateboarders.

The Kumamoto city government has received complaints from residents about an increase in the number of young people practicing skateboarding in banned locations.

“We have been turning a blind eye (to the problem), but now that we opened a practice area, we will consider cracking down on skateboarding in banned places,” a city representative said.

According to the nonprofit Japan Skate Park Association, skateboarders lack places to practice as many parks and public squares ban skateboarding.

“If we create a place (for skateboarders) to coexist with local residents and the scenery, fewer people will do (skateboarding) on the street,” Satoru Kawasaki, head of the association, said. “We want to see an increase in the number of fascinating skate parks.”

JIJI Press