No. 25 After Sports Festival Tokyo 2013

(Published in the November 15, 2013 issue of Koho Inagi)

　"Sports Festival Tokyo 2013" started with the opening ceremony of the 68th National Athletic Meet on September 28, 2013. All the events have ended.
This year, for the first time, the National Athletic Meet and the Sports Festival for the Disabled were under one name and managed together. This is also a request of the times, and I hope it will be widely accepted in the future.
Inagi City held its first general meeting in August 2010 as the Inagi City Executive Committee for the National Athletic Meet, and since then has organized standing committees and specialized committees to prepare for the event.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the many groups and citizens who participated in making the city's competition a success.
In Inagi City, the uniform was held on September 15, 2013 at the General Gymnasium, and the Inagi Central Park Baseball Stadium was scheduled to play rubber-ball baseball from October 4 to 6, 2013. However, due to heavy rain on the 5th, the afternoon match was postponed, and the schedule was changed significantly. The athletes had a tough time in poor conditions, but the spectators felt like they had gained a day.
All 32 participating teams usually move between venues as they progress through the tournament, but for Gifu Prefecture, by chance, all four days were held in Inagi City. I thought that this was also a fate of some sort, and I put all my effort into supporting him.
The Opening Ceremony of the National Sports Festival and the Closing Ceremony of the Sports Festival for the Disabled this year were particularly spectacular. I think this is also the result of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's collective efforts, but I think it was at a level that transcended the framework of the national polity and could be considered a rehearsal for the Tokyo Olympics.
What will it be like in 7 years from now? The junior high school students watching the Sports Festival Tokyo 2013 may be selected as Olympic athletes.
Let's connect the Great East Japan Earthquake Recovery Support Sports Festival Tokyo 2013 to the nation building of tomorrow and to the success of the Tokyo Olympics!