Japanese Paralympic Committee Visits New Zealand

Paralympics New Zealand (PNZ) is host to the Japanese Paralympic Committee (JPC) as senior visitors from the organisation seek to understand New Zealand’s success at the Paralympic Games. Representatives from the JPC reached out to PNZ to propose the visit, which takes place today and tomorrow.

Leading the delegation, Mr. Junichi Kawai PLY, the President of the JPC is a retired Paralympic swimmer, famous for his 21 medals won across 5 Paralympic Games. He expressed his sense of connection with New Zealand:

“Firstly, let me express my heartfelt gratitude to PNZ for its kind reception of our visit. New Zealand and Japan have built and enjoyed a great relationship over the years, and New Zealand Paralympians have participated in various competitions held in Japan.”

PNZ Chief Executive Fiona Allan is excited to host another National Paralympic Committee:

“This is a fantastic opportunity for in-depth sharing with a National Paralympic Committee from another nation. This visit serves to further strengthen the positive sporting relations which New Zealand and Japan enjoy. We are honoured by JPC’s interest in PNZ and in New Zealand’s success at the Paralympic Games. As a nation, we punch above our weight, and we are really proud of what our Paralympic Teams achieve. PNZ looks forward to sharing information and ideas, with the ultimate goal of further strengthening the global Paralympic Movement.”

From the visit, the JPC hopes to exchange best practise on the factors leading to success at the Paralympic Games. President Junichi Kawai explains:

“We are very similar in our geographical situation, and it would be extremely meaningful for JPC to learn from PNZ about its support system, which have enabled the team to achieve great results in the Paralympics. In particular, we would like to exchange knowledge and expertise on topics such as integration of Para sport into National Sports Organisations, Talent Identification programmes, wellbeing of Para athletes and PNZ’s cooperation with HPSNZ, Sport NZ and the National Olympic Committee. Through this visit we hope to further deepen our relationship and achieve good results together as we move towards the Paris 2024 and Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Games.”

The JPC delegation consists of Paralympian Junichi Kawai PLY, President of the JPC, Madoka Kinoshita, Vice Chair, JPC Performance Support Committee, Mr. Shinji Nakamae, Manager, JPC Performance Development Section, and Shun Furuya, Coordinator, JPC Performance Development Department.

During their visit, the JPC will meet with PNZ to discuss PNZ’s Strategy, Para athlete pathways from community to the Paralympic Games, high performance support, what a successful Paralympic Games campaign looks like and PNZ’s relationships with other stakeholders. The delegation will visit High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ) and AUT Millennium to experience a New Zealand multi-sport facility and high performance centre. The visit will include discussions with HPSNZ subject matters experts on athlete wellbeing, pathways and coaching.

At the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, Japan won 24 medals (10 silver and 14 bronze) and placed 56th in the medal standings. Their team consisted of 132 Para athletes. New Zealand won 21 medals (including 9 gold) making it number one in the world for medals per capita, and 13th in the medal standings overall. NZ’s team size was 31.

Japan improved significantly at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games winning a staggering 51 medals and placed 11th in the rankings list, with a team of 255 Para athletes. This was a great legacy for the host nation and has ignited Para sport in Japan.

New Zealand and Japan celebrated 70 years of diplomatic relations in 2022. The New Zealand and Japan sporting relationship has been strengthened through the recent signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) between Sport NZ and the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology.

To find out more about New Zealand’s success at the Paralympics, see Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 on our website.

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