As the sole organisation that presides over the sport of football in Japan, the JFA has established their principle as follows: "Through football, we realise the full benefits that sports can bring to our lives the soundness of our bodies, the expansion of our minds, and the enrichment of our societies." Consisted by five experts in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR), the Committee for Social Responsibility is one of JFA's Expert Committees that covers “how" the JFA can contribute to the society.

In order to share the activities carried out by the Committee for Social Responsibility, we have started a relay column by the members of the committee. As our third relay column, we will share the article on “J.League's Cooperation with the Society," written by our fellow member MURAMATSU Kuniko, who is a councillor of J.League and the representative of Wellness System Institute.

Vol.3: Committee for Social Responsibility Member MURAMATSU Kuniko

Coexisting with the local community

Since its inauguration, the J.League has kept a community-based presence and worked closely with the regional communities for the past 26 years. The league regulation states that, “a J.League club must work together with their designated home-town in order to conduct their team building activities, while making efforts to contribute to the development and promotion of the region."

Last year, over 20,000 home-town activities were conducted by J.League clubs, which equals to nearly 360 activities per club. Players, coaches, team-mascots, and staffs have worked tirelessly each day to promote education, health, and community development through their home-town activities.

Y.S.C.C. Yokohama has kept a team philosophy that the local community is their family and worked tirelessly over the past 33 years to achieve their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). (Photos from the J.League case study films)

Changing the perspective

In efforts to deepen the local cooperation and to make more people happy at the regional level, in its 27th year of operation, the J.League is now developing a social collaboration platform called “SHAREN!”

A photo from the first J.League Social Collaboration network meeting

J.League Social Collaboration (SHAREN!) (Japanese website)

Instead of searching for “what the J.League and the clubs can do” to help the community, we must change everyone’s perspective and make it “let’s utilise the J.League for our community.”

On this year’s J.League’s day (15 May 2019), the first network meeting of the “SHAREN!” project took place, as businesses, government officials, and NPOs who supports the project gathered in one place.

The 1st Network Meeting of "Let's utilise the J.League!" held (Japanese website)

To support a sustainable regional development

The local regions are currently facing many issues, such as population decline, aging society, educational inequality, and environmental issues. It is also important to note that the government, local governments, businesses, NPOs, and citizens are sharing a mutual understanding to achieve the SDGs to fight against critical issues at the global level.

In addition to the conventional ways to “play,” “watch,” and “support” sports, we hope to add another perspective to “utilise” sports in order to create a better society. Football has the power to connect people and to give momentum to our society, and we hope to utilise that power to help revitalise our local communities.

Kawasaki Frontale has worked with the city of Kawasaki to promote the “Egao Kyoso Project,” which supports kids with developmental disabilities to travel and watch football matches at the stadium. For more information, please visit the “SHAREN!” Facebook page to learn about the activities carried out by each club.

SHAREN/J.League Social Collaboration Facebook Page (Japanese page)

If you have any ideas for the “SHAREN!” project, please visit the official website and submit your ideas from the application form.

"Let's utilise the J.League!" J.League Social Collaboration SHAREN! Official Website (Japanese website)