Ultimate in Japan
Ultimate is a sport that mixes different sports together such as basketball and football. In Ultimate, the players have to use the flying disc instead of a ball. Ultimate sport was invented by Jared Kass and Joel Silver, who as a student at Columbia High School, New Jersey, USA organized the first ultimate games between the student council and the student newspaper in 1967-8.
History
Frisbee was introduced to Japan in 1969. Japan Flying Disk Athletic (JFA) was established in 1975 in Nagoya, and started meeting in 1976. In 1984, JFA changed to JFDA and this last one affiliated with World Flying Disk Federation (WFDF), which started to take part of the World Ultimate Meet. Today, the number of Ultimate players in Japan is more than 3,000. In 1992, the 6th world Ultimate championship tournament was held in Utsunomiya and the final match was broadcast by NHK-BS in real time. In 1995, GAIS accepted WFDF as an official member. In addition, Ultimate was adopted by sports class which the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and other groups held and NHK broadcast ultimate in the program, "television-sports class". As a result, many people recognized Ultimate. More than 150 educational facilities adopted Ultimate as physical education. In 1996, at the Japan Flying Disk Athletic meet, players were able to get the cup of the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. JFDA dispatched players to the world meet and also held meets in cooperation with USA and Taiwan. In 2001 August, "World games", which was held in Akita Prefecture, adopted Ultimate as the official event. In this meet, the Japan team clinched 3rd place in Ultimate. In 2012, the world Ultimate meet was held in Sakai city for he first time in 20 years and 1,392 players took part in this meet. In 2013, IOC permitted WFDF as a semi-official association and took a step toward becoming an Olympic event. Tanaka, who is a Japanese player and a member of Japanese Ultimate team Buzz Bullets, went to Taiwan and teach ultimate to many people to spread Ultimate. As of 2014 July 20, the number of member nations and areas of WDFD is 57. But this number of member nations and areas does not reach the standard of official event that IOC judges as an Olympic event. From then on, Ultimate has been spreading to all over the world.[1]
National Championships
Although in 2013, four official national championships of Ultimate took place, in 2014, two new ones were added.
- Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Cup All Japan Ultimate Championships This is the largest national championship in Japan. So the winner of this championship is the best of teams in Japan. All club teams and university teams in Japan can join this championship. It has the open division and the women division. This championship has a long history, and in 2014, this year is the 39th time. In 2013, 89 teams, 1,672 people joined it.
- All Japan University Student Ultimate Championship Series. It is a championship to determine the best of university student teams in Japan. It has the open division and the women division. In 2014, this year is the 25th time. In 2013, 111 teams, 1969 students joined it.
- All Japan University Freshmen’s Ultimate Championship Series. Only freshmen and sophomores can join this national championship. It has the open division and the women division. In 2014, this year is the 24th time. In 2013, 98 teams, 1214 students joined it.
- All Japan Mix & Masters Ultimate Champions Series. In Japan, only this championship has the mix division and the division for masters. Japan Mix & Masters Ultimate Champions Series have the mix division, the open division along with the women division for master. In 2014, this year is still the 2nd time. In 2013, 13 teams, 290 people joined the first series.
- Ultimate Club Team Champions League. In 2014, it will be held for the first time. Teams are divided into several leagues according to their levels, and compete in each league. It has the open division and the women division.
Japanese National Team
The Japanese National team has a long and storied history placing 1st at the world championships many times. As of January 18, 2015 the World Flying Disc Association has the Japanese team ranked: 5th in Men's Ultimate, 1st in Women's and 3rd in Mixed.[2]
References
- ↑ Kitagawa,Y.The history of Ultimate and the change of its rules. http://www.waseda.jp/sports/supoka/research/sotsuron2008/1K05A069.pdf
- ↑ http://www.wfdf.org/history-stats/world-rankings/175-ultimate-national-teams-current-world-rankings