Basketball is a globally popular sport played by 450 million people. In this ”GlobasketUntied” article series, Mie Kajikawa, Founder of Next Big Pivot and Advisor to the FIBA Foundation (2023-2027), visits Embassies of basketball powerhouses in Japan to explore the role of basketball in each country.
Through the interviews, GlobasketUnited learns about popularity and potential of the power of basketball for good from the following four perspectives.
1st Quarter : Popularity of Basketball
2nd Quarter : Sports Policy
3rd Quarter : Power of Basketball for Social Good
4th Quarter : Views on Basketball in Japan
Following the first half (link to be set) of the interview of the German Embassy in Tokyo that explored Germany’s sports policies and structures, delving into how the country has cultivated basketball’s growing popularity and its rise in strength on the global stage, GlobasketUnited learned about the role basketball plays in strengthening communities in Germany, as well as the historical ties between German and Japanese basketball communities.
Read First Half
Sports Bridging Cultures and Uniting People Across the Globe
3rd Quarter: Power of Basketball for Social Good
ーーー Our third question is about the power of basketball for social good, and it’s the main topic of this interview. I already heard some good stories about basketball for social change. Would you have any comments on the topic of power of basketball for good? Or could you share your vision utilizing the power of basketball? It is getting popular in your country and utilizing the sport is the opportunity for social activities.
Dr. Grothusen : I would say it is more about sports at large generally. So, of course, sports is one of the most important terms of values to young people. So the values, the Olympic values one could say.
Mr. Howoldt : It’s about sporting itself because sports has the power to lead or to show a way to engage yourself more to the greater good and so on.
And there are a lot of projects in Germany not only in soccer but in basketball as well. When we reached out to German Basketball Federation, they named us a few. One is called Basketball Aid1.
Of course they need role models. If you have big players who used to play in the NBA and so on, then people are starting to listen to them. Maybe I guess you have some similar cases in Japan.
Dr. Grothusen : When it comes to sports, all that matters is whether you play good or you match into the team. It doesn’t matter how you look or where you are from. And this helps to integrate different people from all over the world when they live here in Germany.
What German Basketball Federation told us is social engagement is very big in the basketball scene in Germany. It’s not only about the basketball scene in Germany. It’s in general actually. When it comes to other sports they have similar projects.
The primary school basketball week : With over 70,000 pupils taking part, the German Basketball Federation’s Basketball Primary School Week has developed into an extremely successful project in just three years in Germany. The aim of the campaign is to introduce the sport of basketball to primary school pupils, give them a positive sports experience and at the same time provide active elementary schools with mini basketballs. Over 550 elementary schools have already taken part in the two years and carried out one or more basketball activities during the campaign week.
4th Quarter : Japanese Basketball
ーーーNow we would like to ask your opinion about Japanese basketball. How can we win a future World Cup like your country or advance to the final stage at the Olympic Games? How can we be more competitive, and how can we harness the power of basketball for good, effectively utilizing this boosting popularity in Japan.
Mr. Howoldt : So it’s like I don’t know where to start and just to look at the clock. But there’s a lot of cooperations actually between the Germany and Japan.
When we reached out to German Basketball Federation, they told us it’s been a friendship between the Japan Basketball Association and the German one .
The German Basketball Federation has been cooperating with the JBA (Japan Basketball Federation) since 2017. DBB President Ingo Weiss has helped build up the association’s structures over the years. ALBA BERLIN has also been building bridges between Germany and the Land of the Rising Sun since 2019. A partnership has been established with the German School Tokyo-Yokohama. We accompanied the Governing Mayor Michael Müller to Tokyo as part of the 25th anniversary of the city partnership.
German won women’s 3×3 basketball this summer at Paris Olympic Games. Both federations had them trained for big competitions and they used to have training camps together. And like Germany, I think the focus here in Japan is on the youth as well. There’s a big U18 tournament, and every time the tournament takes place (in Germany), Japan is participating.
And then the FIBA World Cup in 2023. I can tell you from what we heard from the German Basketball Federation that every player who participated in the World Cup here in Japan really felt in love with Japan. They really liked it here and everything it made. I think most impressive thing was how the local people were cheering for the team, among others.
I guess it’s not only about the culture which is different from Germany, but because of that people are very outgoing, very open and they were so friendly to the German team. Japan was a really good host for the German team.
And maybe this is one reason Johannes Thiemann who won the World Cup is now playing Japanese B League.
ーーー I feel the German team was so important for Japanese national team as well, because we matched Germany at the World Cup and then you won over Japan at the Paris 2024 again. And I remember that the head coach of Japanese national team commenting on the Olympic game, “even though we didn’t win, the quality of the game was far better than the World Cup”, and I assume it was because Japan matched your team, the world’s strongest team first, we learned a lot and improved our skills.
Mr. Howoldt : Players said the same thing that the Japanese team made it really hard for the German team, but they were quite lucky. They were happy that they matched Japan and won the game.
ーーーThank you for sharing many great stories.
- BASKETBALL AID is a non-profit organization that supports children’s cancer wards and support associations across Germany since 2005. With the motto “Your heart beats orange,” It raises funds through coach clinics, training camps for youth, raffles, and other charity events, while also promoting basketball nationwide. The initiative is backed by Bundesliga and national team players, coaches, and many others, working together to make a meaningful impact. ↩︎
