Discussions in Preparation for Revisions of the Course of Study in Japan: Aiming to Develop National Curricula Ensuring Account

First, on behalf of Japanese researchers, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you. It is a great pleasure for us to have so many researchers from all over the world in this AIESEP Sapporo Convention. It is a great honor for us to be able to hold this convention in Sapporo, and I'm convinced that it is a significant milestone in the development of research on sport pedagogy in our country. I think school physical education in Japan has been successfully-practiced compared to foreign countries. We have several academic societies researching sport pedagogy such as "Japanese Society of Sport Education" and "Japan Society for the Pedagogy of Physical Education", each of which has close to 1,000 members, publishes journals, and has been engaged in energetic research activities. However, we have not positively attended international conventions and made presentations because of the language barrier. In that sense, I hope many young researchers in Japan take this convention as an opportunity to be active on the international stage.