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WORLD WORLD


FOCUS


Japan’s community has rallied to help those left homeless, while re-opened clubs have offered victims free use of fi tness facilities


lost. One was in the exclusion zone established around the stricken power plant at Fukushima, where the Japanese government has admitted that dismantling the reactors could take up to 40 years. Others were washed away in the graphic images that were broadcast around the globe. However, not all sports and fi tness clubs are members of


the local industry bodies; information on non-FIAJ member sites, venues and clubs will be more diffi cult to obtain. One such club was the independently-owned Giallozz Sports and Fitness Club in the Tochigi Prefecture, where the owner simply could not bear the expense of waiting until the recovery plan was put in place. His business, home and immediate livelihood were literally washed away and now he is stuck in legal limbo. We will probably never know the exact number of independent clubs lost in the tsunami. Meanwhile the Fukushima Prefectural Golf Association


has reported that some courses have had to close, along with their attached fi tness and ‘onsen’ (spa). The Sunfi eld Nihonmatsu Golf Club and Onsen Spa has been closed since the tsunami due to the level of radioactive materials such as caesium. Fairways and greens have not been tended and are overgrown. The 15 part-time workers, caddies and full-time staff have now been made redundant as the club doesn’t know when, or if, it can re-open.


COMMUNITY SPIRIT


Tens of thousands of Japanese refugees who have faced the triple horror of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis – and who are still being housed in temporary accommodation, including public sports halls and temporary cabins – have nevertheless been able to use sports and fitness clubs. Clubs have been very supportive, allowing use of pools and, more importantly, shower and changing facilities free of charge.


april 2012 © cybertrek 2012


The very popular morning and afternoon aqua-walking


classes have taken on an extended social bonding role among those in the worst affected areas. A legacy from the Olympic Games in 1964 means that Japan has a very high number of swimming pools per head of population; each one can often have over 500 users in just a morning. Fitness and sports clubs that have opened these facilities up to refugees are not only helping survivors with mixed emotions, caught between an unknown future and a broken past, but are also helping with the distressing psychological factor while helping people keep active. In an effort to keep the community emotionally strong,


sports and fi tness clubs have also organised for personal trainers to provide basic stretch and group classes, while some clubs with outside space have invited refugees to share a free barbecue. In this destructive situation, physical activity is helping to restore the Japanese spirit and pride by bringing people together.


healthclub@leisuremedia.com david minton


Read Health Club Management online at healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital 61


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