ESPORTS: Japan Esports Union becomes member of JP Olympic Committee

A major recognition for the esports scene has been marked in Japan which marks a major step for Japanese esports players.

The Esports Advocate’s James Fudge has reported that the Japan e-Sports Union or JeSU has received official approval as an associate member of the Japan Olympic Committee or JOC, making it a nationally-recognized esports national sporting association for Japanese athletes.

NSAs are bodies that govern a country’s participation in an international multi-sport event, meaning, esports athletes who wish to compete under the Japanese flag must first be sanctioned or approved by the JeSU. 

TEA reports that the approval is part of the JESU’s goal to facilitate the participation of esports athletes in the 20th Asian Games set to take place in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, in 2026. 

The current head of JeSU is Hideki Hayakawa, who is also the president of Konami Digital Entertainment.

“JeSU was established to unify various organizations and support the dispatch of Japanese e-sports athletes to the 18th Asian Games in 2018. Since then, JeSU has made significant strides in the e-sports arena. In 2023, JeSU recommended candidates for the e-sports events at the 19th Asian Games (2022) and the 2nd East Asian Youth Games (2023), where Japanese athletes won gold and bronze medals. These achievements earned them the TEAM JAPAN Commander’s Award from the JOC,” JeSU said in a press release obtained and roughly translated by The Esports Advocate.

 

The organization is expected to use its associate membership in the JOC to “strengthen collaboration with sports organizations in each sports discipline, with the goal of further developing and popularizing esports in Japan,” TEA reported.