Japan Sportscope

BMX Racing has become an official Olympic sport. In this episode, we visit the BMX course at Hitachi Seaside Park in Ibaraki Prefecture. It's equipped with an advanced course used in international competitions and a beginners' course as well. You can rent bikes and all the necessary equipment for free, making it easy for first-timers. English-speaking staff are on hand to help visitors from abroad. Enjoy learning how to compete in BMX Racing at this course with lessons available from former international champion, Yuto Hasegawa.

KARATE is one of Japan's best-known martial arts. It's popular all over the world with an estimated 60 million practitioners and will become an official Olympic sport for the first time at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games. In this episode, we visit Kazumi Dojo in Kanagawa Prefecture headed by Hajime Kazumi, known as one of the strongest karate practitioners in Japan. Karate has devastating strikes alongside a philosophy of self-defense. This dojo is the perfect place for visitors from overseas to experience Japan's bushido warrior spirit firsthand.

Let's take a shot at Archery! Arrows are loosed at targets with points awarded for accuracy, and is an official Olympic event. We visited Tsumagoi Resort Sai no Sato where you can experience about 20 activities while surrounded by nature. London Olympic bronze medalist Miki Kobayashi shows us the basics! Anyone can enjoy doing archery!

The Swiss sport of Airboarding! Riding down a snowy mountain course on your belly riding a rubber board is a new thrill. Today's facility is Fujiwara Snow & Spa Resort at the Minakami Kogen Fujiwara ski resort. You can airboard down all of the courses here, according to your skill level. We'll be shown the ropes by Japan's airboarding pioneer, Shota Suzuki!

The U.K. born sport of Squash has about 20 million practitioners around the world! Our spot today is SQ-CUBE in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. It's one of the biggest Squash facilities in Japan. You can rent all the gear you need and come empty-handed. Our instructor is national champion Chinatsu Matsui, and she'll tell us all about the appeal of Squash for people of all ages!