Toshihiko Yamada, chair of the All Japan Judo Federation’s high performance committee, announced on 15 September that the federation is widening the right known in Japan as shozoku haken — self-funded entry in international competitions under an athlete’s own club or employer rather than as a member of a federation-funded national team.
Until now that opportunity was generally granted once a year. Under the new arrangement, judoka judged by the high performance committee to meet a set standard can receive one extra opportunity, for a maximum of two a year. Results from the additional event also count towards domestic ranking points used as a reference in national team selection.
The federation’s full funding for senior national team entries is unchanged, and as a rule official national team dispatch and self-funded dispatch are not mixed in the same competition.
Yamada said the high performance budget had not fallen sharply, but that the weaker value of the yen has pushed the cost of a single overseas trip to more than 1.5 times its previous level. Under a policy he called “selection and concentration”, opportunities tend to gather around the leading group, and the federation wants to widen the number of athletes who get the chance to compete abroad.
He added that athletes differ in their financial circumstances — salaried company judoka and students are not in the same position — which is why the increase was capped at one additional trip. The federation has also discussed with the student judo federation the idea of sending the student champion abroad, although Yamada said that remains an idea rather than a plan.
The change comes against a background of more international events on the world tour and rising costs of sending athletes to them.