The Japanese government gave the People’s Honor Award to Shingo Kunieda, the most successful men’s wheelchair tennis player of all time, on Friday.
“Without the predecessors who played wheelchair tennis before me, I wouldn’t have had the environment to play myself,” Kunieda said at an award ceremony at the prime minister’s office.
The Japanese government Friday decided to give the People’s Honor Award to wheelchair tennis giant Shingo Kunieda. Kunieda, 39, will be the first parasports athlete to receive the prestigious award. The award ceremony will be held at the prime minister’s office March 17.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has instructed government officials to consider giving Japanese wheelchair tennis legend Shingo Kunieda the People’s Honor Award, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Friday 3rd February. Kunieda would be the first para-athlete to receive the award since its establishment in 1977.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has instructed government officials to consider giving Japanese wheelchair tennis legend Shingo Kunieda the People’s Honor Award, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Friday.
Physically unimpaired children and others in Sao Paulo had an experience of wearing prosthetic legs developed by a Japanese company at a trial session held at Japan House, a Japanese government-run public relations hub, in the Brazilian city on Saturday. The session, held along with a related workshop, was organized by Ken Endo, CEO of the Tokyo-based prosthetic leg developer and manufacturer, Xiborg.
Endo, 44, a leading expert on the development of prosthetic legs for athletes, is on a weeklong visit to Sao Paulo, meeting with officials of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee as well as Paralympians and children with disabilities in the South American country.
The 38-year-old Kunieda, a winner of 28 Grand Slam titles and three Paralympic gold medals in the men’s singles, retired while at the top of the world rankings.
He won his third Paralympic gold in Tokyo in 2021 and completed his career Grand Slam by winning Wimbledon last year. He also won 22 Grand Slam doubles titles.
Japan’s Shingo Kunieda, considered one of the greatest wheelchair tennis players of all time, said Sunday he has hung up his racket.
The 38-year-old Kunieda, a winner of 28 Grand Slam titles and three Paralympic gold medals in the men’s singles, retired while at the top of the world rankings.
Since the Tokyo Games, however, such support has been scaled back. Corporate sponsorship for the Japanese Para-Swimming Federation totaled only about ¥40 million this year, a 50% decrease from 2020.
According to a 2021 survey conducted by the Sasakawa Sports Foundation (SSF), Japan only has about 150 sports facilities used either exclusively or preferentially by people with a disability. This is a very small figure when set against the about 9.64 million people across the country who have a disability.
International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons heaped praise on the way last year’s pandemic-delayed Tokyo Paralympics were conducted, lauding the role para sports have had in fostering awareness and helping Japanese society become progressively more inclusive.
Barrier Free Japan