Ritsumeikan Trust and ASICS Japan Corporation signed a comprehensive partnership exchange agreement at a signing ceremony held on November 28, 2017. In an aim to utilize sports for the development of society at regional and international levels as well as promotion of educational research, the two entities will collaborate on the popularization of sports, related research and development, and fostering of human resources that will support the future through sports.

The agreement was reached with the aim of contributing to the development of the sports world as a whole. It mainly focuses on fostering human qualities through sports, promoting various R&D activities, interacting with communities and society and promoting sports culture, as well as improving the ability of athletes to compete in sports.

Ritsumeikan regards sport as a key element of its academic policy and has stressed the importance of the wide range of roles that sport plays. It also recognizes that sport can contribute to character building in athletes, nurturing students’ school spirit, strengthening communities and giving students international exposure. Numerous shared goals and similarities between the Academy’s initiatives and ASICS Japan’s vision enabled the agreement to be reached.

Going forward, the two parties will engage in promoting the popularization of sports for improving health, cooperation in R&D for developing systems such as those essential in improving the performance of athletes, and hosting symposiums on sports. Student-participatory products and sporting goods with school emblems will also be produced for retail sale.

Comments from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, the Ritsumeikan Trust, Tomomi Morishima:

“Japan will see golden years in sports between 2019 and 2021. If we let such momentum become a temporary phenomenon, the renaissance in sports will bear no fruit. Building on its achievements in R&D, education, as well as in sports, the Ritsumeikan Trust, which offers education from elementary to university level, will further its efforts to realize a society in which healthy long life is achieved, and in which young people can have hope for the future.”

Comments from the Chancellor of the Ritsumeikan Trust, Mikio Yoshida:

“Ritsumeikan Trust holds a high degree of research potential through active partnership with governments and industries and research exchanges. We will continue to push ourselves to engage in creative and advanced initiatives utilizing our wealth of intellectual resources and ties developed through sports. Through such engagements, we would like to strengthen our research capabilities in the field of sports.”

Comments from President and Representative Director, ASICS Japan Corporation, Manabu Nishimae:

“The Ritsumeikan Trust and ASICS Japan share many commonalities such as the history of the founding of our two organizations focusing on youths, who will drive our future, and our approach to developing human qualities through sports. The two parties will engage in new initiatives building on each other’s expertise to contribute to the development of the world of sports as a whole.”