Now Tokyo 2020 is all behind us, was it all worth it? What were the highlights and why were we so quiet during the games? In a special episode, we reminisce about the games, how our guests performed, and talk about what the future hold for sport in Japan and our podcast.

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The world's focus is now on the Paralympic games - with many nations having the most hours of coverage that they've ever had, it's easy to forget that it wasn't always that way. Host Noel Thatcher often recounts the story of his triumphant return to London after his first Paralympics Gold and being met with an indifferent UK who weren't interested in Parasport. Fast-forward to 2020 and all of that seems to have changed, but why?

Well today we're talking to Yamaguchi Ichiro, a journalist at the Mainichi Shinbun and one of the leaders in getting Parasport into print media in Japan. Parasport was rarely written about and when it was, it was through the lense of human interest stories. He changed this, but convincing the editors that Parasport is sport was no easy task. We catch up with Ichiro to find out more. 

It took 111 years from the Gaelic Athletics Association (GAA) being formed in Ireland to it coming to Japan. Formed by some Irish expats, the club has grown and has players from Ireland, Japan and all over the world.

But how do you become the first sports club in a country with little-to-no knowledge of the sport? How do you find the pitch and the equipment? We find out just how Japan GAA has fitted in to their Tokyo home, and what comes next for Ireland's sport in Japan.

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Disability based discrimination is a global issue, and the forms it takes vary from society to society and place to place. So what's happening in Japan and can the Paralympics do anything to help that? Japanese Para-athlete Miki Matheson talks to use about how the Paralympic values can be brought into the classroom and what that could do to help fight disability discrimination.

I'm-Possible: https://im-possible.paralympic.org/

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Japan has an incredible Parasport history. Not particularly in medals - they're only 18th overall, but in the influence they have on Parasport events. They've hosted the longest running wheelchair marathon event in Oita and their coverage of the 1998 Nagano games was a great populariser of the Winter Paralympics.
But there's more, there are two games which are lost to popular and even institutional memory that Japan hosted. We're joined by Dennis Frost from Kalamazoo College in the US who talks us through the incredible Other Tokyo 1964 Games and The FESPIC Games. Two hugely influential events that are largely forgotten.

Dennis Frost: https://eas.kzoo.edu/about/people/ 
Check out Dennis' incredible Book More than Medals

Japan Sport Stories is hosted by Noel Thatcher and Mike Salter.
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We are proud partners with the Japan Research Centre at SOAS, University of London and generously funded by the Toshiba Foundation. 

Saya Sakakibara describes herself as 50% British, 50% Japanese and 100% Australian. Born in Japan, Saya started BMX racing from the age of just 4, following in her big brother's footsteps. Now, aged 22, she's one of the top ranked BMX riders in the world as has her eyes firmly set on Tokyo.

Saya talks us through the world of BMX, balancing her identity across her multiple nationalities, and the what life is like trying to qualify for an Olympic games in the middle of a global pandemic.

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Wheelchair fencer Anri Sakurai joins us to talk about her incredible life so far. After surgery gone wrong left her wheelchair bound, she was forced out of her physiotherapy university course. After a chance meeting with a member of the national federation - Anri took us wheelchair fencing.

 Fast-forward a few years and she's chasing gold at Tokyo, but standing in her way in Bebe Vio, the international superstar and reigning Paralympic champion, made famous through the rising phoenix documentary. To achieve this, Anri moved her life to the UK so she could train with the best coaches and partners.

Join us as we talk through navigating disability for the first time, moving your whole life across the world for your sport, and what Anri hopes 2020 can do for Japan's disabled population. 

Blind from the age of 2, swimmer Keiichi Kimura is one of Japan's leading Paralympians. Multiple medals across multiple games, the reigning world champion and even the most decorated Japanese athlete in Rio 2016 - but that Paralympic gold medal still eludes him. We talk to Keiichi about why he felt he had to leave Japan, why 5th place is sometimes better than 2nd and what he hopes to achieve in Tokyo 2020.

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 Tokyo 2020 comes on the back of a Paralympic Games that was almost cancelled due to a lack of funding and poor management. Just 4 years earlier, London has been hailed as a huge success with over double the crowds of the games before it and an enormous rise in public and media backing. 

Chris Holmes was in charge of Paralympic integration and was a key architect in making London 2012 what it was. We find out just how he made London so successful and what Tokyo has to do to make sure it doesn't lose the huge momentum. 

Chris has been called Britain’s most successful Paralympic swimmer winning a total of 9 golds, 5 silvers and 1 bronze. His involvement with the Games continued as Director of Paralympic Integration at London 2012 and now as Deputy Chair of Channel 4, as Channel 4 continue a longstanding commitment to Paralympic sport securing the broadcast rights for both Tokyo and Paris 2024. In the House of Lords Chris’s policy areas are digital technology for the public good, employment, education, inclusion and, of course, culture, media and sport.

Blog: https://lordchrisholmes.com/ Website: www.chrisholmes.co.uk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lord-chris-holmes/

We thought Japanese football (soccer) would be just like football in the UK. But we were so wrong. Chris Hough, who created the wonderful Lost in Football gave us a whirlwind tour of the world of Japanese football. There, we found a real push to develop the women's game, a sense of local ownership of teams that other sports in Japan are missing and the glory that is Japanese team names. 

Check out Chris' Lost in Football website for more from Chris https://lostinfootballjapan.com/