The Japan Tennis Association, originally named The Japan Lawn Tennis Association, marks its 100th Anniversary today thanks to all tennis fans, players, officers, secretariat staff, coaches, sponsors, media and all other tennis related organizations who have walked this path with the association. Furthermore, we would like to extend our gratitude to the wide range of support by the nation, its supervising ministries as well as domestic and international sports sanctioning bodies.
After suspending its operation in 1942, The Japan Lawn Tennis Association was one of the first sporting associations in Japan to re-establish itself following the end of the war in 1945. The All Japan Tennis Championships also resumed in 1947. The association once again joined the International Lawn Tennis Federation in 1950, underwent restructuring to become an incorporated foundation in 1980, changed its name to the Japan Tennis Association and became a public interest incorporated foundation in 2012.
The hard work of our predecessors throughout the last century has allowed The Japan Tennis Association to become the central sports entity responsible for promotion, junior development, high performance, tournament organization, and improvement of environment for tennis in Japan.
We are marking the association’s 100th anniversary amidst the spread of the COVID-19. Though we have been forced to cancel, reduce, and postpone our activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we foresee expansion, deepening, and diversification of our association’s activities.
Furthermore, this year will be the final year of our preparations for a complete adoption of the governance codes for the optimization of the structure of an athletic organization, and we have begun making various changes in conjunction with member and cooperating organizations. We also finalized our association’s philosophy as follow, together with our vision, and guidelines of conduct last May.
We seek to contribute to the realization of a society that is diverse and harmonious, allowing all to enjoy a healthy and happy life by connecting people to people, nation to nation, as well as communicating how wonderful life can be through tennis.
The association established a preparatory committee for the celebration of our 100th anniversary and we have proceeded with our planning. However, the project has been minimized and limited due to COVID-19 and financial constraints driven by the pandemic. Furthermore, its timing is also dependent upon the state of society due to the pandemic
Under these circumstances, as President, I am issuing this message to all of you to send my greetings and gratitude as we mark the 100th anniversary of the Japan Tennis Association. I would like to ask you for your understanding and cooperation as the Japan Tennis Association continues its work, looking forward to the next 100 years.
Kenichiro Yamanishi
President
Japan Tennis Association
March 11, 2022