Although the field of Sport for Development (SfD) has been progressing in the international community for some time, the Japanese government only recently began looking for ways to contribute to the field during Tokyo’s bid to host the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Promoting Tokyo’s bid, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe introduced the ‘Sport for Tomorrow (SFT)’ programme to bring the joy of sports to at least 10 million children in 100 countries by 2020. However, the progress made as of 2016 indicates that reaching this target would be difficult at the current pace. Japan’s sluggish economic growth is creating various problems for the sports world in Japan, and the significance of aiding developing countries through sport has not been properly explained. Most Japanese people are unfamiliar with both SfD and SFT, although the scope and amount of SFT activities are expected to increase as the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games approach.