JAPAN Trends and Developments Contributed by: Shiro Kato and Chihiro Shimaoka, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu
post-retirement challenges faced by athletes whose lives have been centred on high-level sporting activities. There are limited opportuni - ties to pursue careers as coaches or managers, where athletes can directly use their sporting experience, while new careers in the outside world are not always easy due to the lack of experience outside of sport and the magnitude of the change from a sporting life. Employing more athletes also has multiple benefits for com - panies, such as generating good PR for compa - nies and showcasing companies’ ESG policies by highlighting the social significance of sport and career support. In the “Third Sports Basic Plan” released by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Sci - ence and Technology in 2022, which sets guide - lines for the development of sports in Japan for the next five years, promoting career support for athletes is one of the key objectives. The Sports Career Support Consortium has been established by sports organisations and private companies with the aim of developing a career development support system, with the support of the Japanese Sports Agency. The Japanese Olympic Committee is also working to support the careers of athletes through the operation of “Ath-navi” , a recruitment platform which match - In Japan, when companies enter into contracts with athletes to support them or to benefit from their publicity, they usually select one of the fol - lowing major types of contracts. A particularly important distinction is whether the contract constitutes an “employment contract” . “Employment contract” This type of contract is used where a company employs an athlete as an “employee” . In princi - es active athletes with companies. Types of Contracts With Athletes
ple, the athlete works exclusively for one compa - ny. The athlete’s rights are well protected under Japanese labour laws. “Service contract” This is where a company contracts or commis - sions an athlete to participate in certain sports activities. The athlete is usually assigned exclu - sively to one company. The athlete is usually not involved in the general business of the company and only participates in sports activities. Sponsorship (endorsement) This is where a company is granted a licence to use the athlete’s name, image and likeness and the athlete provides certain services for the promotion of the company. Athletes may sign sponsorship deals with multiple companies, but contracts with competitors are often restricted to maximise the value of the sponsorship. Affiliation (shozoku) This is a unique arrangement that is used in Jap - anese sport. In this arrangement, an athlete is “affiliated with” or “belongs” to a company but is not necessarily “employed” by the company in a legal sense and is typically exclusively “affiliated with” one company. In some cases, this “affili - ation” takes the form of an employment rela - tionship, while in other cases, “affiliation” refers to a mere “service contract” or sponsorship arrangement. This arrangement is used in Japan because, in sports events or media coverage, the participating athletes are often introduced with the name of the companies with which the athletes are “affiliated” . This creates an advertis - ing opportunity for the companies. Criteria for Determining Whether an Athlete is an “Employee” If a company hires an athlete as an “employ- ee” , the athlete is protected by labour laws as
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