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This column focuses on the historical origin of the Paralympics in the rehabilitation of soldiers injured in war. It traces the development of sports programs for wounded military personnel in several countries, and considers the implications for contemporary Japanese society.
After the First World War, individuals with spinal cord injuries were widely regarded as having little prospect of social reintegration. During the Second World War, however, Dr. Ludwig Guttmann in the United Kingdom introduced sports as a means of rehabilitative treatment and recovering self-reliance, leading to the establishment of the Stoke Mandeville Games in 1948. These initiatives later developed into the Paralympics, and formed the ideological foundation that supports reclaiming dignity and social participation for war‑injured individuals. Today, sports programs for wounded military personnel such as the Warrior Games (United States), Invictus Games (United Kingdom-initiated), Soldier On (Canada), and Korea’s National Disabled Veterans Sports Festival are organized with support from governments, and contribute to physical recovery, mental well-being, and social reintegration.
In Japan, there were organized sports activities for wounded soldiers before and during the Second World War in military hospitals and training units. There was also an initiative for rehabilitation through sports, such as the “sports day for wounded soldiers” in 1939. After the war, the national Hakone Sanatorium continued to promote sports, forming an important foundation for Japan’s team in the 1964 Tokyo Paralympics. However, Japan today lacks the kind of systematic national framework that exists in other countries to support sports activities for wounded military personnel, and public understanding of military service-related injury remains limited. Since international experiences show that sports participation by wounded military personnel can foster social solidarity and wider understanding, Japan could reexamine current policies related to this issue.
Summarized from the article published in Japanese on August 26, 2026.
Kazuo Ogura
Senior Special Researcher, Sasakawa Sports Foundation
