At the 49th Emperor’s Cup Japan Wheelchair Basketball Championship held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on February 3 and 4, 2024, the Kanagawa VANGUARDS claimed victory over the Saitama LIONS in a fiercely fought final. After the game, the VANGUARDS’ Koki Maruyama was named MVP of the tournament. He was handed a check for 100,000 yen by Mitsubishi Steel Mfg. President Jun Yamaguchi as around 50 cheering company employees and their families looked.

As part of its efforts to enhance its social contribution activities, Mitsubishi Steel Mfg. Co., Ltd. concluded an official sponsorship agreement with the Japan Wheelchair Basketball Federation (JWBF) back in 2023, with an eye to increasing the popularity of parasports as well as raising employee awareness about sustainability and diversity. Against this backdrop, company employees were invited to watch the Emperor’s Cup final in person at the venue.

Wheelchair basketball is an official Paralympic event. A contact sport that sometimes involves collisions and falls, its fast speed of play makes it popular with spectators. It is also attracting attention as an inclusive sport that can be played by people of any age, ability, or gender. As such, the sport has attracted plenty of players, with nearly 70 wheelchair basketball teams being registered with the JWBF.

On December 6, 2023, the ESG working group of Mitsubishi Steel Mfg. hosted an event aimed at giving employees a chance to play wheelchair basketball and hear from Kazuyuki Kyoya, the head coach of Japan’s national men’s team. The members of the working group undertake the role in addition to their regular duties at the Public & Investor Relations Department and others. The event was attended by a total of around 30 people, including President Yamaguchi and other officers of the company.

At the event, Head Coach Kyoya talked about the appeal of wheelchair basketball and the national team’s Silver Medal win at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games as well as his commitment to keeping up the motivation of every player and the team as a whole. Team captain Rin Kawahara, who leads the men’s national team and also attended as a special guest, joined the head coach in first talking to the attendees and then guiding them in a minigame.

Jun Tanaka and Yukihiro Kinoshita of the Public & Investor Relations Department were also in attendance.

“Most of the participants had never sat in a wheelchair before, let alone played wheelchair basketball,” reports Ms. Tanaka. “They were first taught how to operate a sport wheelchair and then practiced passing and shooting the ball. The minigame itself was pretty exciting, with a lot of moving around by the president and others.”

She continues: “In the questionnaire survey conducted after the event, we received quite positive comments from participating employees, including, ‘Mr. Kyoya seemed very passionate about the sport,’ ‘I’m going to try to use what I have learned from the head coach in my job, including his communication method,’ ‘I really had fun playing wheelchair basketball’ and ‘Mr. Kawahara showed us a variety of very cool plays.’ To the questions, ‘Would you like to watch wheelchair basketball practices or games in the future?’ and ‘Would you recommend doing so to others?’ most of the respondents answered in the affirmative, indicating their satisfaction with the event.”

Adds Mr. Kinoshita: “The president himself said that he was very impressed with what the head coach said, and I have also heard that he later talked about wheelchair basketball to lots of other people. We have just recently concluded a sponsorship agreement for the sport and are still at the stage of providing employees with opportunities to become more familiar with it. Going forward, I hope that the entire company will be an enthusiastic supporter of the sport.”

The company will continue to hold similar events and publicize its role as an official sponsor of wheelchair basketball.

“There are wheelchair basketball clubs right across Japan, and Mitsubishi Steel Mfg. will be able to organize related events involving its various bases,” concludes Ms. Tanaka. “We limited participants at the December event to employees working at the head office in Tokyo, but we are considering holding similar events in which employees at local bases can participate and bring their families. We may also organize such an event as part of the training for new employees. We will continue to proactively implement measures based on the sponsorship agreement so that we can contribute to the further popularization and development of wheelchair basketball.”