Since our founding till the present day, J.LEAGUE has consistently upheld the mission: “To foster the development of Japan’s sporting culture, to assist in the healthy mental and physical growth of Japanese people.” We value our ties with the local community and have engaged in home town activities across various regions with the aim of making J.LEAGUE and J.Clubs a touchpoint with the local community.
In 2018, which marks the 25th anniversary of J.LEAGUE, we defined home town activities that are carried out in partnership between three or more parties, and which are aimed at resolving social and community issues, as “SHAREN!” activities. Such activities open up J.LEAGUE and J.Clubs to society and communities more than ever before, and encourages them to leverage on our assets and values. The launch of “SHAREN!” has expanded the scope as well as enhance the quality of each J.Club’s activities.
According to a 2022 survey of J.LEAGUE’s home town activities, about 10% of all activities are classified as “SHAREN!” activities, and lead to the resolution of multifaceted issues through the involvement of many people.

FY2022 Survey on J.LEAGUE’s Home Town Activities

Period	January 1st, 2022- December 31st, 2022
Place	Covered activities implemented in the home towns and within activity areas. Support toward areas affected by disasters and social contribution activities carried out in Japan and overseas were also included even if they were implemented outside the home towns and activity areas.
Who	Activities conducted by anyone who belongs to a club (stock companies and related corporations, NPOs, etc.), or who has a direct contract, or who officially represents a club, were included in the aggregation.
Number of activities	23,573 times 　Of which, frequency of “SHAREN!” activities: 2,068 times 　Number of top players involved in activities: 6,982 people

Structure of Purpose of Activities

The home town activities implemented by each club were aggregated based on reports from the clubs.
As multiple answers were allowed in relation to the “purpose of activity” for each activity, the total frequency of activities (number of times activities were conducted) is shown.

2023 J.LEAGUE SHAREN! Awards

On May 15, 2023, the 2023 J.LEAGUE SHAREN! Awards were held to commend the activities that we wish to share widely with society, out of the home town and social cooperation (SHAREN!) activities conducted by all 60 J.Clubs.
For the Awards this year, in conjunction with the milestone of J.LEAGUE’s 30th anniversary, we did not limit activities only to those carried out in the previous year, but also opened up the scope of selection to “SHAREN!” activities that are representative of each club. We conducted the selection from among the activities submitted by all 60 J.Clubs in J.LEAGUE, and decided to present the award to six clubs.
A new award category, “Fans’ and Supporters’ Award,” was also introduced, allowing many fans and supporters to select the attractive activities or activities that they want to support from among the distinctive J.Club “SHAREN!” activities that had been submitted.
Selection was carried out through voting on the “2023 J.LEAGUE SHAREN! Awards” dedicated website, with up to two votes per person. More than 10,000 votes were received.

List of Awards Presented in the 2023 J.LEAGUE SHAREN! Awards

Social Challenger Award

Selection criteria: Tackles the challenge of solving social issues within the community

©N.G.E.

Nagoya Grampus

Work experience for the children of Brazilian residents in Japan

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Public Award

Selection criteria: Utilizing policies established by the national and local governments, in order to solve the social issues within the community in cooperation with other stakeholders to realise a sustainable activity.

Fujieda MYFC

Yaizu Futsal Cup

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Media Award

Selection criteria: An activity that has an attractive storyline for the media to feature.

©KATALLER TOYAMA

Kataller Toyama

Compost Steeped in Players' Sweat and Passion "Shiba-re!" Kataller's Agrifood Project—Beni Haruka Sweet Potatoes

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Meiji Yasuda Local Spirit Award（newly introduced in 2023）

Selection criteria: An activity based on the themes of “ties,” “interaction,” and “mutual support” with the local community, and which revitalises the local residents.

©MITOHOLLYHOCK

Mito Hollyhock

Project to Create a New Normal with Children—Soya Bean Meat Burger Edition

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Club Award（newly introduced in 2023）

Selection criteria: An activity that each J.Club will also want to implement in their own clubs and own regions.

©MONTEDIO YAMAGATA

Montedio Yamagata

Implementation of “Marketing Quest for High School Students” to provide senior high school students with the opportunity to tackle a challenge earnestly

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Fans’ and Supporters’ Award（newly introduced in 2023）

Selection criteria: An activity that fans and supporters would also like to see implemented in the region of the club they support

©GAINARE TOTTORI

Gainare Tottori

Continuation Brings Smiles—Two “SHAREN!” Activities Connected for 20 Years

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“Respect for the Aged Day” Special Project in Cooperation with J.LEAGUE Official Partner, Suntory Wellness Ltd.
“Messages of Support from Seniors in Life”

This “Be Supporters!” project, implemented by 10 clubs in 2022, was implemented by 20 clubs in 2023. Messages of support to players and clubs were collected from residents of facilities for the elderly in the region, and used to produce a banner that was put up at the training grounds or stadiums of the respective J.Clubs. Other initiatives were also carried out under this project, such as “senior escorts” at home games by the seniors who had written the messages of support, and match viewings.

Number of clubs	20
Total age number	322,626 years old

What is the “Be Supporters!” Project?

This project aims to enable those who are normally on the receiving end of support from those around them, such as elderly residents of facilities for the elderly and persons with dementia, become a “supporting” presence for clubs and local communities by becoming “supporters” of football clubs. Based on the concept of transforming “people who receive support” to “people who provide support,” this project was launched in December 2020 by Suntory Wellness Ltd. in cooperation with four J Clubs.

Banner put up at a home game of FC Machida Zelvia

©EHIMEFC

Ehime FC Flag-bearer

©FC GIFU

FC Gifu Watching the match

©S-PULSE

Shimizu S-Pulse Banner

Sonaeru Japan Cup 2023

The Sonaeru Japan Cup is a joint project between J.LEAGUE and LY Corporation (formerly Yahoo Japan Corporation) held with the purpose of achieving Goal 11 “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” and Target 13. 1 “Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries” of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by enhancing the disaster readiness mindset of as many people as possible. Started in the milestone year of 2021, 10 years on from the Great East Japan Earthquake and five years after the Kumamoto Earthquake, the project entered its third year in 2023. All 60 J.Clubs participate in this project, which aims to enhance disaster readiness across Japan while at the same time, create a safe and secure environment that people can play football in. This is achieved by leveraging on J.LEAGUE’s and J.Clubs’ communication capabilities and ability to involve local communities, encouraging many fans, supporters and local residents to be prepared before disaster strikes, and enhancing knowledge about disasters.
In 2023, V-Varen Nagasaki won the cup for the third year running.

What is Sonaeru Japan Cup?

Fans and supporters of J.LEAGUE and J.Clubs take the Quick Learning Part, the Earthquake Part, or the Typhoon and Torrential Rain Part of the “Yahoo! JAPAN Disaster Prevention Test” released by LY Corporation (formerly Yahoo Japan Corporation), and then the points from their test scores are awarded as “victory points” to the clubs they support. The victory points are also added corresponding to the number of “reactions” to tweets published by each J.Club. The club with the highest total number of points wins.

＃InochiTsunaguAction (“Actions that save lives”)

Under this initiative, seminars to learn about cardiac massage for CPR are held on the match days of the respective J.Clubs, and tours are conducted to verify the location of AED in stadiums, among other activities. These activities, named “#InochiTsunaguAction (“Actions that save lives”), are targeted at the fans and supporters of each J.Club as well as local residents, with the aim of enabling as many people as possible to take action in emergency situations at stadiums or in daily life, and to prevent as many sudden cardiac deaths as possible.

Creating a Lifesaving Chain Through the Power of Football

In Japan, more than 70,000 lives are lost through sudden cardiac death every year.*

At the European Football Championship held in June – July 2021, the life of European footballer Christian Eriksen (Denmark) was saved by first-aid measures taken in under one minute.
To create communities and societies where everyone related to sports knows lifesaving actions and is able to practise them as a matter of course at any time, J.LEAGUE and J.Clubs, as well as players, alumni players, and members of the local communities, will work together to promote an activity titled “#InochiTsunaguAction” (“Actions that save lives”).
It aims to save as many lives as possible, and to spread the knowledge of ways to save lives to as many people as possible.

＊Source: Fire and Disaster Management Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication, “Current Situation of Emergency Rescue”

By spreading the keyword “#InochiTsunaguAction” so that everyone knows about it, and supporting activities to raise awareness of correct lifesaving knowledge through cooperation between J.Clubs and their home towns, this initiative aims to expand the circle of people who can help to save lives.

Sensory Rooms

Sensory rooms are rooms where those who have symptoms of sensory hypersensitivity, such as audio or visual hypersensitivity, as well as their families, can feel reassured. In these rooms, even those who are sensitive to loud sounds, bright lights, and crowds of people can enjoy watching sports matches in a calming environment.
J.LEAGUE has set up sensory rooms at the competitions that it hosts: FUJIFILM SUPER CUP, MEIJI YASUDA J.LEAGUE WORLD CHALLENGE 2023 powered by docomo, Audi Football Summit powered by docomo, and J.LEAGUE YBC Levain CUP finals. This initiative has been spreading in recent years, with a number of J.Clubs also setting up such rooms at official League matches. Going forward, J.LEAGUE will continue to tackle the challenge of creating environments where anyone can enjoy watching matches with peace of mind.