Click to expand Image Photo montage of the Tokyo Olympic Stadium and youth in Japan training and playing popular sports. © 2019 imagenavi/Aflo; 2005 Doable/a.collectionRF/amanaimages; 2020 Human Rights Watch; 2015 Satoru Kobayashi/a.collectionRF/amanaimages; 2016 RYO/amanaimages; Trevor Williams/Getty Images; 2020 Human Rights Watch; 2016 Matsuo/Aflo; AdobeStock The Japan Sports Agency (JSA) recently released its Guidelines for Evaluating and Improving Safety Measures in Physical Activity and Sports (Trial Version). After documented suffering by Japanese athletes and insufficient mechanisms to report abuse, the government’s efforts to end mistreatment in sports are a positive step. However, effective implementation is crucial.The guidelines, published on January 27, 2026, come in five versions targeting groups involved in sports. The ones for athletes, coaches, and sports organizers, such as teams and clubs, include a section on abuse and harassment, provide examples of abusive behavior, identify contributing factors, and offer prevention and response measures.In 2020, Human Rights Watch documented systemic child abuse in Japanese sports. Five years later, the Basic Act on Sport was revised, requiring the national government to address abuse. Soon after, Human Rights Watch and advocacy partners wrote to the JSA commissioner, Junichi Kawai, recommending establishing a Safe Sport Act and a Safe Sport Center to ensure that athletes can report abuse and that their cases are addressed.On January 28, safe sport advocacy groups and former athletes and scholars met with the JSA to back efforts to eliminate harassment in sports and to stress the need for a Safe Sport Act and a Safe Sport Center.Carrying out the new guidelines is merely voluntary. The draft FY2026 budget states that JSA will promote the guidelines and create a program to register and publicize organizations that comply. However, the process to address abuses in organizations that have refused to carry out the suggested measures remains unclear. Japan needs a legal framework requiring sports organizations to act on abuse.While the guidelines list hotlines to report athlete abuse, each sports organization would operate its own complaint mechanism. Experts have raised concerns about insufficient staffing, funding, and expertise if organizations operate the hotlines. To establish a system that athletes can use without fear of retaliation and can trust to take effective action, an independent complaint mechanism is necessary.The Japanese government has embarked on a path to greater sports safety, but to succeed, effective implementation, including a Safe Sport Act and a Safe Sport Center, is needed so that athletes and children across Japan are protected.