There was a time when the sound of plastic balls clacking through the park meant Japan’s older generation was getting its daily dose of gateball — a croquet-adjacent sport that peaked in the 1990s with nearly 2 million players. These days? Not so much. The Japan Gateball Union is down to just 35,000 registered members from a peak of 680,000.
There are a few reasons for the decline: hierarchical team structures, personal politics within the community and the activity’s general reputation — gateball is now seen as being one step away from a shuffleboard tournament on a cruise ship.
The shift isn’t just cultural; it’s also policy-driven. The Japanese government has been pushing a “healthy lifespan,” a reference to not just how long people live but how long they can live well independently. The current Japanese healthy lifespan stands at a record high of 72.57 for men and 75.45 for women, with both groups having 10 more years of life after that. The goal is to get those numbers above 75 for everyone by 2040.
