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National Sports Festival (Japan)

国民体育大会, Kokutai, 国体

Last modified: 2015-08-28 by zoltán horváth
Keywords: national sports festival | japan | kokutai |
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3:5 Version
[ (Japan)]
images by Kazutaka Nishiura, 28 Oct 2009
2:3 Version
[ (Japan)]

 
 


See also:


Introduction

The National Sports Festival (国民体育大会, Kokutai, 国体) is Japan's largest national sports meet.
The first National Sports Festival was held in 1946 in the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe region, mainly in Kyoto. Since then, the Festival has been held every year with prefectures competing against one another, with prefectures hosting the festival in succession. In 1961, the National Sports Festival was made an official annual event under the Sports Promotion Law, and since then the festivals have been held jointly by the Japan Sports Association, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the hosting prefectures.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 31 Oct 2009


Description

The Festival logo and the flag was adopted at the 2nd National Sports Festival in 1947. The flag is white with the centered logo, a red torch flame ascending to the right at 30°, surrounded by a blue circle of width 1/10 of the diameter of the whole logo.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 31 Oct 2009


Prefectural Kokutai Flags

Most prefectures use their official prefectural flags, but some use a special flag for the festival or had used one before the official prefectural flag was adopted.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 31 Oct 2009

[Kokutai Prefecture Flags (Japan)]
image located by Nozomi Kariyasu, 31 March 2015

Kokutai Prefecture Flags in Japan Kokutai opening ceremony.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 31 March 2015


Tokyo Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Tokyo Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 31 Oct 2009

Tokyo Prefecture: Dull-purple flag charged with its name horizontally in white.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 31 Oct 2009


Fukui Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Fukui Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 31 Oct 2009

Fukui Prefecture: White flag charged with its name horizontally in red.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 31 Oct 2009


Kagawa Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Kagawa Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 31 Oct 2009

Kagawa Prefecture: Olive green flag with a white border on three sides and its name in white horizontally.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 31 Oct 2009

Variant

[Kagawa Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 31 Oct 2009

Kagawa Prefecture has a variant: an olive green flag charged with the white stylized kanji é川 ("Kagawa.")
Nozomi Kariyasu, 28 Oct 2009


Kanagawa Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Kanagawa Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 31 Oct 2009

Kanagawa Prefecture uses a white flag charged with the red prefectural emblem in canton and its name in kanji 神奈川 ("KANAGAWA") in red horizontally.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 31 Oct 2009


Kyoto Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Kyoto Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 31 Oct 2009

The sporting flag of Kyoto can be seen here, with a Latin inscription.
Valentin Poposki, 11 Nov 2005

Kyoto Prefecture uses three horizontal stripes of deep purplish red, cobalt blue and dark purplish blue charged with the word KYOTO in white horizontally in upper hoist. The three colors represent the enthusiasm of youth (purple) and the beautiful scenery of the mountains and rivers of Kyoto. (light blue, blue).
Nozomi Kariyasu, 16 Nov 2005 and 31 Oct 2009


Shizuoka Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Shizuoka Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 31 Oct 2009

Shizuoka Prefecture uses an orange flag charged with a white Mt. Fuji in canton and its name in kanji 静岡県 ("Shizuoka Prefecture") in black horizontally.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 31 Oct 2009


Wakayama Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Wakayama Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 31 Oct 2009

Wakayama Prefecture uses a blue flag charged with the katakana ワ ("WA") in red with thin white fimbriation, while the official prefectural flag is a white field with a blue emblem, the katakana ワ.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 31 Oct 2009

Former Flag

[Wakayama Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 01 Nov 2009

Wakayama Prefecture previously used an orange flag charged with green W with a red winged bird inside and the kanji 和歌山県 in black, arranged horizontally.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 01 Nov 2009


Okinawa Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Okinawa Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 31 Oct 2009

Okinawa Prefecture: Turqoise flag charged with the white kanji 沖縄 ("Okinawa ") horizontally.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 28 and 31 Oct 2009


Nagasaki Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Nagasaki Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 01 Nov 2009

Nagasaki Prefecture: Purplish/dark blue flag charged with a crane of red and white in the canton and the kanji 長崎県 in white horizontally along the bottom.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 01 Nov 2009


Niigata Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Niigata Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 01 Nov 2009

Niigata Prefecture (新潟県国体旗): dark blue over red, divided by a thin white diagonal line. The dark plkue field is charged with a red S with thin white fimbriation, the red field with the kanji 新潟 in white along the bottom.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 01 Nov 2009


Ishikawa Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Ishikawa Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 01 Nov 2009

Ishikawa Prefecture (石川県国体旗): three vertical stripes of red, white and blue with a white triangle both sides and the kanji 石川 in black vertically.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 01 Nov 2009


Hiroshima Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Hiroshima Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 29 March 2015

The maroon flag with the prefecture kanji name horizontally in white in the center. The flag was in use before the prefecture flag was adopted in 1968.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 29 March 2015


Saga Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Saga Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 29 March 2015

The green flag with the prefecture kanji name horizontally in yellow in the center. The flag was in use before the prefecture flag was adopted in 1968.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 29 March 2015


Shiga Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Shiga Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 29 March 2015

The blue flag with the prefecture emblem at canton and the prefecture katakana name horizontally in white at lower fly. The flag was in use before the prefecture flag was adopted in 1968.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 29 March 2015


Kochi Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Kochi Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 29 March 2015

The maroon flag with the prefecture emblem at canton and the prefecture kanji name horizontally in white at lower fly. The flag was in use for several years in Kokutai since 1953.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 29 March 2015


Osaka Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Osaka Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 29 March 2015

The white flag with a red ring and the prefecture kanji name vertically in blue in the center. The white color stands for purity, the red color for energy of industrial prefecture Osaka and the blue for youth of water capital, sincerity and hope. The flag was in use before the 1st prefecture flag was adopted in 1968.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 29 March 2015


Kumamoto Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Kumamoto Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 31 March 2015

The white flag has blue horizontal stripe with hiragana prefecture name くまもと Kumamoto in white at the bottom part and above it blue Mt.Aso with red volcanic smoke and the former domains lord Kiyomasa Katos family emblem circled dot in form of a sacred torch of Kokutai. The flag was in use during 1960-1966 in Kokutai.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 31 March 2015


Fukuoka Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Fukuoka Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 31 March 2015

The white flag has red prefecture emblem featuring the prefecture flower plum in the center. They change colors of the official prefecture blue flag with white emblem. The white flag was introduced in 1966 and is still in use in Kokutai.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 31 March 2015


Okayama Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Okayama Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 31 March 2015

The white flag has orange, green and blue three color logo mark in the center and the prefecture kanji name 岡山 Okayama in black horizontally at the upper fly. The orange color stands for friendship, the blue color for order and the green for service. The flag was in use in Kokutai since 1962 until the official prefecture flag was adopted in 1967.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 31 March 2015


Gunma Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Gunma Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 31 March 2015

The blue flag has red logo mark in white circle at the upper fly and the prefecture kanji name 群馬 Gunma horizontally in white at the bottom part. The flag was in use in Kokutai before the official prefecture flag was adopted in 1968.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 31 March 2015


Tottori Prefectural Kokutai Flag

[Tottori Prefectural National Sports Festival Flag (Japan)]
image by Kazutaka Nishiura, 31 March 2015

The red, white and purple horizontal striped flag has yellow bird at the canton and the prefecture kanji name 鳥取 Tottori horizontally in black in the center. The flag was in use in Kokutai before the prefecture offical flag was adopted in 1968.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 31 March 2015