The 2025 Summer Deaflympics, officially known as the 25th Summer Deaflympics or XXV Summer Deaflympics, is an international multi-sport event that is currently being held in Tokyo, Japan from 15 to 26 November 2025.[1] The multi-sport event commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Deaflympics, as the inaugural edition was kicked off in 1924.[2][3] This will be the first time Japan will be hosting the Summer Deaflympics.[4][5] It marks the fourth time that an Asian-Pacific National Deaf Sports Association has been given the hosting rights of the Summer Deaflympics after New Zealand (1989), Australia (2005), and Taiwan (2009).[6] The event is returning to its usual four-year cycle, following the postponement of the 2021 Summer Deaflympics to 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Japanese Federation of the Deaf, and the Japanese Deaf Sports Federation, collaborated to hold their first meeting under the theme "Deaflympics 2025 Bid Preparation Division" on 18 January 2021.[7] During the meeting, the progression report and status of the campaign activities and the cohesive bidding strategies towards promoting Japan as the host nation for the 2025 Summer Deaflympics, was shared with the participants.[7][8] In June 2022, the Governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, expressed her support and cooperation for the bidding process by unanimously nominating Tokyo to be considered as the official host city of the games.[9] After the proceedings, the Japanese Federation of the Deaf, and the Japanese Deaf Sports Federation, showed their optimism and keen interest in winning the bid for the hosting rights of the Summer Deaflympics.[6] It was in 2018 that the Japanese Federation of the Deaf made ambitious efforts to implement strategic plans for the bidding of the 2025 Summer Deaflympics.[9]
On 10 September 2022, at the general congress of the Comité International des Sports des Sourds (ICSD) held in Vienna, Tokyo was announced as the host city for the 2025 Summer Deaflympics, since no other city had applied for the process.[10][9]
Prime Minister of Japan, Sanae Takaichi, delivering a speech during the opening ceremony
The opening ceremony for the games was held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on the evening of 15 November. The ceremony included Awa Odori dance performances as competitors entered the stadium. The Japanese delegation entered last, with karateka Ogura Ryo carrying the flag.[14]
79 National Deaf Sports Federations sended their delegations to Tokyo.For the first time, there was a Refugee team, composed of an athlete from South Sudan, competing under the Deaflympics flag.Also participating for the first time are athletes from Laos and Timor-Leste, whose Deaflympic Committees were recently recognized, but who did not have time to register to compete in Tokyo and are participating as a Deaflympic Team and in accordance with the rules established by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the ICSD has permitted athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in sports where the respective International Federation (IF) allows. These athletes will compete strictly under neutral status as Deaf Individual Neutral Athletes (DINA) at the Tokyo Deaflympics Games.[17]
Once Tokyo was announced as the host city for the 2025 Summer Deaflympics, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government generated robust promotional campaigns to publicize awareness about the Deaflympics. The awareness initiatives included providing special informational booths at sporting events.[11] Because Tokyo had been earmarked to host both the 2025 Summer Deaflympics and the 2025 World Athletics Championships, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government focused on promoting Tokyo as an inclusive city under the motto, "with anyone, anytime, anywhere."[20][21] The TMG also installed transparent translation screens at subway train stations across Tokyo, to guide foreign tourists when they arrived at transit stations, with the 2025 Deaflympics on the agenda of TMG's action plans.[22] Informational pamphlets raising awareness about the Deaflympics were also distributed to various elementary schools in Tokyo.[20]
After consideration of information collected during a 2021 survey conducted by the Tokyo-based Nippon Foundation Parasports Support Center, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government undertook initiatives to promote awareness about Deaflympics[11] The 2021 survey results indicated a deep lack of knowledge by the public about sport competitions for the world's deaf communities. The survey reported that a mere 16.3% of respondents had been aware of the Deaflympics. This was in stark contrast to the higher awareness and tremendous response, that was revealed in a survey about the Paralympic Games.[11]
In November 2023, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government officially declared open the 'Miru Café' as part of a key initiative in the lead-up to the 2025 Summer Deaflympics. This café has been established to operate on a temporary basis, until the conclusion of the Deaflympics.[23] Former Japanese Olympic marathon runner Akemi Masuda was appointed as an advisor to the preparation office for the Tokyo Deaflympics.[9] In January 2025, sources reported that the athletic equipment company Asics had announced a strategic collaboration with the organizers of the Summer Deaflympics as its Total Support Member.[24][25]
Deaf culture
The organizers of the 2025 Summer Deaflympics faced challenges over the lack of international sign language interpreters who could provide interpretation for the various athletes, as a large number of them traveling from different nations with significantly diverse sets of deaf culture and sign language patterns.[26] The Japanese Federation of the Deaf, which was at the forefront during Tokyo's successful bid for the Deaflympics, brought attention to the issue that international sign language is a rare commodity in daily life in Japan.[11]
It was further revealed that a system of qualifications to classify interpreters as meeting agreed upon criteria for international sign language interpretation in Japan, did not exist. Ongoing concerns were shared regarding the lack of reporting and enumerating the number of people in Japan who considered themselves specialists in sign language.[11] The Tokyo Metropolitan Government was informed about the worrisome possibility of lack of qualified international sign language interpreters. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government also apparently planned to provide an intensive training workshop to the interpreters on the appropriate usage of international sign language.[11]
Proponents emphasized how the Tokyo Deaflympics would propel a positive change in the development of deaf athletes, who are largely unrecognized in Japan. They additionally highlighted how deaf athletes in Japan are denied the opportunity to use adequate training facilities, including restricted access to the Ajinomoto National Training Center, and they are constantly deprived of government funding.[9] Critics stated that the government policy in Japan only gives substantial support and attention to the Olympics and Paralympics, while the Deaflympics are not taken into consideration. According to critics, the government policy in Japan emphasizes equal respect and importance toward both the Olympics and Paralympics, but the same level of recognition does not apply to the Deaflympics.[9]
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