A range of businesses have been ramping up the promotion of exercise products and programs to encourage more children to take up sports.
In one innovation, a Mizuno Corp. group company has developed a product to help elementary school kids perform back hip circles on horizontal bars in physical education classes — an gymnastics maneuver they often shun.
Mizuno showed off the product at a sports event in Tokyo's Meguro Ward in November that attracted some 150 children and their parents.