This tourist attraction has been added into "Japan Trip Planner"
Friday, May 13, 2022 - Sunday, May 29, 2022 (17 days)
ORIENTEERING
The Orienteering forest event for the World Masters will be held in Yabu City!
The event will be held in 2022 in the Kansai region. This will be the first time that the World Masters will be held in Asia.
About 5 million visitors are expected during the WMG in Japan.
The World Masters Games are an international multi-sport athletic competition held every four years by the International Masters Games Association (IMGA) for athletes over the age of 30 and into their middle age and senior years.
The games are usually held in the year following the Olympics. The first World Masters Games were held in 1985 in Toronto, Canada. The latest Games (the 9th hosting) took place in Auckland, New Zealand in the year 2017.
In 2022 the Games will be held in Japan, the first hosting in Asia. This auspicious 10th hosting will be in the western part of Japan—the Kansai region.
Orienteering is a sport held in the mountainous forest. Each athlete is given a map with designated spots that they must reach, and is a competition that is based on reaching the goal with the fastest time. Each designated spot may be reached in any way, which requires participants to think before deciding on the fastest route. This quality is what differentiates orienteering from marathons or cross country. Forest orienteering which will be in Yabu will take place in a hilly area and the competition will be divided into middle and long distance events depending on the distance or time limit. Differing from forest, sprint orienteering is held in urban settings or parks and lasts for about 15 minutes. It is a fast-paced sport that requires competitors to make split-second navigating decisions while running at high speeds.
Hachi Highland
Higashi Hachi-buse Highland
Sugigasawa Highland
Mineyama Kogen Highland
Hachikita Highland
Uwano Highland
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Masters Games Kansai has been postponed to 2022. The official schedule for the Orienteering Forest Event is yet to be announced. The latest information can be found on the official WMG website at wmg2021.jp.
There will be a shuttle bus service provided during the tournament leaving from JR Yoka Station that will make stops at the Yabu Event Center located in Michi-no-Eki (Roadside Station) Yoka Tajimanokura and the orienteering venues at Sugigasawa Highland and Hachi Highland. Please check the "News" section of our website to keep updated regarding the WMG!
Let’s meet in Yabu, Japan.