The Japan Table Tennis Association will require coaches to obtain coaching licenses

In Europe and elsewhere, I hear that table tennis coaches have licenses.

In Japan, meanwhile, where the strength is now edging close to China’s, there are around 4,000 people who hold coaching licenses, but obtaining one is not mandatory. Coaches at the level of the Japan national team are now expected to have licenses, but in school sports and club sports there are still many coaches without them. And among the coaches at private table tennis halls, of which there are said to be 700 to 800 across the country, very few currently hold licenses.

The Japan Football Association, which launched a professional soccer league in 1993, is said to have about 100,000 coaching license holders. In recent years, it has been said that the rise in the number of players from Japan, once described as a soccer laggard, who are now active in Europe and elsewhere is due to the upgrading of coaching standards brought about by the coaching license system.

And now, finally, the Japan Table Tennis Association will begin operating its “Class S / Class A License System” from fiscal 2027. The association’s Class S / Class A License Executive Committee conducted the certified Class S / Class A coach license trial on October 1 and 2, 2026.
Even in Japanese table tennis, the operation of a licensing system like the Japan Football Association’s now seems poised to move fully into gear. From here on, coaches in the T League and the Japan League, along with pro coaches and school coaches, will likely be required to undergo training and hold a coaching license.