Sporting Groups to Join in Tokyo

Looking to get fit and active, or keep in shape in your new life in Japan? Or simply looking for a way to make new friends? Joining a sport is a great way to maintain your fitness and expand your social group. Here are five sporting groups that are expat friendly that you might be interested in joining.

Park Run is a free weekly running event which is held all around the world. In Tokyo, it is a 5km course which is run every Saturday morning in several parks around Tokyo. All levels of fitness are welcome - you will receive a time but any pace is fine. There are 28 different venues in Japan and almost 9,000 people have participated so far.
The event locations near Tokyo are: Kashiwa no ha in Chiba, Hikarigaoka Park in Tokyo, Ukima in Tokyo, Hachioji in Tokyo, Futako Tamagawa in Tokyo, Momoi in Tokyo, Urayasu in Chiba, Yokosuka in Kanagawa, Fujisawa in Kanagawa.
Map link : https://www.parkrun.jp/events/#geo=8.61/35.2367/139.4759

How to sign up:
Registration is completely free and you only need to do it once at the beginning whether you are walking, jogging, running or volunteering. Please fill out the registration form, print out the barcode issued after completing registration and bring it to the event.
Form:https://www.parkrun.jp/register

Tokyo Gaijins organizes futsal, volleyball, badminton and basketball meetups regularly. About 70% of the players are foreigners and 30% are English speaking Japanese.

• Futsal - 5 on 5 games held once or twice a week. You should have moderate skill level. The cost is 1000 yen.
  https://tokyogaijins.com/futsal/
• Badminton - Doubles matches are played 2-3 times a week. Any skill level is ok. The cost is 1200 yen. You can bring or rent a racket.
  https://tokyogaijins.com/badminton/
• Volleyball - Volleyball is played with 6-on-6 games 2-3 times a week. All levels are okay, and the games are sorted by skill. The cost is 1500 yen.
  https://tokyogaijins.com/volleyball/
• Basketball - Basketball is played 2-3 times a week with 5-on-5 games. You must have an experienced skill level to play. The fee is 1500 yen.
  https://tokyogaijins.com/basketball/

How to sign up:
You will need to join the Meetup.com group for each sport, which is linked to on the pages provided above. You need to click “reserve a spot” for each event.

Tokyo Crusaders Rugby Football Club was founded in 1990 by players from Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. They get together on Sundays to play and hang out afterwards, and even enter serious rugby tournaments in Japan. They welcome people of all abilities and also have a youth section.
Link : http://www.tokyocrusaders.com/

How to sign up:
Send an email to join@tokyocrusaders.com in order to join.

This is a friendly group which involves playing dodgeball than going out for a drink afterwards. They say there's no better way to make friends and that the group is responsible for eight marriages. Everyone is welcome regardless of skill level and the games are played at various locations around Tokyo and Kanagawa.
They sometimes hold other events too like capture the flag or escape room gatherings.
Link : https://japandodgeball.com/

How to sign up:
Join their Meetup.com group (https://www.meetup.com/Tokyo-Dodgeball-Friendship-Club/) and register for the event you are interested in.

Ultimate Frisbee is a great game for people to join if they are looking to try something fun. They play twice a week and are open to everyone regardless of skill. They also have a more serious league team for the advanced players. If you are not sure what ultimate frisbee is, it's basically a mix between frisbee, football, rugby and basketball. It’s free to play so you can try it out easily any time.
Link : https://www.facebook.com/groups/tokyoultimate

How to sign up:
Check the details of each event on their Facebook page
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/tokyoultimate)