The Japanese Embassy in cooperation with General Presidency of Youth Welfare and Saudi Karate Federation, held Japanese Ambassador's Cup in Riyadh Saturday. The karate sparring matches, called Kumite, in open weight were held as part of Saudi National Karate Championship. The Ambassador of Japan, Norihiro Okuda, awarded prizes to the winners. He appreciated their performance, especially the beautiful manner based on rigorous discipline of the Saudi players. Japanese martial arts called Budo, including karate, have been reevaluated as an effective way of imparting self-discipline and nurturing the sense of respect toward others to students and officers. The ambassador expressed his delight as he observed that traditional virtue of karate thrives in the Kingdom. "In 2020, Japan will hold Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics and I expect Saudi players to show distinction there as we observed today," the ambassador said. Karate athletes and fans all over the world have ardently been calling for inclusion of karate into the Olympic Games, and now the anticipation is growing as recently Tokyo's organizing committee selected the Japanese traditional sport as one of five additional sports to be proposed to the International Olympics Committee. "As the Olympics approach, I wish that the two countries cooperate more towards Saudi karate and this Japanese Ambassador's Cup is a step in that direction," the ambassador said.
