Rusutsu Resort in Rusutsu, Hokkaido, held a soccer clinic and pickleball taster session on June 27, 2026, with former Japan international Tsuyoshi Kitazawa as guest. The venue wasRusutsu's eight dedicated courts, which opened in late April as Hokkaido's first courts officially approved by the Pickleball Japan Federation, and the session was open to 36 local children in grades 3 through 6. A day in which a well-known soccer figure stands on the court and teaches children an old sport and a new one back to back offers one practical answer to the question of how to root pickleball in Japan. What facility operators and anyone hunting for sponsors should look at is the structure: who was put where, and with whose corporate money.
Two hours in which a former international taught soccer and a new sport back to back
The session ran from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. that day. Check-in opened at 2:30 p.m. at the activity desk on the second floor of the Rusutsu Resort Hotel North Wing, and the fee was 2,000 yen per person including tax. The program strung Kitazawa's soccer coaching and a pickleball taster session together in one flow, aiming to send the children home with the fun of moving and the feel of working as a team.
参加者には北澤のサイン入りサッカーボールが贈られた。屋外の専用8面が主会場だが、悪天候の場合は屋内仮設コート（ルスツアリーナ）に切り替える運用で、山あいのリゾートで屋外競技を売る難しさに現実的な保険をかけている。持ち物は動きやすい服装とランニングまたはフットサルシューズで、スパイクは不可。舗装されたハードコートで行う競技であることが、こうした細部にも表れている。
Why a paving company backs a taster session
Special sponsors for the event were Toa Road Construction Co. and the Pickleball Japan Federation (PJ), a general incorporated foundation. Toa Road Construction is a major independent road paving contractor listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market (securities code 1882) and the largest maker of asphalt emulsion in Japan. It also designs and builds landscaping and sports facilities, and expects full-year sales on the order of 127 billion yen. The answer to why a paving company puts its name on an event for elementary school children lies in the courts themselves.
Toa Road Construction laid Rusutsu's eight courts and used Pickle Colortex, the surface color material it developed in-house for outdoor courts. The product comes in three standard colors, red, blue and green, with custom colors available, and the company signed a sponsorship deal with the Pickleball Japan Federation in December 2024. In other words, the company that lays the courts is investing in the spread of the sport itself. Participation in Japan isestimated at around 330,000, with a potential audience of 11.89 million, as this site has reported— an early market in which every new court widens the chance of a construction order. For a paving company, supporting the sport's growth is both a contribution to society and the most logical advance investment it could make.
The taster session at a glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Soccer clinic and pickleball taster session |
| Date and time | Saturday, June 27, 2026, 15:00-17:00 (check-in from 14:30) |
| Venues | Rusutsu Resort pickleball courts, 8 courts (Rusutsu Arena in bad weather) |
| Guest | Tsuyoshi Kitazawa (former Japan soccer international) |
| Eligibility and capacity | Elementary school grades 3-6 / 36 places |
| Entry Fee | 2,000 yen (tax included) |
| Special sponsors | Toa Road Construction, Pickleball Japan Federation (PJ) |
What each side gets out of it
Everyone who gathered for this one session was after a different piece of fruit.
- Local children and parents — direct coaching from a figure known as a Japan international, and a chance to try a new sport few have touched, at close to no cost
- Rusutsu Resort — folding a sport taster into its summer activities adds one more reason for families to stay, and keeps the eight courts working as a draw through the seasonal run
- Toa Road Construction — an event on courts it built puts its surface material and technique on display, leading to the next court order
- Pickleball Japan Federation — widening the network of approved courts and creating an entry point for children in each region
Three reasons a famous retired athlete moves the needle
For players and facility operators in Japan, this session carries three implications.
First,A well-known retired athlete creates a door into the sport. Pickleball is an early market where awareness is still low, and for parents sending a child out the door, a sport they have never heard of is a psychological wall. Put a widely known name like Tsuyoshi Kitazawa in front of it and the session shifts from a pitch for an unfamiliar sport to something that comes along with a national team player's soccer clinic. The person's fame stands in for the sport's lack of it. Kitazawa still serves as an adviser to the Japan Football Association and as chairman of the Japan Futsal Federation, and he runs a school in Komazawa for children from preschool through elementary age, so his record as a coach for children is established.
Second,The vertical structure of the company that lays the courts investing in the sport's growthhas become a driver particular to Japan. In the United States, grassroots growth out of social media led the way; in Japan, companies on the facilities side are moving to grow demand itself. Much likethe case of Sansan, the business card management firm, which brought in a former tennis pro and pushed the sport on its own courts, Toa Road Construction is widening the base of the sport on ground that sits right next to its own business. If facilities, people and events can be bundled by one company or a handful, the pace of growth becomes easier to predict than leaving it to individual enthusiasm.
Third,How well resorts fit seasonal operation. Rusutsu's courts run seasonally from late April to late October, on a site that turns to ski guests in winter. Even where an outdoor sport cannot run year-round, concentrating taster sessions and tournaments into a limited operating window can capture both travel demand and local demand. A celebrity event proved in a single day what it means to hold courts in a place as remote as Hokkaido.
Rusutsu's eight courts at a glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Number of courts | 8 courts (Hokkaido's first dedicated courts approved by the Pickleball Japan Federation) |
| Operating period | April 29 – October 25, 2026 |
| Hours | 8:30 to sunset (check-in until 16:30) |
| Construction | Toa Road Construction (using Pickle Colortex surface material) |
| Location | Rusutsu Resort, Rusutsu Village, Abuta District, Hokkaido |
Summary — what to check next
Kitazawa's taster session showed, out in the regions, how pickleball spreads in an early market when three parties lock together: a famous name, a sponsor and a resort. Facility operators in Japan should follow three things from here. First, how many taster sessions and tournaments Rusutsu stacks up over the summer after this one day. Second, in which region Toa Road Construction wins its next court construction order after Rusutsu. Third, whether taster sessions for children fronted by retired athletes from other sports multiply around the country. Now that the pattern of the court builder investing in the sport's growth has started turning, following news of newly approved courts will show which resort or municipality draws the same picture next. Start by checking whose money laid the courts that have just started operating in your own area.
Sources
- Soccer clinic and pickleball taster session by Tsuyoshi Kitazawa (Toa Road Construction / PR TIMES)
- Details of the Tsuyoshi Kitazawa soccer clinic and pickleball taster session (Rusutsu Resort official)
- Hokkaido's first dedicated courts approved by the Pickleball Japan Federation completed (Toa Road Construction)
- Pickleball Japan Federation (PICKLEBALL JAPAN)
