1. Promotion of citizens' health improvement Aiming to encourage citizens' interest in health and physical fitness, the city provides the citizens who intend to be engaged in sport activities on a daily basis with sport-related information such as on opportunities, facilities and instructors. The city also organizes various sport classes for beginners. 2. City sport instructors City sport instructors are part-time public employees who belong to the city's board of education. Since the program was established in 1958 according to the Sports Promotion Law, the city sport instructors have been serving the public to encourage health management, physical fitness and lifetime sport activities among the citizens in conjunction with local sports and welfare associations. By actively participating in planning, operating, familiarizing and promoting various sport/recreational activities for the citizens, the city sport instructors have been playing an important role to promote sports in the city. The Osaka City Sport Instructor Council is an organization of the city sport instructors and has been active to help manage city-based major sport events as well as the open house program of sport facilities at local schools. In addition to introducing the citizens to new sports that they can easily enjoy, the council has also organized various seminars and helped to establish community-based comprehensive sport clubs. 3. Organization of various sport events Osaka Mayor's Cup / ward competitions and citizen championships In conjunction with the Osaka City Sports and Welfare Association, the city organizes a series of sport competitions under the name of Osaka Mayor's Cup to promote the sport activities among the citizens. The schedule of the competitions is determined according to the seasonal timing of each sport. Considering the popularity and characteristics of each sport, ward competitions (3) and citizen championships (14) are held. As a recreational event, the city also organizes a folk dance competition. 4. Organization of national-level sport competition Osaka City Half Marathon To respond to the citizens' increased interest in sports and also to appeal to the world as the "International Sports City," the city organizes a national-level marathon race that general citizens can participate in. The race aims to realize the city's "Sports Paradise Osaka" concept. The Osaka City Half Marathon has been held annually since 1997. 5. Sport instructor training program For active sport instructors as well as future instructors, the city organizes and provides various training programs in cooperation with universities, sport organizations and sport-related businesses. The programs aim to help the participants master basic skills required for sport instructors and improve their instructing abilities. The city also organizes lectures on specific themes and aims to produce highly-skilled sport instructing specialists. 6. Financial support for sport organization Aiming to promote sport/recreational activities among the citizens and help them nourish healthy bodies and minds, the city financially supports the Osaka City Sports and Welfare Association, which organizes various sport events and recreational activities in the city. 7. Opening of school sport facilities to the public (1) Open house program of sport facilities at schools The city operates an open house program of sport facilities (ground, gymnasium, pool, etc.) at elementary, junior high, high schools and other special education schools in the city. The program aims to open these facilities to the public without interrupting the school's curriculum and to provide local residents with access to a place where they can enjoy sports and improve their fitness. (2) Citizen recreation center Mainly on weekday evenings, the city opens to the public gymnasiums at elementary, junior high, and high schools in the city as "Citizen Recreation Center" and holds a variety of sport classes. This "Citizen Recreation Center" program is supported by the Sports Advancement Lottery Fund. 8. Fostering of community-based comprehensive sport clubs The city promotes the establishment of "community-based comprehensive public sport clubs," which any generation of the residents in the community can join to enjoy sports according to their skill levels. The city supports people in the community to establish and independently operate the clubs on their own. 9. Promotion of activities of sport volunteers The city encourages the citizens to participate in activities to support the city's promotion of sports as "sport volunteers." By increasing the sport volunteers, the city aims to realize the ideals of the "Sports Paradise Osaka" concept, which are "Sports to Support" and "Sports to Exchange." 10. Network system regarding sport information and facility use Aiming to make the city's sport facilities easily accessible to the citizens, the city has developed a network system in 1996 to provide the information about the sport facilities to the citizens at other public facilities. The system also simplified the application process for the use of the facilities and improved the convenience of the citizens. 11. Sports Promotion Council According to the Sports Promotion Law, the city has established the Osaka City Sports Promotion Council Act and constituted the council. The council is an advisory organization which discusses, examines, and makes a statement on the basic measures for the promotion of sports by the city.