WKF President Mr. Antonio Espinós and JKF President Mr. Takashi Sasagawa met JOC President Mr. Tsunekazu Takeda on September 1, 2014 in Tokyo.

WKF President Mr. Antonio Espinós and JKF President Mr. Takashi Sasagawa met JOC President and Tokyo 2020 Vice-president Mr. Tsunekazu Takeda on September 1, 2014 in Tokyo.  Mr. Shigeo Kurihara (JKF Vice-president) and Mr. Toshihisa Nagura (WKF EC member) also attended the meeting.

It was an extremely active and meaningful meeting, exchanging opinions in a friendly atmosphere, looking towards the Tokyo Olympics 2020.  It was a historic meeting for WKF.

During the meeting, WKF President Mr. Espinos and JKF President Mr. Sasagawa explained that Karate is ready to be in the Olympics and that they guarantee a high level of competition at the Olympics. Considering there is no need for new facilities, the ease of adjusting to the number of participating competitors, and the know-how of WKF and JKF in organising a world-level championship, they stressed the symbolic meaning of karate competition, a global sport originated in Japan, during the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

JOC President Mr. Takeda expressed his understanding of the willingness of the Karate world. He mentioned that various matters, such as the rules modification for the Olympics, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, will be discussed and finalised at the IOC Extraordinary Session next December.