Japanese Deaf Athletes Teach Students Sign Cheers Ahead of the Tokyo Deaflympics

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:58 JST, October 16, 2025

Members of Japan’s national team for the Tokyo Deaflympics asked students to cheer them on, at a special event in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward on Wednesday, a month before the international sports event kicks off.

During the special event, deaf track and field athletes Mio Okada and Masateru Yugami demonstrated “Sign Cheers,” used to cheer someone on using sign language, to 140 fourth-grade students at an elementary school in the ward. The Sign Cheers are used to visually cheer for athletes. Okada and Yugami introduced three types, including “Go!”, by fluttering both hands beside their face and then extending them forward.

“I hope to see a packed stadium using the sign cheers [at the event],” Yugami said.

This is the first time the Deaflympics will be held in Japan. About 3,000 athletes will compete in 21 sports at the event, which starts Nov. 15.