The Nippon Club brings the Japanese community together through tennis in NYC
Earlier this spring, more than 140 recreational tennis players flooded the indoor courts of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens to play in an annual team tournament held by the Nippon Club, a Japanese social club in New York City.
The Nippon Club was founded in 1905, and it caters to members of the Japanese community in the New York metropolitan area, especially those employed by Japanese companies who move to the city for work. It has been running tennis tournaments and programming since 1978, and the community rallies around the singles and doubles tournaments that take place at Cary Leeds Center for Tennis and Learning in the Bronx, in addition to the yearly team tournament that is the crown jewel of the tennis events—players practice throughout the year with their team in the hopes of claiming the title.
Toyokazu Matsumoto started playing tennis recreationally when he was a sophomore in college in Japan. Several years later when he came to New York for work, he and his friends from college formed a tennis group that they call “The New Yorkers”—after the magazine—and started participating in Nippon Club tournaments. Matsumoto and his friends practice frequently to be ready for the team tournament.
“Our group even plays in the early morning and during the weekends at the high school court, all to be prepared for the tournament,” he said. “This Nippon Club tournament is very, very important and means a lot to those who are playing tennis here.”
The team tournament is particularly special to participants because they get to play at the home of the US Open. While Roger Federer or Naomi Osaka may not have played on the NTC’s indoor courts, they use the same hard surface as the stadiums the competitors have seen on TV.
Play during the 2024 Nippon Club team tournament. Photo courtesy of Yasuko Hayashi.
“A lot of people who play potentially are only in New York for a few years because of their jobs, and they can say they actually played a tennis tournament where the US Open is being played,” said Yasuko Hayashi, a member of the club’s tennis committee. “It's something you can really go home and boast about to your other tennis friends in Japan.”
Hayashi came to New York from Japan in 2018, and said she only knew about 10 people when she arrived. At the time she didn’t have anyone to play tennis with, but found out about the Nippon Club tournaments and played in 2019. She said she met a lot of new people and has since created her own team she practices with throughout the year.
“Having this type of event really helps to connect people who may not necessarily have connected in their normal course of life, and I think that's what makes it really special. It's not just about having a tennis match, it's really bringing people together. I think it's a really great cause and I'm really happy that I can be part of it,” Hayashi said.
The trophies for the Nippon Club team tournament, made by one of the players. Photo courtesy of Yasuko Hayashi.
This year, the team tournament had a record number of participants, in addition to friends and family who made the trip to Flushing Meadows to support. Because of the large turnout, Hayashi said she saw people making lots of new friends, in addition to reuniting with old friends from years prior, or people they haven’t seen since leaving Japan.
Additionally, the Nippon Club tournaments can become something of a lifelong commitment. Matsumoto was unable to play this year, but his son, who played tennis at Columbia University, participated. And while Matsumoto will return to Japan semi-permanently this year, he said he hopes to make the long trip back to the NTC to play or support friends in the future.
Nippon Club tournaments are open to anyone who plays tennis and wants to participate, and while most players are Japanese, all are welcome—including those who aren’t members.
Junji Miyake helps put on the tournaments, and has been doing so for more than 25 years. As someone who has participated in lots of tennis tournaments in the U.S., he felt comfortable running one, and volunteered his time and energy to the Nippon Club tennis programming.
For Miyake, organizing the tournament is more than just a volunteer position—it’s a way of giving back to the sport and the community.
“Playing tennis for over 50, 60 years, I gained a lot of friendship and some business from clients. Tennis is a sort of support which helped me to establish myself,” he said. “So I'm trying to give back through helping.”
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