The Tokyo Olympics pushed skateboarding further into the Japanese mainstream than ever before with skaters now a familiar sight in cities around the country, but that does not mean the shift has been widely welcomed.
The number of skateboarding accidents has increased with the sport's rising popularity, and fears around damage to public and private property, noise and antisocial behavior are often cited by those opposing skateboarding in public spaces.
Oftentimes, skateboarders are perceived as a general nuisance. However, in recent years, the narrative around skateboarding has been changing.