Japan makes AR game official school sport to get kids interested in physical education
A Japanese high school has officially added an AR game to its curriculum in an attempt to boost students’ participation in sports.
Shizuoka Nishi High School in Shizuoka City, Japan is taking PE to the next level by implementing a new way for kids to stay in shape — anAR game called ‘Hado.’
The name ‘Hado’ basically means ‘wave of energy,’ and gamers might be familiar with the term thanks to games likeStreet Fighter. (Hadouken!)
In Hado, two teams of three players each duke it out in a unique combo of virtual reality and real life for 80-second rounds. In the game, players must hit their opponents with energy blasts, hence the name ‘Hado.’
Japanese high schools make AR game ‘Hado’ official sport
To play, students must wear VR headsets and armbands, not dissimilar to those used in Nintendo’s Ring Fit game. The goal of Hado is to deplete enemies’ “life cells,” of which each participant has four. To earn a point, all four cells must be destroyed.
Players can defend themselves by dodging oncoming attacks or summoning a shield. There’s a surprising amount of depth to the sport; players have a limited number of points, which they can assign to four skills to create a ‘build’ of sorts.
They can prioritize the speed of their fireballs, the size of the blasts, charge up their ‘ki’ to release multiple blasts, or get more and stronger shields. Depending on what strategy teams want to use, they can opt for an offensive or defensive build to work together and win.
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Hado was created by Meleap Inc. The CEO of the company, Hiroshi Fukuda, says he’d always wanted to shoot fireballs from his hands like characters in anime and video games — and now, he finally can, in a manner of speaking.
The sport is taking off in Japan, where it’s played in 100 Japanese schools and 300 worldwide. Even adults are getting into it, and the ‘Hado World Cup‘ was held in Shanghai, China on August 21, 2025, with 18 countries participating in the competition.
Sports participationin Japanese schools is at anall-time low, whereas in-game spending in the country hasrisen dramatically. By combining gaming and physical activity, Japan is hopeful that Hado will lead to an increase in kids playing the sport and becoming more active.
