Physical Fitness Test Digital Aggregation System "ALPHA" Holds "ALPHA Nationwide Physical Fitness Test Award 2026"! Former Vice Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Hiroshi Suzuki, Appointed Honorary Chairman to Recognize Children's Challenges and Teachers' Ingenuity Nationwide!

Pestalozzi Technology Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President and CEO Tomotsuna Inoue, hereinafter referred to as Pestalozzi), which has been deploying the physical fitness test digital aggregation app "ALPHA" (hereinafter referred to as ALPHA) since fiscal year 2020, is pleased to announce its cooperation with the "ALPHA Nationwide Physical Fitness Test Award 2026" hosted by the Japan Health and Exercise Data Comprehensive Research Institute, and the holding of a physical fitness test competition for elementary, junior high, and high schools nationwide.

This award, now in its second year following last year, welcomes Mr. Hiroshi Suzuki, former Vice Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, as Honorary Chairman. It will recognize children who demonstrate excellent physical fitness and athletic ability, as well as those who have shown significant growth from the previous year, while also honoring the excellent practices of schools and teachers who have supported their growth.

Background and Purpose of the Event

Amidst the nationwide challenge of declining physical fitness and athletic ability in children, this award is a competition that provides children with an opportunity to think about "how to improve their scores" and "what are the challenges in their athletic abilities" through their physical fitness test results, and to strive for personal bests. By not only celebrating excellent results but also shedding light on the process of growth from the previous year and the creative initiatives of each school, we will communicate children's feelings of "I did it!" and "I improved!" and the challenges of the teachers who support them to the nation.

Three Award Categories

This award has the following three categories to evaluate children and schools from diverse perspectives:

1 Physical Fitness Excellence Award: Selects the most outstanding school by uniquely scoring the number of students in A-E evaluations of the physical fitness test.

2 Physical Fitness Improvement Award: Selects the school that showed the most improvement from the previous year by comparing A-E evaluations from fiscal years 2025 and 2026. A feature of this award is that it evaluates not only the results but also the "process of growth."

3 Initiative Award: Selects schools that have made excellent efforts in class ingenuity based on physical fitness test results, and for improving physical fitness and promoting health.

Schools that have introduced ALPHA can easily apply by simply expressing their intention to participate through the application form, without the need for aggregation or data transmission.

Honorary Chairman and Judges

Experts active at the forefront of education and sports science will serve as Honorary Chairman and judges for this award.

Honorary Chairman: Hiroshi Suzuki (Former Vice Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology)

Judge: Hiroya Suzuki (Professor, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Juntendo University)

Judge: Yusuke Suenaga (Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education, Kumamoto University)

Honorary Chairman Hiroshi Suzuki sent a message stating, "Children feel that 'they like exercise' and 'physical education is fun' when they can feel their own growth. Behind this is not only the children's efforts but also the daily ingenuity of the teachers. I hope that the children's challenges and the teachers' ingenuity will spread throughout Japan."

Application Guidelines

Application Period: Until Monday, October 12, 2026 (Holiday), Sports Day

Eligible Applicants: Elementary, junior high, and high schools nationwide (including Japanese schools) *National, public, and private schools are all eligible.

Application Unit: School unit

Participation Fee: Free

Perks: A limited number of the first 300 schools will receive an ALPHA original stopwatch.

Announcement and Awards Ceremony: To be held online on Tuesday, December 1, 2026, on the ALPHA Nationwide Physical Fitness Test website.

Special Site: https://pestalozzi-tech.com/event/alpha_nationwide/

Organizer and Cooperating Parties

Organizer: Japan Health and Exercise Data Comprehensive Research Institute

Cooperation: Pestalozzi Technology Co., Ltd.

About "ALPHA"

"ALPHA" is a tool that can measure, aggregate, and analyze physical fitness tests regardless of the device, such as PCs and tablets. Traditional physical fitness tests were conducted using analog methods, such as students recording their results on paper and teachers transcribing them into Excel. With "ALPHA," measurement, aggregation, and analysis can be easily done digitally by utilizing one tablet device per student.

As of fiscal year 2026, it is used in approximately 5,200 schools in 103 municipalities across 13 prefectures.

Service Page: https://pestalozzi-tech.com/alpha/

Service Case Study Video: ALPHA Introduction Case Study

Features of "ALPHA"

"Significantly reduces the time required for inputting physical fitness test measurement results"

With the traditional method, teachers had to manually enter data recorded by students on their record sheets into Excel files one by one. In contrast, with "ALPHA," students can input their own records into digital devices through the student page, and teachers can view and edit them in a list from the teacher page. Furthermore, our company creates the submission files for the board of education using the data entered into ALPHA, which significantly reduces the teachers' administrative workload.

"Achieves unprecedentedly speedy data linkage"

With paper-based physical fitness tests, it took several weeks or months to receive result sheets with overall evaluations and scores. With "ALPHA," results are reflected in real-time, and recommended exercise videos for the results can be viewed immediately.

"Compatible with all devices (Web application that does not require installation)"

"ALPHA" works with any type of device or browser. It can be accessed from various media, such as devices introduced through the GIGA School Program, parents' smartphones, and teachers' PCs.

Usable Devices: PCs, tablets, smartphones

Usable Browsers: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari, Firefox

Contact for Media Inquiries Regarding This Matter

Pestalozzi Technology Co., Ltd.

ALPHA Nationwide Physical Fitness Test Award 2026 Secretariat

Inquiry Form: https://pestalozzi-tech.com/contact/