New TV Commercial Features Japan’s National Soccer Team Captain Wataru EndoPromoting ‘Empowering All Children’ during FIFA World Cup

The Nippon Foundation will be airing television commercials to promote greater social understanding of issues related to and activities to support children’s dreams and challenges. The commercials feature Wataru Endo, who plays for Liverpool Football Club and is captain of Japan’s national soccer team, and will be broadcast on nationwide terrestrial commercial networks and internet media from March through July 2026, to coincide with the FIFA World Cup tournament.

The campaign’s slogan, “Empowering All Children,” represents the aim of realizing a society in which children have their own dreams for the future and are able to pursue challenges, regardless of various difficulties, different environments, and talents and abilities they are born with. Mr. Endo was chosen as a role model who will inspire children, when things do not go as planned, to think about what they can do to achieve their own goals or help their team without thinking about their adverse circumstances.

The commercials show Mr. Endo at a soccer court (a small, indoor, astroturf pitch) answering questions from children and sharing his own experiences and advice, with scenes of children playing informal soccer interspersed. The background music is “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” which is sung by supporters at matches of Liverpool Football Club and a top division Japanese professional J. League team.

As captain of the national team, Mr. Endo embodies the importance of not only “individual strength” but also the ability to “demonstrate strength together with others.” This is consistent with The Nippon Foundation’s basic policy of working with diverse sectors including NGOs, governments, private-sector companies, and international organizations to support children, as well as providing direct support to children and their families. With children’s environments becoming increasingly diverse and complex, the Foundation will work even harder to create futures for children.

I have followed my own path after thinking hard about what I can do at any given time, without giving up because of my physical size and condition or environment. I wholeheartedly support children to give them a sense of “What I can do,” dreams for the future, and a mindset of taking on challenges. I hope that this television commercial will provide an opportunity for adults to be aware of children’s environments and to work together across society to support children.