Care Esports hosts a Tekken 8 tournament in Japan with senior citizens sparring with each other
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Tekken 8 Logo (Image via Website/Tekken)Care Esports recently organized a Tekken 8 tournament in Japan featuring senior citizens from local care homes. The participants clashed to win the King of the Iron Fist title.
In this groundbreaking initiative, they redefined the boundaries of competitive online gaming by allowing elderly patients to practice and compete in an interesting multiplayer game.
The Care Esports Association hosts an annual competition for a new game, according to a Dexerto report. This year, they took the experience a notch above and welcomed seniors, falling in the age gap of 60 to 93, to compete in Tekken 8.
On Instagram, Modernnotoriety detailed the one-of-a-kind esports tournament for elders, noting in the caption,
"a Tekken 8 tournament for seniors was held in Japan, hosted by Care Esports, with players aged 60 to 93 competing for the title of King of the Iron Fist."
As Modernnotoriety reported, Yoshie Murabe clinched the title. Delving further into Care Esports, the admin explained that the Care Esports Association is a Japan-based "non-profit initiative" that hosts competitive gaming tournaments for elders staying in care homes within the country.
The association aims to create a safe space for elderly residents and provide them with chances to take part in competitive multiplayer gaming. Engaging in these games serves as an effective step for "mental stimulation and social activity."
A look at Care Esports hosting the Tekken 8 tournament for senior citizens in Japan
As The Gamer reported, the association's goal is to
"create a tournament that the elderly residents of the Amigo Club nursing care facility can freely participate in."
Viewers can enjoy the streams of these exciting competitions on YouTube.
Age is just a number when you’re landing combos.
— GamerBraves (@GamerBraves) July 16, 2025
Seniors aged 60 to 93 duked it out in a Tekken 8 tournament hosted by Care Esports in Japan.#Tekken8 #Esports #FGC #CareEsports #NeverTooOldToGame #FightingGamesThe host went all out to organize the competition, particularly for elderly people, with perfect arrangements. As The Gamer stated, a duo of casters, fans, and necessary elements were placed for the gaming tournament.
The event had all the hallmarks of a professional esports tournament, starting with live commentary and detailed profiles of players providing information on their characters and names, according to Dexerto.
Who were the participants?
In the recent competitive multiplayer game, four first-round matchups were conducted to determine the winner.
For the selected pairs of participants, Norio Nakakita was paired against Yoshie Murabe, Sanae Hattori faced Yasuko Mori, Sadayuki Kato clashed with Machie Maki, and Shigeko Hasegawa competed against Kinuko Watanabe.
How did the event progress?
The winning member of every duo went ahead to battle against the other winner. Every stage followed the same pattern, concluding with the winner registering their triumph.
The online intense competition continued for nearly three hours, with Sadayuki Kato and Yoshie Murabe reaching the final. It culminated with Yoshie Murabe, participating by the name Kuma, winning the Tekken 8 competition.
As per Dexerto, she strategically played low sweeps and targeted her opponent’s legs with Panda. For her victory, she changed some launchers into combos and made a reverse sweep.
In an exclusive conversation with Game Spark, published on July 13, 2025, Shinpei Hama, Public Relations Officer at the General Incorporated Association Care eSports Association, reflected on hosting the Tekken 8 tournament for elderly citizens.
While discussing the process of supporting the competitors and helping them to enhance their skills, Shinpei said,
"This was the first time we held an online Tekken tournament, so we started by explaining what online means. Some people understand that it means 'playing against people you can't see,' but there are also people who don't understand even after we explain it to them."
Explaining more about the event, Hama elaborated,
"So we raised the level of understanding of the support staff. We held staff tournaments and had them experience games, distribution, lag checks, etc. to deepen their understanding. We also created videos for staff on how to play and win, and focused on getting the staff to enjoy Tekken 8 first. Since I, a public relations officer, would not have been able to understand if I had suddenly gone there, we asked staff who usually interact with residents to help us."
During the recent chit-chat with the outlet, the Public Relations Officer at the General Incorporated Association Care eSports Association talked about the challenges in arranging these games and plans for the upcoming years, noting,
"We had planned to gradually expand it, but the response was much greater than we expected, and we could see how high the expectations were. However, it is also true that we could not have achieved it without the solid cooperation of the people on-site. Among the residents was an elderly person, 93 years old, and some people had a strong aversion to 'fighting and fighting,' but the staff on-site were a great help in this regard."
Conversing further about the future plans, Hama expressed the idea to refine and make changes to manage and direct better. Hama also spoke about including games that gamers can practice, like GeoGuessr. The ultimate objective is to "put the field first."
Winner Murabe-san also had a discussion with Game Spark where she revealed that it was her "first attempt" in the event, and she had "a lot of fun." Interestingly, she chose to participate as the Kuma character for her endearing love for pandas.
Looking back at winning Tekken 8, she expressed,
"I was happy to win. I didn't feel like it was particularly difficult."
Although it was her first time playing the esports game, she learned the process quite fast and improved her skills enough to record a win. She shared,
"It was my first time. I got used to it surprisingly quickly."
Murabe also opened up about her thought process during the live game, further adding,
"The only thing is to win!"
It appears she is now invested in competing in similar tournaments. During the interview, she shared her thoughts on joining attendees in other games, clarifying,
"If there's something other than Tekken 8, I'd definitely like to participate again."
What is Care Esports?
Shinpei Hama defined the association's operations and purpose during the interview with Game Spark. According to the response, the team is working on organizing a tournament for the older people residing in the Amigo Club nursing care facility. The new and interesting initiative lets them join, play, and engage for free.
The goal is to make these residents feel the emotions of
"'I won! I'm so happy!' and 'I lost! I'm frustrated, but I'll win next time!'"
The Public Relations Officer at the General Incorporated Association Care eSports Association further described the logo of Care Esports, continuing,
"The association's logo is designed with the letters 'CES' sticking out, which expresses our desire to break free from the conventional framework of nursing care."
In 2019, the Care Esports Association was founded. One of the primary reasons leading to the development was the company president realizing the surge of esports among gamers. The leader came up with the innovative idea to introduce people at care homes and nursing places to the digital gaming landscape.
Hama later added:
"Since we were going to do it, we didn't want it to end as a recreational activity, but wanted to take it seriously. We wanted people to feel happy and frustrated when they won or lost. So we started the tournament online, and we found that people were taking it seriously, which was the first step."
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TOPICS: Tekken 8, Care Esports, Japan