Globe Riders: Focus on Japan one year after Tokyo Olympic Games

One year after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, our Globe Riders series takes us to the host country Japan.

The word ‘cycling’ in Japan most often conjures up images of professional keirin racing, which was developed in the 1940s for gambling purposes and remains incredibly popular in the country.

While few professional Japanese keirin athletes participate in more traditional international track cycling, there are exceptions, and some brilliant ones. Former athlete Koichi Nakano, one of the most successful competitors on the Japanese professional keirin circuit, won an unprecedented 10 consecutive individual sprint titles at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships from 1977 to 1986. The legend of this retired athlete lives on in the video game ‘Nakano Kōichi Kanshū: Keirin Ō’, that allows the player to control the daily life of a professional cycling athlete.

Move forward 35 years to the Tokyo Olympic Games, and Yumi Kajihara became the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic cycling medal thanks to her second place in the Omnium. Currently training at the UCI World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland, the former swimmer has her sights firmly set on Paris 2024.

President of the Japan Cycling Federation, Mr Masayuki Matsumura explains that this precious medal won at Izu Velodrome - a UCI WCC satellite – has provided the momentum to continue reinforcing the country’s track programme: “We created a system and environment to win medals that had not been established before. After the Olympics, our challenge is how to maintain this system. We are now strengthening young athletes in preparation for the Paris Olympics and beyond.

“Kajihara’s medal helped to attract media attention, and that helped to raise awareness of the Omnium,” he adds.

Even the professional keirin athletes are starting to see the attraction of Olympic glory: “Many riders start training in high school, and some of them aim to become keirin racers. These keirin racers had not been very interested in the Olympics until Tokyo 2020, but now, more and more racers want to compete in the Olympics,” says the Federation President.

The Tokyo 2020 Games were the first to feature five cycling disciplines thanks to the addition of BMX Freestyle to the competitions for road, track, mountain bike and BMX Racing. Nevertheless, young Yumi Kajihara’s silver was Japan’s only cycling medal. The country’s next best result came in BMX Freestyle with 5th place for 20-year-old Rim Nakamura (yes, he is named after a wheel component) in the men’s competition. It was no one-off show, as the Japanese athlete is a regular on the podium at UCI events for the discipline.

“He is very popular among extreme sports fans and is often featured in the media,” explains Mr Matsumura, who adds that Japan also has many BMX Freestyle Flatland riders, including Moto Sasaki, Men Elite silver medallist at last year’s UCI Urban Cycling World Championships. “I guess the skills required by Flatland suit the Japanese, who are capable of precise calculations,” he observes.

While many Japanese ride bicycles for transport in their daily lives, cycling remains a minor sport in Japan, according to Mr Matsumura. The host country did not make headlines in BMX Racing, mountain bike or the road events at Tokyo 2020 but he believes the Olympic Games could well have been a turning point for the sport’s popularity in Japan: “Watching the Olympic road race was a very exciting and precious experience for the Japanese, because we have few opportunities to see the world’s top athletes ride in Japan,” he said. “I think many people saw the road race for the first time and were surprised at the speed, power, and enthusiasm.”

Mont Fuji provided a majestic backdrop to the road races in Tokyo, but for anyone wishing to ride up this iconic landmark, all the roads stop well short of the summit. The Japanese do, however, have other choices when it comes to ascensions in their country which is 70% mountainous. One of the most popular, some 110km from Tokyo, is Mt Akagi. Each September, thousands of cyclists flock to the Gunma Prefecture for the Mount Akagi Annual Hill Climb Race (20.8km for 1,313m elevation difference). Another popular event for amateur riders is the ANA Niseko Classic, in Hokkaidō Circuit Prefecture, which is part of the UCI Gran Fondo World Series.

Manga building the cycling culture

Another catalyst for the popularity of cycling is one of the most popular manga (internationally – recognised Japanese comics) currently available. Called ‘Yowamushi Pedal’,it depicts a high school cycling team, and has introduced many people to road cycling. Mr Matsumura hopes that these volumes of manga will be as effective for the popularity of cycling as ‘Captain Tsubasa’ was for the popularity of football, which exploded thanks to the manga series.