Jer, I'll take a stab at your question.
There is road racing activity to some extent in Japan, but with very limited sponsorship available, it is mostly a amateur activity, and with venues few and far in-between. There is limited support organization that aspires to get youth involved in cycling here, although a large percentage of junior and senior high school students do commute by bike. Most if not all schools have rules that disallow the use of bikes other than the standard cheap boring ones, no mountain or drop handled bikes are permitted. Japan is still a culture that in many ways discourages individuality, for better and worse. There is also the stigma of gambling that is associated with racing bikes, as many parents have the rememberance of corruption and the bad deeds associated with the darker days of track racing in Japan. So, when lil' "Yukio" goes with them to a shop to look for a bike, a drop handled one often falls into a prejudicial category. When I asked a high school track racing coach who had his team working out at my local, why there were no youth development programs going on at our mostly vacant track, he explained this discriminatory aspect to me, and also admitted to lazyness in trying to help people overcome it. The towns that have the pro tracks tend to have bigger and better school teams, where the information available on present day activity is more abundant and factual, along with the understanding that the top racers in the sport are legitimately pulling in a couple million a year. I am fortunate to live in one of the nicest cycling areas of the country. The days are very infrequent that I see another cyclist. Tokyo is two and one-half hours away, and there are quite a few cyclists riding in the bad (improving) air, next to the rivers on some cycling roads there. When I approached my local municipality to try and raise interest in promoting our area as a friendly cycling place for bike riders and their families, and also to possibly initiate awareness with a race, with the thought to possibly bring relief to the many overnight inns that are suffering with the state of currently much reduced tourism, my efforts were met with zero enthusiasm. The sad fact is that the powers that be, never learned or have forgotten the joys of cycling, and thinking about it now mostly lakes them even more tired! All this translates into little inpiration and opportunity for young Japanese potential racers to initiate and grow in ability. A large percentage of the current hard core cyclists entered the sport at a older age, and given the limited racing activity here as mentioned, the potential to reach world class stature is much impaired.
As for the touring bike activity here, it used to be a certain "right of passage" for many young people in high scool to make a long bicycle trek to distant parts of the country. Years ago I used to see them slogging away with their bedrolls and gear, often heading north or returning from Hokaido. This scene has become much a rarity, probably due to the television game revolution as much as anything else. A much more common sight is seeing a young student riding along while staring into their cellular phone, ready to fall prey to a open man hole cover or dip in the road. My impression is that many of the current day collectors were involved in touring in their youth, but for whatever reasons, often they no longer ride much.
Dennis Young
Hotaka, Japan
>
> Well, I think the Japanese and especially the Chinese know a hell of a lot
> about bicycles, and in the case of China, cycling is today much more
> prominent than in any European country. The difference is that no Asian
> nation has ever been prominent in cycling as a sport. Rather, cycling in
> Asia seems mostly focused on transportation. So perhaps that might
> translate into lack of inspiration in manufacturing lightweights, although
> the same logic would suggest that the Chinese, and maybe the Indians, should
> make the best utilitarian roadsters in the world - perhaps they do.
>
> Personally, I think the Japanese have made some very good and very
> underrated bikes. I only have one Miyata and one 3Rensho, but would gladly
> buy Fuji Finest, Newest and Ace models from the 70's if I found a good deal
> and had room in the garage.
>
> One wonders why there have never been any prominent Asian cyclists. While
> many Asian nationalities are disadvantaged in some sports by small stature,
> that should be no problem in cycling as most of the good European riders,
> except sprinters, are small men. Plus with better nutrition and more
> protein in today's diets, young Asians in many nations are considerably
> taller than their parents and grandparents.
> It may be that Asian riders, like Americans for many decades, are
> handicapped by the lack of any culture of bicycle racing in their homelands.
> Like Americans who aspire to be truly world class, they would have to go to
> Europe to really develop their talent properly. Maybe we will see this
> happen in the next few years.
>
> Although there seems to be little bicycle racing activity in Asia, except
> Keirin in Japan, the production of Toei and other expensive French type
> touring bikes makes me wonder if perhaps Japan does have very active cycle
> touring. Can some of the list members in Japan, or who have lived there in
> the past enlighten us on Japamnese cycle touring?
>
> Regards,
>
> Jerry Moos
> Houston, TX