Play Up! Play Up !

Like a host of other sports, lawn bowls was introduced to Japan in the late 19^th century by foreign residents. This was the time when Japan opened its doors to the outside world after a long period of self-imposed isolation. Under the Tokugawa shoguns (1603-1868), overseas travel had been punishable by death and “barbarian” intruders were welcomed with gunfire and swords. The Meiji restoration of 1867 brought dramatic changes ? the Japanese were allowed out, foreigners were allowed in, and the government began a headlong dash to industrialise and westernise. Enterprising people from around the world came to make the most of the opportunities, while the Japanese began a tradition of importing foreign expertise. As well as money and knowledge, the foreign newcomers introduced new sports and pastimes. Soon the crack of leather on willow was echoing across the paddy fields, and mountain slopes became impromptu golf courses.

The two main centres of foreign trade were the ports of Yokohama and Kobe; it was natural for the foreign resident communities in those two cities to form sports clubs. All the trappings of a leisurely expat lifestyle were made available: cricket, football, rowing, tennis, baseball (for the Americans), billiards, croquet… bowls. The Yokohama Cricket Club (YCC) was founded in 1868, changing its name to the Yokohama Country & Athletic Club (YC&AC) in 1912. The club suffered extensive damage in the Great Kanto Earthquake, which flattened most of Tokyo and the surrounding area, but when the club reopened in 1925, bowls was mentioned as one of the sports on offer. It still is. The Kobe Regatta and Athletic Club (KR&AC) was founded in 1870, but while bowls used to be on the menu, sadly no green exists at the club today.

Golf, tennis and other games must have seemed as quaint and exotic to the Japanese as the tea ceremony or kabuki did to their new neighbours, but within a few years the Japanese were joining in. Now golf is big business, baseball is the leading spectator sport, and Japan is gearing up to host football’s 2002 World Cup (in cooperation with the Koreans). But what happened to bowls?

Plymouth Hoe !

Bowls remained stuck within the confines of the international port cities (as did cricket) until fairly recently. The first indigenous attempts to popularise the game were not undertaken until the 1960s. The “father” of Japanese bowls is a man named Hideo Hayashi, an agricultural expert who learned of the game when studying grass cultivation in Britain. He wrote “An Introduction to Lawn Bowls” with help from the Royal Victorian Bowling Association. 

The first big push to promote bowls came from two local governments: Hyogo (the prefecture attached to Kobe) and Nagasaki. Hyogo in particular launched an ambitious plan to build greens in its major population centers (including one in the middle of a racecourse!) thanks to the efforts of then deputy governor, Mr. Sadanojo Ichitani. There was a brief boom in the 1970s, but since then the number of registered players has dropped. Nevertheless, a solid core of clubs has remained, especially Akashi (near Kobe) and Isahaya (Nagasaki).

Birth of a Federation

The Japan Lawn Bowls Federation was established in 1986 to promote the game and give Japan a voice in the world of bowls. The federation immediately joined the International Bowls Board and has sent teams to international tournaments since 1988.

As a long, thin country with expensive planes, trains and toll roads, Japan is not ideally suited to nationwide sports gatherings, at least among amateurs. The Japan Lawn Bowls Federation organises a national tournament once a year, but most other competitive bowls is played at a regional level.

.Great Expectations

Japan made its international debut in 1976 at the World Bowls tournament in South Africa. Not surprisingly for an inexperienced team, the results were terrible. The next attempt at Frankston, Australia in 1980 produced more large scores in the opposition’s favour, but at least Japan achieved its first win (23-16 against Papua New Guinea in the triples, led by then JLBF president “Jimmy” Ueyama). New Zealand in 1988 was another unsuccessful trip, but World Bowls 1992 at Worthing saw some improvement, with a win in the triples playoff match (21-19 vs. Norfolk Island), and a win and a draw in the pairs. Japan was unable to send a team to Adelaide in 1996, but the women made their World Bowls debut at Leamington Spa in that year, notching up a win against Argentina. Women’s World Bowls 2000 at Moama, Australia, saw some improvement, with better results especially in the pairs. 

The Asia Pacific Championship has provided Japanese bowlers with more regular opportunities to improve through international competition and although Japan remains a minnow in world bowls, we have nabbed some bigger fish over the years in this tournament. In Victoria (1993), Makoto Yamada became the first Japanese to win an international singles match, and he went on to win twice more, the best performance in one event to date. Two years later, the Japanese pair finished 12^th in Dunedin, the highest position in an international team tournament to date. After a cold and forbidding start in Dunedin (it snowed, they played in coats, they lost all their matches), the women have recorded wins against the USA, Canada and Thailand.

In 1999 the women entered unknown territory by taking part in the Arafura Games in Darwin, Australia. Apart from enjoying the atmosphere, they had some success, with Kyoko Raita performing very strongly in the singles tournament. Japanese bowlers have also taken part in tournaments in Hong Kong and the USA.

Sport For All

1998 saw the international debut of Japan’s wheelchair bowlers. The JLBF believes strongly in discrimination-free, barrier-free competition. The Japan Hyogo Wheelchair Lawn Bowls Club is a member of the JLBF and wheelchair bowlers regularly compete with and against able-bodied bowlers. Although World Bowls and other major tournaments are closed to wheelchair bowlers, there are plenty of opportunities for them to play against international opposition. So far the Japan Hyogo club has sent players to the Southern Cross Championships in Sydney and the World Wheelchair Games in Christchurch, and also regularly takes part in a challenge series against Korean bowlers. The results have been encouraging and we hope to get more people involved in the game throughout the country.

Beyond the Fringe

Throughout the British Commonwealth, bowls is part of popular culture, like beer and cheese sandwiches. In Japan, it would be fair to say that 99-point-something percent of the population has never even heard of bowls, and we have to compete with all kinds of other minor sports for attention.

The lack of a well-defined popular image does have its advantages. Nobody has told the Japanese that bowls is an “old man’s game” so men and women of all ages show an interest. But facilities are very limited. There are four bowling greens in the Kobe area, one in Tokyo, one in Yokohama, and one in Nagasaki, plus two in Shizuoka (neither in good condition). Nagoya has informal indoor facilities (a single-rink carpet).

If you would like more information about bowls in Japan or would like to play here during a visit, please contact Stephen Wedge at bowler999@ricv.zaq.ne.jp