F1 in Japan

One of my favourite F1 journalist, James Allen has posted two articles which I liked for different reasons.

The one about Kamui Kobayashi was enjoyable, as it is a rarity for a Japanese driver to receive a mention in the kind of way Kamui gets reported in the western press. I think a typical reports Japanese drivers used to get was when they got ran over by a safety car. Seasoned European journalists are both fair and critical and when several European journalists pay praise to Kamui, I enjoy reading their pieces as they are fair and I also know from many years of living in London, how critical these journalists are. In short, I think it is good journalism. Informed and sometimes critical opinion from seasoned experts and journalists are essential in any society. This is severely lacking in Japan in general.

Japan has had a fair share of F1 drivers and most with the exception of one or two were qualified for the premier class, however it is no secret only a handful would have scraped to F1 without manufacturer backing or sponsor's wallet. Granted, Kamui received huge support from Toyota together with Kazuki Nakajima and Kohei Hirate. Kamui made a sensational debut in Brazil, where he showed what he is made of. He then with or without the help of Toyota (noone knows) got a seat at Sauber and he has won fans all over the world with his aggressive driving and many breathtaking overtakes.

so why is F1 flatlining in Japan (why is F1 flatlining in Japan?) despite a promising star receiving attention in western press and hopefully from a top team or two?

I go back to the earlier point I made of primitive nature of the Japanese media. We are not short of informed experts as a regular JAF1 blog can see (e.g. data supplied by Kawai-san). It is the producers/directors of the TV program, who seemingly only want commentators and expert panel to offer unrealistic hope of Kamui getting into the top 3 or whatever. Of course, as a Japanese fan, that is what I'd love to see but I am realistic to know, if Kamui gets in top 10 he is doing a good job. We do not have a James Allen, Murray Walker, James Hunt or Martin Brundle who are not perfect but are informed and are professional enough to call a spade a spade. We do not have that in Japan.

That said, in my opinion, the media issue is not the only reason. In the late 80s, we had Nissan in Le Mans, Mazda won Le Mans famously, Honda in F1 providing winning engines. Can anyone recall any other sport where Japan was winning or competitive even internationally? The answer is a solid "no". So we went through 90s with mediocre drivers who still whetted the populations dream and hope as we again had very very few internationally successful sportsmen and women. Shuzo Matsuoka the tennis player turned TV pundit for all manners of sports got upto 40-something in the world ranking. Exception was Kimiko Date who at one stage was number 4 in the world behind such household names as Steffi Graff and Aranxa Sanchez Vicario.

Fast forward to this century, and the national football team getting stronger and making it to World Cup without having to "pay" to host the event. Kirin, the Japanese drinks maker, supporting the squad and slightly more informed commentating made available on TV, and the fact the fledging J-league football league successfully beating most other sports in terms of popularity means Japanese population is no longer starving for sport stars in international arena. Lets also not forget de-facto national sport of baseball has had its success too. Beating USA at their own game not just once but twice to claim World Baseball Classic.

Japanese women's football team won the ladies world cup this year. The support the entire nation showed for the team was both incredible and encouraging.

In short, the population has other well promoted sports to support. F1 for all its complexity in terms of its politics or technical regulation and its changed and manipulation has lost its prized asset status in this country. Die hard fans will always be there. Kamui will always have his supporters. Will Kamui be a national hero? Only if he wins a race or drives for a true top tier team.. We have had podium finishers in Aguri Suzuki and more recently Takuma Sato. Once Kamui starts to get a consistent point scoring or podium scoring results, flatline will become a mount Fuji.