If you read my previous post about my recent trip to Fukuoka Prefecture in Kysuhu, Japan, you’ll know that when I was there I was part of a tour group that went to Kitakyushu (northern Fukuoka) to see the 75th anniversary event to celebrate the very first ever Keirin track race.

With the tour crew.

That inaugural event took place in Kokura, and the anniversary was held at the Kitakyushu MediaDome, a sports center that had tennis courts and a gym, as well as a beautiful Keirin stadium.

The Kitakyushu MediaDome track. Image by 高世軒.

The trip, jointly organised by KyudenSangyo tour company in Fukuoka, and the Fukuoka government travel initiative, CrossRoad Fukuoka, allowed us a VIP look at the track and to meet with the head of the Keirin department at the stadium.

The event started off with a presentation ceremony, with selected riders greeting the crowd and a handing over of a Samurai sword from a rider to an official, as well as a couple of tunes from a famous singer.

If you’re into cycling and are planning a trip to Japan, and Kyushu specifically, I recommend fully heading there in November to check out this event. There’s a real buzz around the place, with the dramatic opening ceremony and then with the crowd pouring in to place bets on the racing.

There are only four types of legal betting in Japan: bicycle racing, powerboat racing, horse racing and speedway motorcycle racing. With the Keirin, you can select a variety of combinations, and though it all looks totally confusing at first, it makes sense once you have a go at it.

There wer so many interesting elements all around, and as a cyclist I was in 7th Heaven. The walls are adorned with Keirin posters and there is a mini museum dedicate to a famous rider, with his beautiful bike on display.

It was just a great day out and the highlight or my trip. Fantastic stuff..!

---

KEIRIN EXPLAINED

KEIRIN started on November 20, 1948 when the first event was held at the Kokura Velodrome. Since then, the revenues raised by Keirin have been used in a wide range of areas such as the machinery industry, social welfare, athletic programs, medicine, education and disaster relief.

Keirin is an official Olympic event, first included at the 2000 Sydney Games.

Katsuaki Matsumoto(1928-2021) is the all-time professional keirin athlete with the most wins – 1341 – over his career (he retired in 1981 at the age of 53).

Katsuaki Matsumoto, left, back.

Track cycling began as one of four allowed betting sports in Japan in 1948, as mentioned. In 1957, the Nihon Jitensha Shinokai  (Japan Bicycle Association) was founded to establish a uniform system of standards for the sport in Japan. In 2011, the sum of bets placed on Keirin races exceeded Y600 billion (a whopping US$5 billion), and the number of attendees at the races exceeded 5 million people.

Aspiring professional keirin riders in Japan compete for entrance into the Japan Keirin School. The 10% of applicants who are accepted then undergo a strict 15-hours-per-day training regimen. Those who pass the graduation exams and are approved by the NJS become eligible to enter official events.

Japanese races for women were reintroduced in July 2012, under the title of Girl’s Keirin. Women were previously permitted to participate from 1949 until 1964. Like the men, the women must also undergo a strict training regime at the Keirin School.

BIKES

All bicycles and equipment must be built within strict guidelines set by the NJS, by a certified builder using NJS-approved materials. 

The products are then stamped by NJS and only equipment bearing this stamp may be used. Exceptions to this are a very limited set of equipment including carbon wheels, tires, stems and saddles used in Girls’ Keirin, which can be used without NJS certification. 

The NJS standard is to ensure that no rider will have any advantage or disadvantage based on equipment and does not necessarily relate to quality or standard of manufacture. 

For example, 36 spoke wheels are allowed but not 32, although 32 spoke wheels are typically lighter, and frames must be built by a very limited number of approved builders. The rules are very strict. I’ve heard of a builder losing his certificate to make Keirin bikes due to two broken frames. It’s a tricky and highly skilled task to build a Keirin frame, as the riders want the frames to be a light as possible – and thus thin – yet strong enough to withstand the rigours of the sport

The bikes are things of beauty – clean lines, tight angles, minimalist, classic. What’s not to love?!

DISTANCES

The distance of each race depends on gender and rank. For men, distances for those ranked A3 are at 1,600 meters, while all others compete at 2,000 meters. The finals of some of the top graded events are run at a longer distance of 2,400 meters. The season-ending Keirin Grand Prix is held at 2,800 meters.

All events for women are currently run at 1,600 meters. There are usually small variances in distance based on the size of the track

RANKS

There are a total of six ranks that competitors can obtain in Japanese keirin racing. SS is the highest rank, followed by S1, S2, A1, A2 and A3. All new keirin graduates begin their careers with an A3 rank and work their way up by competing in keirin events.

The color of the shorts worn by each keirin competitor indicates rank. Those in A-class (A1, A2, A3) wear black shorts with a green stripe and white stars. S-class competitors (S1 and S2) wear a red stripe instead of a green stripe. Those in the elite SS class wear red shorts with a black stripe, white stars and special insignia. 

Introduced in 2007, the SS ranking is assigned by the NJS every December to the top nine Keirin athletes. These nine compete in that year’s Keirin Grand Prix and retain their rank until the following December.

BETTING

Bets that can be made on Keirin races include, but are not limited to:

• Exacta (２車単, nishatan) – selecting the first two finishers in exact order
• Quinella (２車複, nishafuku) – first two finishers in any order
• Trifecta (３連単, sanrentan) – first three finishers in exact order
• Trio (３連複, sanrenpuku) – first three finishers in any order
• Quinella Place, or wide (ワイド, waido) – selecting two to finish in the top three, in any order.

During major race meets, some jackpot wagers are offered:

• Dokanto 4 2 – selecting the first and second-place finisher in each of the last four races of the day.
• Dokanto 7 – selecting the winner of each of the last seven races of the day.

Keirin is not an easy discipline of our sport by any means. The races can be extremely dangerous with riders jostling for position at over 60km/hr. The training is also rigorous – when I live in Kyushu near a Keirin track, I would see the local pro riders heading up a 10% 4km hill near my house over and over, on their track bikes and in hard gears, to build strength. My local gym had a few Keirin guys there too, and their legs were huge, full of the fast-twitch muscle fibres needed for the sprint.

Keirin has a fascinating culture and again, I recommend checking out the racing at the Kitakyushu track if you are ever in Japan.