Spotlight on Japan - Is this cycling's sleeping giant?

A detailed look at cycling development in Japan, the history, their biggest riders and the challenges

Welcome to the Global Peloton Spotlight series, exclusively for paid subscribers. Every month I'll be putting the spotlight on an emerging cycling nation, looking at the biggest stories, the history, riders coming through and exploring what the future might hold.

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The nation of Japan has everything required to be a cycling behemoth, with its flourishing domestic scene and big cycling business trade. So why isn’t it?

Yukiya Arashiro is the most decorated Japanese rider of all time. Image: A.S.O./Maxime Delobel

Japan Fact File (As of 11th December 2024)

• UCI Men’s Nations Ranking: 37th

• UCI Men’s Nations Asia Tour Ranking: 2nd

• 2024 Men’s UCI points: 1035

• UCI Women’s Nations Ranking: 60th

• UCI Women’s Nations Asia Tour Ranking: 10th

• 2024 UCI Women’s UCI points: 425

• 2024 UCI men’s team registered riders: 104

• 2024 UCI women’s team registered riders: 2

• Men’s Continental Teams: 12

• Women’s Continental Teams: 0

• Top UCI ranked riders in 2024:

  • Women, Eri Yonamie (254th, 150pts)

  • Men, Masaki Yamamoto (357th, 243pts).

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Money talks, right?

Shimano, Bridgestone, Fuji, CatEye, Panasonic…the list goes on. Cycling is big business in Japan, and that’s without mentioning all the foreign companies who build bike parts there.

The prevailing logic is that sport follows money. So why is pro cycling not flocking to Japan?

Yukiya Arashiro and a few others have provided a steady presence at the top level of cycling for the past fifteen years (and Arashiro will continue to in 2025 after signing with Corratec-Vini Fantini), but the veteran rider hasn’t been followed to Europe by a fresh generation of Japanese youngsters.