The secret of the popularity of basketball in Japan.

 Hello, basketball fans. In this blog post, I would like to think about the secret of the popularity of basketball in Japan. Basketball is one of the most loved sports in the world, but how is it accepted in Japan?

First, let's look back at the history of basketball in Japan. Basketball is said to have been introduced from America in the Meiji era, but it became popular after the war. Especially from the 1960s to the 1970s, the Japanese men's national team performed well in the Olympics and the World Championships, and gained national popularity. However, after that, the performance on the international stage declined, and basketball was overshadowed by other sports.

In the midst of this, a miracle happened in the 1990s. It was the start of the serialization of the manga "SLAM DUNK" by Takehiko Inoue. This work is a youth story that depicts how a delinquent boy grows up through basketball, and became very popular in Weekly Shonen Jump. The total number of copies issued is 120.29 million, and it was also animated and recorded a highest rating of 21.4%.

"SLAM DUNK" was not only evaluated as entertainment, but also as culture. In 2006, it won first place in the manga category of the "Japan Media Arts 100 Selection" by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, and in 2018, it was selected as the first place in the overall ranking of "Da Vinci Hall of Fame Comic Ranking 150 The masterpieces produced by 50 years of manga history are these!".

However, the most significant impact of "SLAM DUNK" was on the basketball world. There are quite a few people who joined the basketball club after seeing this work, and if you look at the annual transition of players announced by the Japan Basketball Association, you can see that it increased sharply from 1990 to 1996 when "SLAM DUNK" was serialized, and 95 and 96 years are the only ones that exceeded one million in history. These numbers support the fact that the work contributed to the increase in basketball players.

In addition, "SLAM DUNK" was loved not only in Japan but also overseas. Especially in China, many people mention it as a "manga that influenced them". Basketball is one of the three major sports in China, but there is a theory that "SLAM DUNK" was the trigger for that. It was also popular in Taiwan and Korea, and Takehiko Inoue, the author, was also invited from various Asian countries.

As you can see, "SLAM DUNK" had a great influence on the popularity of basketball in Japan. But that's not all. There are new movements in Japanese basketball in recent years. That is, the launch of B.LEAGUE (B League).

B.LEAGUE is a men's professional basketball league that was born in 2016 by integrating the former Japan Professional Basketball League (bj league) and the former Japan Basketball League (JBL). This league is trying various efforts to revive Japanese basketball again. For example, there are things like this.

- Club license system: A system that evaluates clubs based on their management base, competitive strength, regional contribution, etc., and divides them into B1 (first division), B2 (second division), and B3 (third division). It improves the quality of clubs and creates drama of promotion and relegation.

- Playoff system: A system where the top teams that survived of the league. The number of registered players has also increased to 1,112, which is the largest number ever. In addition, the league has produced many star players who have been active in the national team and overseas leagues, such as Rui Hachimura, Yuta Watanabe, Yudai Baba, Makoto Hiejima, and Nick Fazekas.

B.LEAGUE has also achieved remarkable results in international competitions. In 2019, the Japan men's national team qualified for the FIBA World Cup for the first time in 13 years, and finished 31st out of 32 teams. Although the result was not satisfactory, it was a valuable experience for the young players who will lead the future of Japanese basketball. In 2020, Japan hosted the Tokyo Olympics, and the men's basketball team participated as the host country. Although they lost all three games in the group stage, they showed a good fight against strong teams such as Spain, Argentina, and Slovenia. Especially in the last game against Slovenia, they lost by only six points, 116-122, and impressed many fans with their high-scoring and fast-paced play.

These achievements are not only due to B.LEAGUE, but also to the efforts of various people involved in basketball in Japan. However, it is undeniable that B.LEAGUE has played a major role in revitalizing and developing Japanese basketball. B.LEAGUE is still a young league that has only been around for five years, but it has a lot of potential and possibilities. I hope that B.LEAGUE will continue to grow and become a league that can compete with the world's top leagues.

That's all for today's blog post. Thank you for reading until the end. If you liked this post, please share it with your friends and leave a comment. See you next time!