In Japan, snowboarding is enjoyed as a pastime by young people, and many athletes are active in international competitions such as the Olympics.
How did snowboarding become popular in Japan?
The Origins of Snowboarding
The origin of snowboarding is believed to have been in the 1960s.
Several prototypes of snowboards had already appeared, such as the "Ski Board" by Tom Sims, which was created in New Jersey, USA in 1963, and the "Snurfer", which started around 1965.
In the early 1970s, surfboards were already being used to play with snow-covered mountains.
In 1971, Shinzo Tanuma, Japanese and founder of MOSS SNOWBOARDS, dreamed of "surfing on snow" and built a prototype board. The material was mainly made of urethane foam and fiberglass, the same as surfboards.
In the late 1970s, the materials used for snowboards were improved. snowboards had been used as a tool for sliding on soft snow before. With the introduction of bindings that connect the board to the boots, and special boots for use with the bindings, it became possible to do snowboard on icy and pressurized snow.
The number of competitive snowboarders is steadily increasing with improving snowboarding tools.
Snowboarding is becoming more popular in Japan
As the number of snowboarders increased, snowboarding associations were established around the world, including the North American Snowboard Association in the 1980s.
In Japan, the Japan Snowboard Association was established in 1982. In the same year, the first All Japan Snowboard Championship was held at Kyowa Ski Resort in Akita Prefecture.
In 1989, the International Snowboard Federation (ISF) was established in Europe, the U.S., and Japan, and international snowboarding ties began to develop.
The World Cup was held in Europe and the United States in 1989 and the first round of the World Cup series was held in Japan at the Rusutsu Resort ski resort in Hokkaido in 1990.
Snowboarding Becomes an Olympic Sport
With the establishment of snowboarding associations and international competitions such as the World Cup, the foundation for snowboarding as a sport was buiilt in the 1980s.
Snowboarding was officially adopted as an Olympic winter sport at the Nagano Olympics in 1998. Also Snowboardcross was added in 2006,
Slopestyle was added at the Sochi Olympics in 2014, and Big Air was newly added at the Pyeong Chang Olympics in 2018.
Snowboarding Population
Snowboarding has become famous as a leisure activity too. There were already 3.2 million snowboarders in 1997 according to Leisure White Paper 2016.
However, The snowboarding population has been shrinking. there were already 3.2 million snowboarders, down from a peak of 5.4 million in 2002, and less than half that number in 2017.
The gap between the proportion of skiers and snowboarders has narrowed considerably compared to the peak in 1998.
In 1998, number of snowboarding population is 4 million and skiing population is 14 million. In 2017 snowboarding population is 2.2 million and skiing population is 4 million.
Although the snow sports population itself has decreased considerably, the popularity of snowboarding has continued to be maintained compared to the skiing population.
You can see how skiing was introduced in Japan from the post below too.
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History of Skiing : How Skiing was Introduced in Japan?
Skiing is a popular activity in Japan, and is now enjoyed by many people as a winter leisure activity. Many ski resorts have been built as leisure activities, and the economy revolves around them, including hotels, restaurants, and entertainment in Japan. Japan's natural environment provides high quality powder snow known as JAPOW (Japan Powder), which has attracted the attention of overseas ski enthusiasts to skiing in Japan. Skiing in Japan has also become a sporting event, and many Japanese skiers are now active in the sport. What was the trigger for the spread of skiing in Japan? The beginning of ...
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Reference: スノーボードの歴史とレジェンド選手たち ～スノーボード板の歴史も MOSS SNOWBOARDSの歴史 スノーボードの歴史 スノーボードの歴史
