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FEATURE: Bowling alleys targeting kindergarten children for comeback+
(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)KANIE, Japan, Jan. 23_(Kyodo) _ Ritsuko Nakayama dominated Japan's bowling circles as a star professional player in the 1970s when the number of bowling alleys expanded rapidly across the country.
"We had real pros (on the women's side)," said the 64-year-old Nakayama.
However, the first oil crunch in 1973 took a heavy toll on bowling. And now, those alleys which survived the oil crisis are striving to stay in business by promoting themselves as an entertainment for kindergarten children.
At their peak, bowling alleys were in operation at about 3,700 locations across Japan, but the number dropped to one-fourth that after the craze for the game faded following the first of the two oil crises during the 1970s.
Nakayama's encounter with bowling came while she was working as a company employee in Kagoshima Prefecture. She came to Tokyo in 1968 and was totally absorbed by the game. She likened bowling in those days to a fashion trend, saying that "if you didn't bowl, you couldn't join the conversation."
"Bowling alleys were built rapidly all over the place," she said. "I was invited (to many events.) I was so busy that my head was spinning."
Among today's bowling alleys striving to stay in business is "Asobix Kanie" in the town of Kanie in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan. It has been opening its doors for free to kindergarten children more than a dozen times a year for the last three years.
About 50 children recently yelled "Panda-san!" the day they visited there. A man dressed in a panda costume had emerged from behind a stairway to roll a bowling ball down a narrow track toward 10 wooden pins that, with a burst of energy, slipped and fell down.
The man inside the stuffed animal was Yoji Shimada, manager of Asobix Kanie, and he certainly got the youngsters' attention. On hand to actually teach the children to bowl was Akihiko Aoki, a 50-year-old professional bowler who works for the bowling alley.
"You run the risk of falling down, so don't roll the ball when the child on the next track is bowling," Aoki told the children. He introduced 5-pound (about 2.3 kilograms) balls to the children because even the lightest regulation ball weighing 7 pounds, or about 3.2 kilograms, is heavy for them.
He also lets the children use specially ordered balls with five holes and to toss the balls with both hands.
Motoya Mori, 5, of Yatomi Habataki Kindergarten in the town of Yatomi in the central Japan prefecture, rolled the ball as if he were hurling a pillow. "I felt good listening to the sound of the pins topple," he said as he hugged Shimada, still in his panda suit.
"Working as the manager (of a bowling alley) was something of a privileged occupation during the bowling boom," the 42-year-old panda/manager, Shimada, muttered. "(The manager) took charge of managing customers waiting their turns. Professional bowlers were the objects of adoration. It was unthinkable that they would teach children for free."
Normally, there are "gutters" along the tracks leading to the spots where the 10 pins are located. However, Asobix Kanie, like many other bowling alleys nowadays, has "bumpers" that stand as partitions between lanes and fill the gutters.
A ball released by a bowler may ricochet off the partition and unexpectedly strike the pins.
The installation of partitions has raised eyebrows as some people have objected that it makes bowling more a mere game rather than a real sport.
Kanie-headquartered Asobix Co. that operates the bowling alleys, overrode such objections out of a sense of crisis that the business might be forced into extinction. Teruo Kato, 58, director of the amusement company said there were times when "we couldn't earn any profit or get any customers."
He explained that those were the days before brightly-lit convenience stores existed and when only a limited number of Japanese were able to make trips abroad.
Still, it was against such a background that bowling alleys suddenly appeared in the middle of a rice paddy, he said, adding that it was rare for them to be equipped with complete air conditioning and heating systems.
Kato said they were a "mini-America -- with soft drinks and everything else" for sale. Such an era will never return, he added.
About 20 kindergartens in the area, such as Showa Kindergarten in Tsushima city, Aichi Prefecture, include bowling as part of the lessons they give to their children.
Takamasa Suzuki, 41-year-old director of Yatomi Habataki Kindergarten, said, "It's important (for children) to move their bodies while they are small and feel (the need) to compete by adhering to rules."
Since "Space Invaders" debuted in a video arcade in 1978, there has been a growing trend toward establishing bowling alleys side by side with amusement arcades.
Manager Hiroshi Takagi, 57, of Brunswick Sports Garden in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district said, "Today's bowling is somewhere between a game and a sport. It's hard to keep a balance."
Yet, he wants to cherish the essential element of sport in bowling that calls for bowlers to move their bodies and practice to become skillful.
He holds a one-coin lesson once a month for children, who get guidance from specialists for 500 yen.
A mother brought her son, a second-year middle school student, to the lesson and said that he improved his skills with some advice from the specialist.
Several groups of older couples were seen enjoying bowling next to kindergarten children at Asobix Kanie.
Yoshitaka Arikawa, 63, said bowling is a simple and healthy game that he can enjoy almost every day for several hundred yen. "You can't play a round of golf every day," he said.
"I'd like to play the game with him when he gets a little older," Arikawa said, looking at his 3-year-old grandson.
As for the pro bowler Nakayama, her wish is to see a new star in bowling like Ai Miyazato in golf.
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