It's cool the World Series is attracting 16 million TV viewers in Japan, but that's 1/4th the audience of the Hakone Ekiden

Could an American Ekiden work? I think there was something like it, back in the late 80s-early 90s.

Individual states, or regions of the country, enter a team and compete for a championship.

I'd watch that...

Correct. The New Year period is Japan's biggest annual holiday, and the country essentially shuts down from January 1st through the 3rd. Nearly everyone is home with their family at this time, and with little else to do watching the Hakone Ekiden is a tradition going back decades, even among these even mildly -or barely- interested in distance running. This is not to say that Ekiden racing isn't popular in Japan, but if the Hakone race were held at another time of year it would still draw a large audience, but nowhere near the stratospheric numbers it garners by virtue of being held during the New Year holiday.

The example in the article was Anderson Cooper 360, which had an average of 627K but cumulative 34.2M. Plus the fact that the World Series is a 3-hour event helps it I assume.

Of course there are edge cases where this won't be true (where everyone in the country is tuned into the program for the entire duration), but I think it's safe to say the USA world series figures are over 100M cumulatively.

Regardless, it's silly to not at least mention / be aware of the fact that you aren't making an apples-to-apples comparison for a "data fact" you've put on the front page of your website.

23 February is the biggest holiday in Japan the Emperor's Birthday. The only living God in the world and the God of the Japanese Race.

Most of the companies start their working day at 9 am, but most of the employees arrive at the office a lot earlier than that. Before punching your time-clock card, you need to change into your uniform; many companies still have a uniform especially for female workers. It is also frowned upon not to be completely ready to start working at least 10 minutes before you actually have to start.

Many companies still hold morning ceremonies which often start before 9 am so that you can start your work exactly at 9 am. The ceremony normally consists of a short speech by the manager, reading the company mission statement together, and doing physical exercise with the same background music every working day, this is called Radio Taiso.

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Cultural tradition and history is a big reason Japan's Ekiden is so popular there. it's been a part of their culture for generations.

If you just tried to start a similar Ekiden in the US now, few people here would have any idea why it was happening let alone interest in watching. You can't manufacture culture and tradition, as hard as some people delusionally try.

This is definitely not true. New Year's dwarfs the Emperor's Birthday.

Japan is a 12 hour time difference from the states. Maybe that has something to do with it?

Stupid. Hakone is run during the New Year holidays. Everyone is at home watching it on T.V. or lining the course to cheer on the athletes.

I know when the third and eighth legs are being run because I can hear the helicopters flying over my house. So I jog over to Hwy. 134 with my dog to watch.

Uh, Vin Diesel, bro.

Emperor Naruhito is the 126th Emperor. The 1st was Jimmu in 600BC. Japan has the oldest government in the world.

I think it was the early '80s that they had a Ekiden-style relay, sponsored by Xerox. If I recall, it was held in Central Park. Another time they had a similar race through the streets of Manhattan. Not sure if I am thinking of the same race.

Of course it would take years to build a following, but a corporate road-relay (Ekiden-like) would be great. Have regional races, culminating in a championship race.

When I lived in Japan they had 10 Shinto holidays and one Buddhist Holiday "Obon" the Japanese Christmas which was the largest where everyone went back to their "furusato" home town and danced in the streets.

cudos to the Japanese.

have your own party and invite your own people.

neighbors that complain they are not invited for free drinks and food, too bad.

the American universities should not allow over age foreigners to compete against junior age native born sons. that's always been a farce.

support your own.

for international marathons, charge elite foreigners a fee for drug testing, two times in the build up phase, and for a money position.

Chicago can say goodbye to world records at this point.

But may lay claim to an unofficial title as the standard for "real" times.

this post might actually be taken seriously.

with that said, i'd much support PED use as prescribed by a medical professional, which makes it fully legal, but the prescription must be in the public domain, so people can benefit from the scientific knowledge gained, i.e. it is a clinical trial of sorts.

under the PED proposal, under 20 age is banned, completely,