Japan Data
Society Sports
Ohtani Shôhei, the baseball player involved in the 2022 season in the major leagues in the United States as a pitcher and batsman, ranks well at the top of the list of favorite sportsmen of the Japanese. But football players have disappeared from the rankings…
In June and July 2022, the Sasakawa Sports Foundation surveyed 2,237 people about their favorite sportsmen.
In the lead, baseball player Ohtani Shôhei obtained 29.1% of the vote, with a considerable gap compared to second place, occupied by figure skater Hanyû Yuzuru (5.5%) and baseball player Ichirô (3 .2%).
The winners by generation put Hanyû Yuzuru in first place for young people aged 18 and 19, with Ohtani in second position, who however regained the lead for all age groups from the twenties. People in their 50s, 60s, 70s and over showed their unwavering support with more than 35%.
This survey has been conducted once every two years since 1992. As of 2012, Ichiro and figure skater Asada Mao have made the top ten six times and continue to be popular even after retiring from competition. In 2022, boxer Inoue Naoya, Allianz Milano (Italy) volleyball player Ishikawa Yūki and MMA fighter Nasukawa Tenshin (MMA) placed in the top ten for the first time.
Present without fail until now in this list, here we are without a single football player for this year… Mainly due to the absence of undisputed stars among young players, and a popularity shared by Japanese players more and more numerous in foreign clubs. The fact that this survey was conducted before the Football World Cup, which will take place this year in November (and not in June July as usual), may also have something to do with it.
Source: Nippon.com chart based on Sasakawa Sports Foundation survey
Source: Nippon.com chart based on Sasakawa Sports Foundation survey
Football players in previous rankings
Source: Nippon.com chart based on Sasakawa Sports Foundation survey
(Headline photo: Los Angeles Angels baseball player Ohtani Shohei, Oct. 2, 2022. Jiji Press)
