Bowling Revolution P League

History

During the 1970s, bowling was very popular among the Japanese. Japan had as many as 3,697 bowling establishments during the 1970s, with more than 120,000 bowling lanes installed.

By the late 1990s, the number had shrunk to only 600. In 2008, there were 1,100 bowling establishments and 25.1 million people bowled in Japan: about one in five Japanese.

In the 1970s, the JPBA produced a series of televised bowling tournaments, such as Ladies Challenge Bowl (レディズ・チャレンジボウル 1969-1975) and The Star Bowling (ザ・スターボウリング 1978-1998), in the attempt to further push the sport's appeal, as well as showcase the women who competed in the JPBA. Big names such as Ritsuko Nakayama and Kayoko Suda competed in these tournaments. The formula worked - as the show's concept is used in many other Japanese bowling promotions on television, leading up to the present day.

Nakayama, along with the JPBA, created P-League in 2006 in an attempt to revive bowling's popularity on television once enjoyed in the 1970s.

Broadcast history

The P-League's television show premiered on BS Nittele on April 2, 2006, initially airing on Sunday nights at 7:30 p.m. JST. After Tournament 18 ended on March 29, 2009, the show was moved to the 5:30 p.m. timeslot beginning April 5, where it remained until the final episode of Tournament 36 aired on March 25, 2012. The show was then moved to Friday nights at 10:30 p.m., and it began airing in that time slot on April 6. On October 4, 2013, the show was moved one hour later to 11:30 p.m. After two years in that timeslot, the show was moved to 10:00 p.m. on October 4, 2015, where it remains to this day.

Participants

The women who compete in P-League have either been chosen by the JPBA, or qualified through a try-out. The bowlers who compete in P-League are among the best women bowlers in the world. Most of the competitors hold an average of 190 or better, and several have bowled 300 games and 800 series.

Tournament Details

The television show consists of a series of tournament matches. An entire tournament is bowled and filmed in one day. However, when aired on television, the television coverage can span nine weeks because of the 30-minute time slot. Each tournament is bowled in a single-elimination bracket format.

Current Format

The current format consists of a field of eighteen bowlers, being six groups of three bowlers (A through F) filled by lottery. In Round 1, the highest scorer in each group advances to a semi-final ABC or DEF match. The highest scorer in each ABC/DEF match advances to the finals. To keep the three-bowler format in the finals, the bowler who had the highest score among the remaining four bowlers from the ABC/DEF matches also bowls in the finals as the "wild card". The winner of the final match is the champion, with the remaining bowlers getting second and third place based on score.

Starting with Tournament 20, bowlers with a lower score in the first round may be banned from the following tournament.

Starting with Tournament 35, only members of the JPBA are allowed to participate. Members of the Japan Bowling Congress (JBC) and its National Team were allowed to compete in Tournaments 2 through 34.

Starting with Tournament 43, P-League is now grouping three consecutive tournaments (43, 44, 45) as a season, with a season-ending, three-bowler final match to be held after the third tournament's final match.

Seasons

Starting with T43, P-League has implemented a seasonal system in conjunction with its regular tournament system. The seasons are designed to be in-line with the Japanese television seasons, which traditionally are broken into four three-month periods (winter, spring, summer, and autumn.) The first season, called S1 from hereon will group T43, T44 and T45 together.

In the first tournament of each season, 24 current P-League members will participate in a six-ball roll-off. The top 18 bowlers will bowl in the first tournament. The low six bowlers will be cut from the tournament, and will be used later on as fillers for the second tournament after the six low scorers are banned. The banned bowlers will then return for the third tournament of the season to fill in for the banned bowlers from the second tournament.

In addition, a point system has been created, starting with S1. The points are broken down as such:

* In the third tournament of a season, a lowest score will not be banned for the next tournament due to the start of a new season.

The points during the three tournaments of a season are added up, and the top three scorers will bowl in a season-ending championship. The winner of the match will be crowned "Season Queen."

All prize money is paid to the bowlers in Japanese yen (¥). Prize money is currently: 1st Place - ¥300,000. Second and third place are no longer paid due to the new seasonal setup. In the seasonal final: "Season Queen" - ¥1,000,000 (100万円), 2nd Place - ¥300,000 (30万円) and 3rd Place - ¥100,000 yen (10万円).

Starting with Tournament 35, the prize money is ¥3.0 million (300万円), regardless of when the 300 game is rolled.

Previous formats

Twelve bowlers competed. Four of the bowlers had an automatic berth to Round 2. In Round 1, the eight remaining bowlers competed in four head-to-head matches, with the winner in each match moving up to the Round 2. The winners of the four head-to-head matches in Round 2 moved up to the semi-final round. The two winners of the semi-finals moved up to the final match, while the two losers moved into the consolation match. The winner of the final match placed first, while the loser placed second, and the winner of the consolation match placed third.

The field was changed from twelve to sixteen, consisting of two groups (A and B) of eight bowlers. In Round 1, each group competed in four head-to-head matches, with the winners moving up to Round 2. The two groups of two Round 2 match winners moved up to the semi-final round. The two winners of the semi-finals moved up to the final match, while the two losers moved into the consolation match. The winner of the final match placed first, while the loser placed second, and the winner of the consolation match placed third.

The field was reduced to fourteen bowlers, being two groups (A and B) of seven bowlers, with one bowler in each group given a bye into Round 2, while the remaining six bowlers in each group competed in three head-to-head matches, with those winners moving on to Round 2. The two groups of two Round 2 match winners moved up to the semi-final round. The two winners of the semi-finals moved up to the final match, while the two losers moved into the consolation match. The winner of the final match placed first, while the loser placed second, and the winner of the consolation match placed third.

The field was again increased to sixteen bowlers. Four groups (A through D) of four bowlers were created. In Round 1, the two highest scorers in each group advanced to Round 2. In Round 2, two groups (AB and CD) were created, and the two highest scorers in each group advanced to the semi-final round. The four remaining bowlers are split into two head-to-head matches, with the winners advancing to the final match, while the two losers moved to the consolation match. The winner of the final match placed first, while the loser placed second, and the winner of the consolation match placed third.

In Tournament 13, the field was re-sized to fifteen bowlers. Five groups of three bowlers (A through E) were created. In Round 1, the highest scorer in each group advanced to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, the five winners were split into two matches of three. For the sixth bowler, a wild card bowler was determined by the bowler who had the highest score among the losers in Round 1. The two highest scorers in each match moved up to the final match. The 1st through 4th places were determined by the order of the scores.

Venue and filming conditions

Currently, all the tournaments are filmed at the 68-lane Tamachi Hilane (田町ハイレーン) bowling center, located in Minato City, Tokyo, with the exception of T44, which was filmed at Tomikoshi Takashimadaira Bowl, located in Itabashi, Tokyo.

A temporary filming studio enclosure is constructed around three pairs of lanes (lanes 57 through 62 at Tamachi, and 27 through 32 at Tomikoshi), complete with additional lighting and a pink-themed decor. On the outer pairs of lanes, the first half of those lanes past the foul line is turned into seating areas for the live viewing audience, which can number over one hundred spectators. Lanes 59 and 60 at Tamachi (29 and 30 at Tomikoshi) are bowled on as the tournament "TV pair." As of T43, P-League features a new larger digital scoreboard above the far end of the pair. Many other parts of the establishment are turned into dressing rooms and interviewing areas.

While the matches are being filmed, most of the remaining competitors sit in the "settee area" to the left of the tournament pair, along with the viewing audience, watch the matches. In earlier tournaments, when a member of the Japan National Team bowled, her JNT teammates in the settee area would yell "saa iccho" (さーいっちょ) for encouragement just before the bowler made her delivery. The television commentators are situated in the settee area to the right of the tournament pair. Usually, the commentators cannot be heard by the people in the studio during the match. But, on occasion a commentator will yell with enthusiasm, stirring up laughter among the bowlers. Ryo Itsuno once yelled, "Nandedayō?" (何でだよう？ or "Why?") while working on Round 25, Match E when Yūko Nakatani left a soft 10-pin in a crucial must-strike situation. Other phrases popular with Itsuno include "YOSHA! SUTORAIKŪ!" (よっしゃぁ～!ストラッイクー!) or "JUST POCKET!" (ジャストポケット!) after a strike, and "GOOD JOB!" or "EXCELLENT!" after a great spare conversion.

The scores are tracked by the computer scoring system on the TV pair, and occasionally need to be corrected by the bowlers themselves.

Competitors in the upcoming matches practice outside of the studio, using the remaining available lanes.

At the end of most telecasts, supporter Saki Nakajima hosts a segment called Chotto Kininaru! or I'm Curious! (ちょっと　気になる！) where she meets with the members of P-League, and together participate in various activities, such as interviews, bowling tips, and skill challenges.

Active bowlers (T34 to present)

Key to table:

Reporters

Wild card

In Tournament 13, to fill the semi-final matches, a wild card bowler came from the highest score of the ten non-winning bowlers from the first-round matches. This was Urara Himeji with a 259 game, and she went on to win both her semi-final and final matches to win the tournament.

Starting with Tournament 14, the final match wild card bowler became the player with the highest score among the ABC and DEF matches, but not winning her match. The wild card bowls in the final match against the winners of those two matches.

Banned from the next tournament

Starting with Tournament 20, P-League instituted a system where bowlers could be disqualified from the next tournament because of a low score.

Until T46, Hiromi Matsunaga was the only bowler never to be banned under the "Round 1 low score" rule. She missed the cut in T43's qualifying round.

Records

* T42 did not use the ban system. (See "Current Format" above for more details.) In the six-ball roll-off prior to T43, Matsunaga did not qualify for T43.
Technically, she didn't get banned in T42, but she did fail to reach T43, so the record stops at 23.

Errors

All errors are the result of the first ball, unless otherwise noted.

Merchandise

Besides its weekly television show, P-League also sells merchandise for fans, in the form of DVDs, books, calendars, and other merchandise.

Currently, P-League has released seven DVD sets. None of the content have been shown in the television series. Volume 1 profiles the original members of P-League. Volumes 2 and 3 include "doubles" tournaments. Volume 4 features an "East v. West" team challenge, where the 20 competitors are divided into two teams of ten, based on their hometowns.

On April 25, 2011, P-League released a five-year anniversary commemorative DVD set, including all four previously released DVDs and an all-new P-League Volume 5. First editions of the DVD set includes a logo'd hand towel and pin. The first half of the DVD includes a top-10 matches showcase, followed by a split-making review from past tournaments. The second half includes a segment called "P-TALK", and is moderated by Japanese tarento Teruyuki Tsuchida.

P-League released volume 6 on March 21, 2012. The top four bowlers at the time (Matsunaga, Himeji, Nishimura, and Mori) become team captains, and participate in a P-League draft. Sixteen bowlers are picked by the captains, forming four teams of five bowlers - including the captains. The teams battle in a best-of-three competition, combining team, doubles, and singles matches. Each of the winning teams move on to the final match, while the losing teams play for third place.

Volume 7 was released on November 30, 2012. Four Japanese tarento are appointed as team captains, and participate in a P-League draft. Twenty bowlers are picked by the captains, forming four teams of five bowlers - with the captains not participating in the matches. Captains are:

Tournament format is similar to Volume 6. In the first round, the matches are Team Murata vs. Team Taka, and Team Miyamoto vs. Team Shinji. P-League's first 300 game is also featured in the volume set, although the scores in the DVD sets do not count towards official P-League statistics.

Volume 8 will be released November 30, 2013. The P-League draft and tournament format remain the same as Volumes 6 and 7. In Volume 8, all four captains will bowl in the matches.

P-League has released four sets of collectors cards, each using the tagline Fairies on the Lane. The cards are similar to baseball cards in that the cards feature a photo of the bowler on the front, and her P-League statistics on the back. The sets were released in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013. The 2014 edition is scheduled for release in Winter 2014.

P-League also publishes desk calendars. In Japan, October is often considered the start of calendar season, where stores and other sources throughout Japan release calendars for the following year. The more popular calendars are usually sold out within one month of release. The P-League calendar is only available via mail-order directly from the JPBA. Calendars for 2013 and 2014 have been made available.

Publicity

To market P-League in Japan, the members take part in television shows and magazines, as well as bowling clinics, demonstrations and practice sessions throughout East Asia.

In the August 26, 2008 issue of the swimsuit modeling magazine Friday Dynamite (フライデーダイナマイト), Aki Nawa, Sanae Mori, Junko Harigaya and others were showcased in a pictorial, posing in both bowling and casual attire.

In 2009, Aki Nawa represented P-League, along with other women representing other sports, in a comedy variety show. Nawa participated in a cosplay fashion show, dressing up as a Japanese high school girl.

In 2010, Urara Himeji and Miki Nishimura visited South Korea, and competed against two members of the Korean Professional Bowlers Association (KPBA). In April 2010, a group of P-League members, along with Mika Sakai's father Takeo Sakai, competed with various Japanese tarento in a one-minute strike competition.

In 2012, select members of P-League participated in the Japanese TV variety show Honoo-no Taiiku-kai TV (炎の体育会TV) in a split making competition with various Japanese tarento. Sanae Mori, Rina Suzuki and Ayano Katai were guests on Takeshi's Todoroki Base, hosted by Beat Takeshi, along with Emiko Namiki (並木惠美子), JPBA license 5 and a member of Class 1 (1967) when the JPBA was first founded. This show covered the history of women professional bowling in Japan, and ended with a pro versus tarento match.

DHC, LBO and JBC

According to a blog entry made by Mai Takasaka in 2009, Daigaku Honyaku Center (DHC) was very displeased with JPBA president Ritsuko Nakayama appearing in a television commercial for Suntory, a direct competitor of DHC. DHC's chairman, Yoshiaki Yoshida is a major supporter of bowling in Japan, including the JBC. Soon after Yoshida learned of Nakayama's appearance in the Suntory commercial, he said that as a JPBA officer, Nakayama was irresponsible, and even used the term "evil" when describing her involvement in the commercial. Soon after, DHC cancelled the DHC Ladies Bowling Tour, the DHC Cup Girls Bowling International, and anything else it had to do with the JPBA.

DHC then created the Ladies Bowling Organization (LBO), in order to compete directly with the JPBA. In February 2010, Hiroko Shimizu and Mai Takasaka resigned from the JPBA and P-League, and joined the LBO. Other non-P-League members of the JPBA also resigned and moved over to the LBO. Koji Yamamoto, an expert analyst for P-League, resigned from the JPBA to become Secretary General Executive Director of the LBO.

Soon after the creation of the LBO, DHC and the LBO faxed a letter to the JPBA making a proposal to have P-League consist of both JPBA and LBO bowlers. The JPBA did not accept the proposal. DHC is now sponsoring a weekly TV show in Japan, with emphasis on the LBO, JBC and amateur bowlers alike. The show is hosted by the DHC Bowling Girls (Junko Harigaya is no longer a member, but she can still be seen in the opening and closing credits, along with current LBO members Yūki Akiyoshi and Yūka Sasaki.)

Other complaints about the JPBA include management from within, and the decline of tournaments and prize money. Members of the LBO are also DHC employees, and therefore work in other capacities within DHC, such as endorsements of DHC products. JPBA members, on the other hand, need to work in other jobs outside of the JPBA to earn a living. Before moving to the LBO, Shimizu worked nights in Tokyo at a bar as a hostess. She is currently vice-president of the LBO.

Despite the intensity between the JPBA and DHC/LBO, DHC-sponsored bowlers Keaki Watanabe, Miki Nishimura, Mika Sakai and Aino Kinjō stayed with the JPBA and P-League. Also, former Japan National Team members Nao Ōishi and Natsumi Koizumi chose the JPBA over the LBO when deciding to become a professional. Current JNT member Junko Harigaya repeated her 2011 win in the amateur division of the JLBC's 2012 Professional Women's Bowling Rookie Battle, solidifying her commitment with the JPBA. Harigaya currently works in marketing for Sunbridge - a Japan-based distributor for Brunswick Corporation's bowling division.

As of Tournament 35, no JBC members are allowed to participate in P-League. According to the JBC, there were reported incidents where its members were being stalked in public by fans of P-League. As a safety measure put down by the JBC Board of Directors on September 25, 2011, the JBC will no longer participate in P-League.

To fill the void left by the departed JBC members, P-League held a "Next Era P-Leaguer" audition, and was publicized throughout Tournament 35. Female bowlers - regardless of amateur/professional status - between the ages of 16 and 28 were allowed to participate. Hitomi Andō, Mina Endō and Ayano Iwami were the top qualifiers. Andō, a professional bowler, debuted in Tournament 36, followed by amateurs Endō (T37), and Iwami (T38).