Could Japan be the next hotbed for midget auto racing? If the ongoing efforts of Japanese driver Yasu Yamamoto are any indication, then the answer is yes. Outside the United States, only New Zealand and Australia embrace the sport.
Yamamoto first saw the sport when visiting America in 1996. He returned the following year to compete in various USAC Regional Midget events at the Indianapolis Speedrome. Since then he has competed in TQ midget and sprint-car events at various venues during short visits to America and is currently on one of those visits.
When not working toward bringing midget-racing events to Japan, a great deal of Yamamoto’s time recently has been spent developing software for the video game “Gran Turismo” for Sony PlayStation. He is a technical advisor to Sony’s Playstation brand for its racing games. Yamamoto is also technical writer for several of Japan’s motorsports publications.
Currently, two Stealth Midgets with Ford Focus engines are in Japan. The country’s only dirt track is located in the infield of the Twin Ring Motegi, a 1.5-mile paved oval that hosts the annual IRL IndyCar Series event.
Yamamoto’s driving résumé boasts a successful karting career before competing in various Japanese road-racing series and endurance series. Yamamoto is the current driving instructor at the Twin Ring Motegi, and plans are in place for several drivers to begin testing and taking instruction with the midgets at the dirt track in the coming months.
According to Yamamoto, there is growing interest in oval racing and midget racing in his country.   
“We believe there to be interest, and we hope to develop a series involving a specific chassis and engine in the next year for competition at the Twin Ring dirt track,” said Yamamoto, who competed in the USAC Midwest Ford Focus Midget Series event at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wis., July 8, finishing third in the feature.
Yamamoto said the IndyCar Series’s annual visit to Japan has spurred interest in oval racing among Japanese fans, who are also eager to try midget racing.
“Since IRL came to Japan, it sparked interest in oval racing, and with the dirt track being built, midget racing cars have become the best possible type of vehicle to stage good competitive events at the track, plus with all of the top NASCAR drivers coming from them recently, it drew our attention,” said Yamamoto.
“We are looking into kicking off the series by trying to invite America’s top midget drivers to the country for a series of events, hopefully in late 2008 or early 2009.” Yamamoto also said that to determine the chassis and engine combination for the series, talks are in the developmental stages.
An attempt was made to bring midget racing to several Japanese baseball stadiums in the late 1980s, but the event collapsed before finalization due to a weak Japanese yen at the time. A few years ago after the Twin Ring Dirt track was completed several Japanese mini-sprint-type car events were run with little success. 
But times have changed, and Yamamoto believes this is the perfect time for a re-introduction of the sport.
“With the popularity of this type of racing in America and the fact that the four major U.S. auto manufacturers are currently involved, we feel it can succeed in Japan,” he said. “Honda Motor Car Company, which built and operates the Twin Ring Motegi facility, is very interested in developing this series and making it grow in Japan.”
Time will tell if midget racing develops in Japan. Currently, drivers from New Zealand and Australia race stateside each year, with several U.S. drivers competing annually in international events during the off-season. So, it may be only a matter of time before we see drivers such as Jerry Coons, Jr., Brad Kuhn and Dave Darland becoming popular racing personalities in Japan.