Golf in Japan
After the Meiji restoration of 1868 Japan made a concerted effort to
modernise its economy and industry on western lines. Japanese came to Europe
and America to establish trade links and study and acquire the latest
developments in business, science and technology, and westerners came to Japan
to help establish schools, factories, shipyards and banks.
In 1903 a group of British expatriates established the first golf club
in Japan, at Kobe. In 1913 the Tokyo Golf club at Komazawa was established for
and by native Japanese who had encountered golf in the United States. In 1924
The Japan Golf Association was established by the seven clubs then in
existence. During the 1920s and early 30's several new courses were built,
however the great depression and increasing anti-Western sentiment limited the
growth of the game. By the time of the Japanese attacks against the USA and
British Empire in 1941 there were 23 courses. During the subsequent war most of
the courses were requisitioned for military use or returned to agricultural
production.
In the postwar period, Japan's golf courses came under the control of
the occupying forces. It was not until 1952 that courses started to be returned
to Japanese control. By 1956 there were 72 courses and in 1957 Torakichi Nakamura
and Koichi Ono won the Canada Cup (now World Cup) in Japan, an event that is
often cited as igniting the post-war golf boom. Between 1960 and 1964 the
number of golf courses in Japan increased from 195 to 424. By the early 1970s
there were over 1,000 courses. The 1987 Resort Law that reduced protection on
agricultural land and forest preserves created a further boom in course
construction and by 2009 there were over 2,400 courses. The popularity of golf
in Japan also caused many golf resorts to be created across the Pacific Rim.
The environmental effect of these recent golf booms is seen as a cause for
concern by many. (from Wikipedia).
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