Perfect Game Day

What Is Perfect Game Day?

Every August 21st is "Perfect Game Day" (パーフェクトの日, Pāfekuto no Hi) in Japan. On August 21, 1970, professional bowler Ritsuko Nakayama (中山律子) bowled the first perfect game (twelve consecutive strikes, for a score of 300) in the history of Japanese women's professional bowling. The day was established by Motherland Co., Ltd., which manages Nakayama, and is registered with the Japan Anniversary Association. The game was broadcast on television and is said to have contributed greatly to the bowling boom that followed.

Ritsuko Nakayama and the Bowling Boom

Nakayama was one of the first generation of Japanese women professional bowlers: she passed the first women's pro test in June 1969 in second place, receiving license No. 2. In March 1970 she won the first All-Japan Women's Professional Bowling Championship. Her perfect game came in the championship final of the women's pros' monthly August tournament at Fuchū Star Lanes in Tokyo, against Fusae Unno. Her rivalry with Kayoko Suda, who overtook her on the final day of that first pro test, helped make women's professional bowling hugely popular in the early 1970s, when bowling was one of Japan's most fashionable leisure activities.

The Perfect Game

Bowling's "perfect game" — twelve consecutive strikes for a score of 300 — is the sport's ultimate achievement, combining technical precision with mental concentration under pressure. A strike earns the points from the next two balls as a bonus, so twelve strikes in a row give 30 points in each of the ten frames. A single miss prevents the perfect score, which is why each one is celebrated in bowling culture worldwide.

A Lasting Career

Nakayama went on to win 33 titles, earning permanent seeded status, and bowled two sanctioned perfect games in her career. She later served four terms (eight years) as president of the Japan Professional Bowling Association and became its honorary president in 2012.

Fun Facts

• One chance only: Nakayama reportedly decided she would take the pro test only once, promising her mother that she would return home to Kagoshima if she failed.
• Bowling's boom and bust: The bowling boom of the early 1970s was one of Japan's most intense sports crazes, and it faded relatively quickly as other leisure activities competed for people's time and money.