Radio Drama · 2026-06-29
Keirin, Japan's cycle racing, as a cute plush-toy radio drama
On 4 July, interfm launches "Sayonara☆Keirin Ojisan" (Goodbye☆Keirin Uncle), a 32-part Japanese radio drama starring voice actor Sumire Uesaka; the road movie is set in the world of Japanese track cycling (keirin).
Keirin is a form of velodrome track-cycling practised in Japan since 1948: the riders warm up behind a pacer, then sprint for the finish — in Japan it is a legal, state-supervised betting sport financed by the public-interest foundation JKA. The radio drama is a guide into that world.
The heroine is university student Chikako Koito, who on a trip meets a keirin fan living inside a plush toy (voiced by Hiroki Takahashi); together they travel the country's racetracks and discover the charm of keirin through the people they meet — a coming-of-age road movie. Other cast members include Shiori Izawa and Machico.
The series has 32 parts (one roughly ten-minute episode a week), running July to December 2026 and February–March 2027; it airs within interfm's programme "Sumire Uesaka's Saturday Hot-Pot Theatre" and is also available as a podcast (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, radiko).
Keirin is present in pop culture too: its women's version, "Girls Keirin" (revived in 2012), is promoted by MIXI's anime-and-manga project "Rinkai!" (リンカイ！), announced in 2023, with a former rider, Masami Takaki, as advisor. Japan's radio-drama and "drama CD" culture also leans heavily on popular voice actors. (Sources: interfm; radiko news; netkeiba)
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Sources: interfm · radiko news · netkeiba
This article was machine-composed under human supervision.