Women Drivers Reshaping Japanese Motorsport
Rising female participation in All-Japan Dirt Trial and the regional initiatives driving change
The share of female entrants in the All-Japan Dirt Trial Championship has risen steadily through the mid-2020s. At the start of the 2026 season, women represented approximately 11 per cent of total entries across all classes — up sharply from 6.3 per cent five years earlier. Some regional series record higher figures still. WSJ spoke to the people driving this change.
Official JAF entry data for the All-Japan Dirt Trial Championship shows female entrant share rising from 6.3 per cent in 2021 to 11.2 per cent at the opening of the 2026 season — a 1.7-times increase in absolute numbers over five years. The trend is not limited to the national championship: similar trajectories appear in regional series across Tohoku, Hokkaido, and Kansai, suggesting a pattern in which women are increasingly choosing dirt trial as their entry point into competitive motorsport.
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