The War on Wheels: Inside the Keirin and Japan's Cycling Subculture

The keirin, which means "war on wheels" in Japanese, is now a high profile Olympic sport and attracts millions of spectators. It is primed to be one of the must-see events of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. But its origins are humble, even strange. Like the Tour de France was originally conceived to sell newspapers, the keirin was invented in post-war Japan as a way to raise taxes on gambling.