女性ファッション誌Oggiが7月に開いたピックルボール体験会で、定員60人に対し1000人を超える応募が集まり、Oggi編集部によれば当選倍率は約19倍に達した。小学館Oggi編集部は9月から11月まで毎月2回のペースで開催を続けると告知し、シリーズ初となる朝6時スタートの「朝ピ」も9月18日に組み込んだ。会場はSansanピックルボールコート池袋で、対象は女性の初心者に絞られている。
Whether the reader is a player or an operator running courts, this is hard to ignore. One magazine project pulling four-digit application numbers puts a figure on how hard beginner women are looking for a way in. Where the many applicants who missed the draw end up goes straight to the shape of demand for anyone designing taster sessions or permanent courts from here.
The July debut: 60 places, more than 1,000 applicants, odds of 19 to 1
The first Oggi Pickleball Challenge ran on July 23 at Sansan Pickleball Court in Ikebukuro, in two blocks. The first ran from 17:00 to 19:00 and the second from 19:30 to 21:30. Each had 30 places decided by lottery, for 60 in total. Entry was free, and paddles and balls could be borrowed at the venue. Applications closed on July 5.
More than 1,000 applications came in, and according to the Oggi editorial team the odds of getting in reached roughly 19 to 1. The format was open to people with no tennis or badminton background, and putting the door squarely in front of beginner women is what concentrated the applications. It is worth noting that the lottery format itself produced several times more rejections than the 60 places it filled.
Twice a month from September to November, plus a 6 a.m. "Morning Pickle" session
On August 26, the Oggi editorial team announced two sessions a month from September through November. Monday, September 14 runs in two blocks, 17:00 to 19:00 and 20:00 to 22:00. On Friday, September 18, the series uses a morning slot for the first time, a "Morning Pickle" session from 6:00 to 9:00, with 7:00 to 8:00 set as core time and loose arrival and departure around it. October dates fall on the 13th and 30th, November on the 10th and 20th. Applications closed on September 2.
From September the fee is 6,000 yen per person, including paddle, ball and shoe rental. Switching from free in July to paid while also adding a morning slot shows the organizers judged that demand would clear the price barrier. An hour on court before work is a realistic option for women members in the city center, whose weekday evenings tend to be full.
Japan's player count grew about sevenfold in a year, and entry points for women are scarce
Beneath a taster session pulling four-digit application numbers is the swelling of the market itself. In a survey published by Pickleball One in 2026, Japan had about 330,000 players, up roughly sevenfold in a year from about 45,000. The pool of people interested in the sport is estimated at 11.89 million, leaving 36 times the current player count in headroom. The most common reason people started was sports facilities, at 35.0%, making a trial at a venue the most effective door in.
We have laid this picture out in earlier articles. The strength of interest among tennis players and the room left in the market are covered in detail in72.5% of tennis players interested, and the 36x headroom in a 330,000-player market. On paper the potential pool is thick, while the number of entry points where women can actually turn up empty-handed is limited. The flood of applications to Oggi's session is the other side of that thin supply.
TV and retailers are turning toward beginner women too
Putting the entry point in front of beginner women is spreading into media and retail as well. In August, Mizuno began selling paddles, shoes and bags, setting a domestic sales target of 100 million yen. Equipment makers moving to secure retail shelf space and running taster events around the country is continuous with what Oggi is doing.
The venue itself, Sansan Pickleball Court Ikebukuro, was booked out almost from the day it opened, and the decision to add capacity came quickly; that story is collected inExpansion decided on opening day: Sansan Ikebukuro shows how hot central Tokyo courts have become. The magazine's taster session poured a concrete number of readers into that overheated downtown court. A fashion title builds the door and a facility catches what comes through.
"There's nowhere to play" is what applicants really mean
The Oggi editorial team gives its reason for continuing as reader messages asking for higher frequency and more chances to play. You can see through to a situation where people who have tried it once go looking for somewhere to play next and find nowhere to go. The 19-to-1 figure shows the strength of interest and, in the same number, reports the shortage of places to absorb it.
Adding the morning slot answers the same messages. Two weekday evening blocks alone could not hold the after-work demand, so opening a slot from 6 a.m. picks up the hour before the office. Moving from free to 6,000 yen is the kind of change that can shed applicants, but if entries still close and go to a lottery, it means scarcity of places, not price, is setting demand.
Operators should watch where the 900 who missed out go next
For anyone running courts, the point of this is not the 60 who got in but the 900-plus who did not. One media project drawing four-digit applications shows how strongly beginner women want a particular set of conditions: a booking you can actually get, nothing to bring, and other beginners around you. Those who missed out are interested but not playing, the closest prospects that permanent courts and schools should be going after.
Put into practice, the options include setting aside slots for beginner women only, making rental gear standard, and raising turnover to take everyone rather than running a lottery. Oggi's 19-to-1 reads as evidence that demand is concentrated on a specific set of conditions. Rather than consuming the high odds as a talking point, treat them as material for asking whether your own venue can reproduce those conditions.
If 6,000 yen sessions still fill up, pricing for women's taster sessions will shift
The move from free in July to 6,000 yen from September could affect pricing across the business. If applications keep coming at 6,000 yen with rental gear included, beginner sessions for women shift from a free event run to draw a crowd into a product that pays for itself. Venues that have treated taster sessions as advertising run at a loss now have room to revisit their pricing.
Running on rental gear also overlaps with the supply arrangement Asics handles at Sansan Ikebukuro. The background to that supply deal is covered inShoes stocked as rentals: why Asics began supplying gear to Sansan Ikebukuro. An environment where participants can arrive without their own gear is a precondition for gathering beginners, and it is part of what the 6,000 yen buys.
Filling a taster session: the practical work from sign-ups to the day itself
For players or operators trying the same format, the steps are concrete. State a closing date for sign-ups and decide up front whether it is a lottery or first-come. Writing plainly that it is for beginner women only draws out applicants who would feel self-conscious among experienced players. Do not pile everything into weekday evenings; mix in a pre-work morning slot and weekend daytime to pick up people on different schedules.
On the day, lend out gear and keep the number of people on each court low enough that everyone gets time hitting the ball. Do not let it end after one visit: point people to where they can play next and to schools that continue, and the interest that produced all those rejected applications need not be lost. Oggi's decision to run three months in a row was a way to hold on to enthusiasm that a one-off would let evaporate.
Summary
More than 1,000 applicants for 60 places, odds of 19 to 1. The numbers from Oggi's taster session made visible how hard beginner women are looking for a way into pickleball. Running twice a month from September to November and adding a 6 a.m. "Morning Pickle" slot is an attempt to spread that demand beyond weekday evenings. In a market where the player count has grown about sevenfold in a year and the potential pool is put at 11.89 million, what decides the outcome is how much playing space and how many empty-handed entry points can be prepared. Facility operators can take the 900 who missed the draw as their own customers.
Sources
- [Participants wanted!] Three straight months of pickleball taster sessions from September! The much-talked-about "Morning Pickle" is on too!! | Oggi.jp
- Want to try pickleball with us? [60 participants wanted] We're holding the Oggi Pickleball Challenge! | Oggi.jp
- Japan Pickleball Market Survey 2026: 330,000 players, 11.89 million potential | Pickleball One Inc.
