# Japanese bowling pioneer Ritsuko Nakayama, first woman to bowl professional perfect game, dies at 84

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/japanese-bowling-pioneer-ritsuko-nakayama-first-woman-to-bowl-professional-perfect-game-dies-at-84/
- Published: 2026-11-08T04:00:20+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-08T05:22:37+00:00
- Original publisher: Fox News (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/japanese-bowling-pioneer-ritsuko-nakayama-first-woman-bowl-professional-perfect-game-dies-84
- Topics: Asia, World

## Key points

- Japanese bowling pioneer Ritsuko Nakayama has died aged 84.
- She bowled the first perfect game in women’s professional bowling.
- A shampoo advert helped make her a household name.

## Summary

Ritsuko Nakayama, a pioneering Japanese professional bowler who helped drive the sport’s popularity in the 1970s, has died aged 84. Her death was announced by the Japan Professional Bowling Association, which said she had been receiving treatment for an unspecified health condition.

Nakayama switched from volleyball after her corporate team folded and qualified as a professional bowler in 1969, placing second in the first women’s qualification test. She was among 13 women in that inaugural group and, the following year, became the first woman to bowl a perfect game in professional competition. Her fame also reached television: a 1971 shampoo advert helped give her the nickname “Sawayaka Ritsuko-san”.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.