Contents
- Amateur racing license counts statistics: long-term karting driver license totals in Japan
- Amateur racing license counts statistics: historical domestic and international kart driver classes
- Amateur racing license counts statistics: 2025 kart driver licenses by class and region
- Amateur racing license counts statistics: kart officials and entrant license counts
- Amateur racing license counts statistics: JAF kart license totals and competition scale
- Amateur racing license counts statistics: FIA karting rankings, entries and distinct drivers
- Sources
Amateur racing license counts statistics: long-term karting driver license totals in Japan
“License counts” can describe different things: annual issuances, active license holders, competition entries, or drivers appearing in a ranking. The JAF figures here are kart license issuances in Japan, recorded by year. They do not establish how many unique people held a license, how many licenses remained active, or how many drivers competed. Keeping that definition in view makes it possible to read the long series without treating it as a census of amateur racers.
JAF recorded 1,628 kart driver license issuances in 1975 and 9,703 in 1995. Later recorded totals were 5,178 in 2010, 4,126 in 2015, and 3,577 in 2021. These are observations from different points in the series, not a continuous annual comparison in this article. The 1995 total is the largest among these selected reference years; the figures alone do not explain why totals differed or establish a cause.
More recent annual totals in the JAF table were 3,496 in 2022, 3,434 in 2023, and 3,250 in 2025. The 2022 and 2023 totals sit close together in the table; the 2025 figure is a later observation. The source’s license categories changed over time, so class-level continuity is less straightforward than the reported annual total. These counts remain Japan-specific JAF issuance figures, rather than a measure of all kart drivers or amateur racing licenses worldwide.
| Year | JAF kart driver license issuances |
|---|---|
| 1975 | 1,628 |
| 1995 | 9,703 |
| 2010 | 5,178 |
| 2015 | 4,126 |
| 2021 | 3,577 |
| 2022 | 3,496 |
| 2023 | 3,434 |
| 2025 | 3,250 |
Source: JAF Motorsport Statistics (Kart).
Amateur racing license counts statistics: historical domestic and international kart driver classes
The labels behind the totals matter. In the 1975 driver row, JAF listed domestic senior B at 1,217, senior A at 171, junior B at 45, and junior A at 78. International senior was 115 and international junior was 2. The categories show that the published total brought together domestic and international classes, alongside senior and junior labels.
In 1995, the table used domestic B and A and junior B and A, alongside international senior and junior. The respective counts were 7,029, 1,843, 194, 42, 561, and 34, for a reported total of 9,703. By 2010 the displayed classes were domestic B, domestic A, junior B, junior A, international A.B.C, and international junior: 2,698, 1,464, 303, 82, 591, and 40, respectively, for 5,178 overall.
The 2022–2025 historical table uses B, A, junior B, junior A, international E/F combined, and international G. In this structure, the 2023 row records 1,611 domestic B and 1,104 domestic A licenses. Junior B was 134 and junior A was 35. International E/F combined was 539, while international G was 11. JAF does not split the combined E/F figure in this annual series, so it should not be read as an E-only or F-only count.
These shifts in labels limit direct class-by-class comparisons across the full period. JAF notes changes to domestic and international labels in 1996, to international categories in 2018, and again in 2022. The annual series provides a view of the categories as published at each point; it does not provide a single unchanged class taxonomy for every year.
Source for all figures in this section: JAF Motorsport Statistics (Kart).
Amateur racing license counts statistics: 2025 kart driver licenses by class and region
The 2025 regional issuance table offers a more detailed view of driver categories. Domestic B totaled 1,505 licenses across the listed regions: Hokkaido 34, Tohoku 70, Kanto 896, Chubu 184, Kansai 200, Chugoku 41, Shikoku 14, and Kyushu 65. Domestic A totaled 1,061, with Hokkaido 32, Tohoku 42, Kanto 551, Chubu 174, Kansai 149, Chugoku 55, Shikoku 21, and Kyushu 37.
| 2025 driver license class | Hokkaido | Tohoku | Kanto | Chubu | Kansai | Chugoku | Shikoku | Kyushu | Japan total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic B | 34 | 70 | 896 | 184 | 200 | 41 | 14 | 65 | 1,505 |
| Domestic A | 32 | 42 | 551 | 174 | 149 | 55 | 21 | 37 | 1,061 |
| International E | 10 | 16 | 197 | 80 | 83 | 14 | 4 | 21 | 426 |
| International F, C restricted | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| Junior B | 9 | 6 | 77 | 27 | 27 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 172 |
| Junior A | 1 | 0 | 19 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 47 |
| International G, C junior | 0 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 25 |
Source: JAF Motorsport Statistics (Kart), 2025 regional license issuances.
The international categories have distinct labels in this regional table. International E totaled 426; international F, identified as C restricted, totaled 14; and international G, identified as C junior, totaled 25. The junior B and A rows recorded 172 and 47, respectively. These class labels should be retained when describing the figures, rather than merged into a broad “international” or “junior” number without a source-defined grouping.
Across all driver classes, the regional table reports 1,756 issuances in Kanto, 482 in Chubu, 482 in Kansai, 116 in Chugoku, 40 in Shikoku, and 142 in Kyushu. It also gives Hokkaido 86 and Tohoku 135, with 3,250 for Japan overall. Kanto is the largest listed regional total in this table. The source notes that applications with an unidentified region are included in license-type totals; regional assignments therefore need not sum to every class total.
Source for regional totals: JAF Motorsport Statistics (Kart).
Amateur racing license counts statistics: kart officials and entrant license counts
Driver licenses are only one population in JAF’s kart licensing tables. The 2025 official-license table reports 618 third-grade licenses, 217 second-grade licenses, and 306 first-grade licenses, for 1,141 across grades. Those are official licenses, a separate measure from driver issuances.
| JAF kart official license grade, 2025 | Issuances |
|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 618 |
| Grade 2 | 217 |
| Grade 1 | 306 |
| All grades | 1,141 |
Source: JAF Motorsport Statistics (Kart), 2025 regional license issuances.
Entrant licenses are separately tabulated as well. In 2023, JAF recorded 186 domestic and 41 international kart entrant licenses, with 227 overall. In 2025, the corresponding counts were 173 domestic and 52 international, for 225 total. These figures refer to entrants under JAF’s licensing categories; they are not driver license totals and should not be added to the driver series as if they counted the same people.
| Year | Domestic entrant licenses | International entrant licenses | Total entrant licenses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 186 | 41 | 227 |
| 2025 | 173 | 52 | 225 |
Source: JAF Motorsport Statistics (Kart).
Together, these tables distinguish driver, official, and entrant issuances. Each answers a different counting question, and the source does not define them as mutually exclusive groups of people.
Amateur racing license counts statistics: JAF kart license totals and competition scale
JAF’s 2025 summary tables add organizational and competition context. For fiscal 2025, JAF listed 59 registered kart clubs and 39 registered kart organizations. The same fiscal-year summary recorded 128 sanctioned kart competitions, with closed events included. The competition count describes sanctioned events, not licensed drivers, entrants, or unique participants.
| JAF kart measure | Fiscal 2025 count | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Registered clubs | 59 | Kart clubs |
| Registered organizations | 39 | Kart organizations |
| Sanctioned competitions | 128 | Closed events included |
Source: JAF Motorsport Statistics, 2025 summary tables.
These measures help describe the organized setting in which licensing and competition take place, but they are not interchangeable. A club count does not show club membership, and the competition total does not show how many individual racers participated. The 128 sanctioned competitions are reported for fiscal 2025, while the driver-license observations above are annual issuance counts. Their periods are similar in label but their units and populations differ.
Source for fiscal-year definitions and counts: JAF Motorsport Statistics, 2025 summary tables; for the annual driver series: JAF Motorsport Statistics (Kart).
Amateur racing license counts statistics: FIA karting rankings, entries and distinct drivers
FIA’s 2024 activity report measures rankings and competition participation rather than national license issuance. Its narrative says the 2023 International Karting Ranking featured 1,142 drivers. A nearby panel displays 1,123 drivers in the International Karting Ranking but does not specify the ranking year. The report presents these as separate figures, so the panel value should not be silently assigned to 2023.
The report also says the 2024 National Karting Ranking reached 1,120 drivers, an increase of 221% compared with 2023. This is a ranking count and reported year-over-year change, not a tally of JAF licenses. The figures concern drivers ranked in the FIA system.
In FIA Karting Championships during 2024, the report records 927 entries across 8 events, representing 629 different drivers across the 6 FIA Sport Regions. Entries count participation across events; distinct drivers count the people represented. The report separately records 51 drivers entered in the FIA Karting Academy Trophy, representing 50 nations.
The 2024 FIA Motorsport Games included 225 karting drivers across Sprint, Endurance, and Slalom variants. The report says they represented more than 30% of the Games’ 646 participants. This is a participation measure within the Games, not a licensing total.
| FIA karting measure | Reported figure | Period and scope |
|---|---|---|
| International Karting Ranking drivers | 1,142 | 2023 ranking |
| International Karting Ranking drivers | 1,123 | 2024 report panel; ranking year unspecified |
| National Karting Ranking drivers | 1,120; 221% growth | 2024 compared with 2023 |
| FIA Karting Championship entries | 927 across 8 events | 2024 |
| Different Championship drivers | 629 | 2024; 6 FIA Sport Regions represented |
| Academy Trophy drivers | 51 | 2024; 50 nations represented |
| Motorsport Games karting drivers | 225 | 2024; more than 30% of 646 Games participants |
Source for all FIA figures: FIA Activity Report 2024: Circuit, Karting.