A new TV commercial from the organisers of Japanese keirin will use footage of UCI racing to position keirin as a unique global sport.

The 60-second ad is set to air across Japan from December 31, the day after the sport’s annual showpiece; but is already available on YouTube.

It features a young woman sitting at home, in a telepathic conversation with her father, a keirin rider preparing for a race.

The woman glances up at the living-room television to see riders lining up for a Men’s Final race in the UCI Track Champions League. ‘Keirin is called keirin, even in English,’ she muses. Her father, preparing his bike backstage, responds: ‘it’s a world sport that originated in Japan.’

The daughter looks over to her father’s trophies on the windowsill, and asks: ‘will you make your international debut one day?’ Her father, now warming up on rollers, replies: ‘Maybe.’

A poster image issued as part of the campaign declares: keirin was born in Japan, and has become a global sport known as “KEIRIN”. Below, in large text, it adds – There’s no other sport like this, right?

The campaign coincides with the success of Japanese riders at the recent UCI world championships: but there is no explicit reference to the victories of Kento Yamasaki and Mina Sato, and neither athlete features in the advert.

The advert features music by Japanese act GRe4N BOYZ, four qualified dentists whose faces have never been revealed publicly. Formerly known as GReeeeN, they hold the Guinness World Record for the most downloaded single ever in Japan.