Corporate and Financial
Guinness World Records Confirms Inazawa Grand Bowl World’s Largest Bowling Center, With 116 Consecutive Lanes
MUSKEGON, Mich., Nov. 30, 2009 – Guinness World Records (www.guinessworldrecords.com) confirms that the largest bowling center in the world is Inazawa Grand Bowl in Japan, featuring 116 consecutive Brunswick Bowling wooden lanes on a single floor, which are being replaced and upgraded with Brunswick Pro Lane™ synthetic lanes in early 2010.
The claim to establish the largest bowling center as a Guinness World Record category was submitted by Vice President Capital Equipment for Brunswick Bowling Products, Jim Fox, who saw this acknowledgement as an opportunity to earn recognition for a long-time Brunswick customer and promote bowling worldwide. “We were thrilled that Guinness has added this category to its prestigious record book. It’s an honor to have Inazawa Grand Bowl represented as well as the sport of bowling.”
Completed March 17, 1972, and opened March 24, 1972, in Inazawa City, Inazawa Grand Bowl spans 91,494 square feet across the lanes with no supporting pillars, for a total floor space over 182,000 square feet. The center accommodates 696 bowlers. Visitors to the building are greeted with a grand view of all 116 lanes from the entry escalator.
Site of the 2008 All Japan Bowling Championships, the largest amateur bowling tournament in Japan, Inazawa Grand Bowl is owned by Grand Bowl Co., Ltd., operator of 15 bowling centers in Japan. Inazawa Grand Bowl plans to host a special event in 2010, to mark the completion of the Brunswick lane renewal project. During construction, 58 lanes will remain open, while the other 58 are being replaced. A video showing the original Brunswick wooden lanes can be seen here: http://bit.ly/4b2bs1.
“People all over the world have traveled to take part in the unique bowling experience at Inazawa Grand Bowl. On behalf of our company and our employees, we are very proud to hold the official title as the world’s largest bowling center,” said Hiroaki Aoyama, owner of Grand Bowl Co., Ltd.
For more information on Inazawa Grand Bowl, go to www.grandbowl.jp. For more information on Brunswick Bowling, go to www.brunswickbowling.com.
About Brunswick Bowling & Billiards
Headquartered in Lake Forest, Ill., Brunswick Corporation has been a leader in the recreation business for more than 160 years. Founded in 1845 to make billiards tables, Brunswick Corporation is a Fortune 500 company and the leader in bringing Genuine Ingenuity™ to everything it makes. Brunswick Bowling & Billiards, one of the largest operators of full-service bowling and family recreation centers in North America, is a full-line supplier of bowling equipment, supplies and consumer products, and designs billiards tables and accessories. For more information, visit our Web site at www.brunswickbowling.com.
About Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records is the universally recognized authority on record-breaking achievement. First published in 1955, the annual Guinness World Records book is published in more than 100 countries and 25 languages and is one of the highest-selling books under copyright of all time with more than 3 million copies sold annually across the globe. The Guinness World Records website (www.guinessworldrecords.com) receives more than 11 million visitors a year. Guinness World Records is part of the Jim Pattison Group, one of Canada’s largest privately owned companies, which is a conglomerate of interests, including advertising, broadcasting, grocery stores and automotive retailing.
