Core77 - Blog • Feb. 4, 2026, 3 p.m.
For the past 16 years, the Japan Office Chair Racing Association (JORA) has sponsored the Isu-1 GP , a Gran-Prix-style racing event. Held in ten cities around the country, the rules are pretty simple: Your vehicle is an off-the-shelf office chair that you propel with your legs.
Anyone caught modifying their chair will be disqualified. And you must wear a helmet, gloves, elbow pads and knee pads.
The race courses are 200-meter loops, with a set racing time of two hours. Each team consists of three members, who can swap out, Le-Mans-style, to deal with fatigue.