Reigning champion Shin'ichi Ito started strongly with a win at the season opener only to lose his title chances with two consecutive non-scores in the first half of the year. The Suzuki duo Akira Ryo and Keiichi Kitagawa established themselves as the team to beat, which Wataru Yoshikawa worked hard to do. Consistent podium finishes on the brand new Yamaha R7 kept him on top of the standings while Kitagawa slowly closed the gap, but a crash at Tsukuba broke the Suzuki rider's wrist and put him out of the final race of the year. Yoshikawa only needed a top 10 finish and that's what he got, re-claiming the All Japan Superbike Championship for Yamaha at a season finale with more than a dozen factory-supported bikes on the grid. An impressive way to close out the decade.