In a previous life, I worked for a dinner theater in Montreal. The restaurant was right next to the city’s race track.

Once a year, the Formula 1 (F1) races would come to town, and our restaurant would have to shut down. It sucked for business, but it was great for me, because we got free F1 tickets from the owner so we could go in and do inventory and a thorough cleaning.

When we were done, we’d get to watch the races. I don’t know much about racing, but that race (and day drinking with lots of attractive tourists) was amazing, and I could definitely see the appeal.

Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura sees that appeal too. He recently put forward the idea that Osaka could have its own F1 race, on the condition that it gets its integrated resort (IR) first. Japanese newspaper Mainichi reports he discussed the topic at a February 21 press conference.