Shunsuke Nakamura has already provided a fascinating insight into the intensity of sporting interest in Japan. Celtic's Japanese midfielder has his own dedicated team of journalists based in Scotland who report his every cough and wheeze to a ravenous audience of millions back home in the Far East.

Football is the No.2 sport in Japan, behind baseball, while golf is No.3. The presence of five of their golfers in this week's Open championship has, therefore, generated considerable interest at Carnoustie.

Twenty reporters and photographers, plus a camera crew, have been deployed to the famous links this week to follow the fortunes of Japan's finest, though the withdrawal of Shingo Katayama earlier this week through injury was a major blow.

The nation's hopes now rest on 28-year-old Hideto Tanihara. He finished tied for fifth in last year's Open at Royal Liverpool, and has the best chance of the five-strong contingent, which includes Toru Taniguchi, Achi Sato, Toshimitsu Izawa and Tomohiro Kondo. The Japanese press are hard at work, providing up-to-date news for a ravenous home audience of millions.

"Katayama is leading the Japan tour and people will be very disappointed that he has pulled out, but Tanihara has been playing well recently," said Chieko Hataguchi, a press officer for the Japan Golf Tour, who is also an avid follower of Nakamura's fortunes at Celtic Park. "He didn't play very well at Augusta this year, but he fades the ball so his game is more suited to a links course.

"The TV coverage back in Japan starts at 11pm and then 4am. TV Asahi are allowed to get very close to the players on the course and their coverage tends to concentrate mostly on the Japanese players and Tiger Woods."

In the first and second rounds of last year's Open, Japanese golf fans were in clover when Katayama was paired with Woods. With his trademark straw hats, the 34-year-old is the major icon of Japanese men's golf, carrying on a tradition set by charismatic trailblazers such as Jumbo Osaki and Isao Aoki. Shigeki Maruyama is another hugely popular figure in Japan who plays his golf in the United States.

Women's golf is also very popular and Ai Miyazato is the corporate-friendly face of the LPGA Tour. She holds the record of being the youngest champion on the Japanese LPGA Tour, having won the 2003 Miyagi TV Cup Dunlop Ladies Open aged 18 years and 101 days. "She is on the TV all the time in Japan advertising for big companies like Toyota," added Hataguchi.

However, she is steadily being eclipsed in the popularity stakes by 15-year-old men's golf sensation Ryo Ishikawa. In May, aged 15 years and eight months, he became the youngest-ever winner on the Japan Tour when he lifted the Munsingwear Open KSB Cup, breaking the previous record held by Seve Ballesteros, who won the 1977 Japan Open aged 20 years and seven months.

Ishikawa, who is a student at Suginami Gakuin High School in Tokyo, shot 69 and 66 on the final day (he played 36 holes within 24 hours in a weather-affected event) to claim an incredible one-stroke victory in his first tour appearance.

His slim build, long hair and boy-next-door looks have earned him the nickname "hanikami oji" (the bashful prince) and his victory in May sent the Japanese press into a lather. "New Hero!" proclaimed the Nikkan Sports, though Sankei Sports were guilty of gross hyperbole in labelling the 15-year-old, "More of a genius than Woods."

"I'd like to become a golfer who will be loved by people all around the world. Tiger Woods is the player I want to be like," said Ishikawa after his win.

At last month's US Open, a Japanese TV reporter asked Woods to have a look at Ishikawa's swing on his laptop. "Tremendous power," Woods commented. "You've got to realise, he's only 15 years old, and to win a tour event, you can see the talent that he has. I hope he enjoys it. I hope he enjoys playing and progressing, and you just know that given time, he could be something special."

The Japanese media have speculated he could beat Woods to become the youngest Masters champion and have travelled en masse to San Diego for the Callaway Junior World Golf Championships this week, where Ishikawa is competing. "I've never seen anything like this," said Rick Schloss, the Junior World media coordinator. "There are not this many people here for one guy, even Tiger, at the Buick Invitational. And this is just a practice round."

Ishikawa hopes to stay focused amid the frenzy. "I don't want to have a big head and I don't want to end up as a one-shot fluke."

Time will tell.