Skip to main content

Two Kenyan Pros Abandoned by Their Sponsor Teams Imprisoned in Nagoya and Facing Deportation

http://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/national/news/CK2008101602000270.html

translated by Brett Larner

update: I've received some inquiries about how to help Munyi and Kamau since posting this article yesterday. Please contact Takahide Watanabe of the Owari Asahi Running Club. The club's message board discussion about the situation here, and a copy of the documents Watanabe has filed with the Immigration Bureau protesting the Kenyans' pending imprisonment and outlining their legitimacy as runners is here.

Fired by their sponsoring jitsugyodan teams after sustaining injuries and given shelter by a sympathetic small independent local car parts manufacturer, two elite Kenyan runners living in Nagoya were arrested early this month and imprisoned in the Nagoya Immigration Violation Detention Center. The two are facing deportation, but a group of local supporters is attempting to fight the Immigration Bureau's action, saying, "These two men are truly talented athletes and deserve to stay in Japan."

The two runners, Simon Maina Munyi (30) and Joseph Mwaura Kamau (20), live in Japan on amateur athlete visas. Simon came to Japan in 1997 when he was hired by a jitsugyodan team based in Aichi Prefecture,* going on to win the Nagoya Half Marathon twice. Joseph came to Japan in 2003 as an exchange student at a high school in Okayama Prefecture before joining a jitsugyodan team,* finishing in the prizes at both the Yokohama and Kyoto Half Marathons.

However, both runners became injured and were fired by their sponsoring jitsugyodan teams. Friends came to their aid and introduced them to a small, independent car parts manufacturing firm in Nagoya in September last year. Sympathetic to their situation, the company created a track and field team to support the Kenyans' training and gave them minor jobs in its factory to help them survive. Both men recovered from their injuries and were planning to run comeback races in half marathons this October and November.

Asked for details concerning the two men's arrests and detention, an Immigration Bureau official responded, "We have no comment." Takahide Watanabe (50), head of the Owari Asahi Running Club, an amateur group with which Simon and Joseph train on weekends, said that because the car parts company sponsoring the two Kenyans is not one of the major manufacturers, Immigration Bureau officials most likely did not take the company's track team seriously and chose to treat the two men as ordinary workers, a status not permitted under the terms of their visas. "I want the Immigration Bureau to make the right decision here," he told reporters.

Joseph also talked about his situation. "The training environment in Japan is superb, and I would like to stay here," he said. "I believe I'm capable of breaking 2:07 in the marathon, and I only want to get back to my training."

Translator's note: The article declines to name the jitsugyodan teams which fired the two injured Kenyans. Simon Maina Munyi ran for Toyota, while Joseph Mwaura Kamau competed for Omokawa.

Comments

Unknown said…
Do you know of any way fellow runners can support these guys?
Brett Larner said…
Paul--

I posted some contact info for Watanabe and Owari Asahi RC at the top of the article. I'll add more if I find more specific things which can be done.

Most-Read This Week

Japan's Olympic Marathon Team Meets the Press

With renewed confidence, Japan's Olympic marathon team will face the total 438 m elevation difference hills of Paris this summer. The members of the women's and men's marathon teams for August's Paris Olympics appeared at a press conference in Tokyo on Mar. 25 in conjunction with the Japan Marathon Championship Series III (JMC) awards gala. Women's Olympic trials winner Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) said she was riding a wave of motivation in the wake of the new women's national record. When she watched Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) set the record at January's Osaka International Women's Marathon on TV, Suzuki said she was, "absolutely stunned." Her coach Sachiko Yamashita told her afterward, "When someone breaks the NR, things change," and Suzuki found herself saying, "I want to take my shot." After training for a great run in Paris, she said, "I definitely want to break the NR in one of my marathons after that." Mao

Weekend Racing Roundup

  China saw a new men's national record of 2:06:57 from  Jie He  at the Wuxi Marathon Sunday, but in Japan it was a relatively quiet weekend with mostly cold and rainy amateur-level marathons across the country. At the Tokushima Marathon , club runner Yuhi Yamashita  won the men's race by almost 4 1/2 minutes in 2:17:02, the fastest Japanese men's time of the weekend, but oddly took 22 seconds to get across the starting line. The women's race saw a close finish between the top two, with Shiho Iwane  winning in 2:49:33 over Ayaka Furukawa , 2nd in 2:49:46.  At the 41st edition of the Sakura Marathon in Chiba, Yukie Matsumura  (Comodi Iida) ran the fastest Japanese women's time of the weekend, 2:42:45, to take the win. Club runner Yuki Kuroda  won the men's race in 2:20:08.  Chika Yokota  won the Saga Sakura Marathon women's race in 2:49:33.  Yuki Yamada  won the men's race in 2:21:47 after taking the lead in the final 2 km.  Naoki Inoue  won the 16th r

Sprinter Shoji Tomihisa Retires From Athletics at 105

A retirement ceremony for local masters track and field legend Shoji Tomihisa , 105, was held May 13 at his usual training ground at Miyoshi Sports Park Field in Miyoshi, Hiroshima. Tomihisa began competing in athletics at age 97, setting a Japanese national record 16.98 for 60 m in the men's 100~104 age group at the 2017 Chugoku Masters Track and Field meet. Last year Tomihisa was the oldest person in Hiroshima selected to run as a torchbearer in the Tokyo Olympics torch relay. Due to the coronavirus pandemic the relay on public roads was canceled, and while he did take part in related ceremonies his run was ultimately canceled. Tomihisa recently took up the shot put, but in light of his fading physical strength he made the decision to retire from competition. Around 30 members of the Shoji Tomihisa Booster Club attended the retirement ceremony. After receiving a bouquet of flowers from them Tomihisa in turn gave them a colored paper placard on which he had written the characters