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Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges.  Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...

10 Meet Records and a National Record at Hyogo Relay Carnival

The grand prix distance events were absent from the program this year at the 73rd Hyogo Relay Carnival , with the top performances in the women's 5000 m and men's 10000 m Asics Challenge races going to steepler Yuzu Nishide (Daihatsu) in 15:49.48 and Japan-based Kenyan Emmanuel Kiplagat (Mitsubishi Juko) in 28:12.42. But there were a lot of new meet records, and one national record. Ryosuke Kusumi (Shiga) set a T37-class NR of 58.35 m in the para men's 400 m. Kairi Ikeno (Suma Gakuen H.S.) came less than 2 seconds short of a new high school record in the women's 2000 m , beating her own MR from last year by over 3 seconds in 5:55.36, almost 17 seconds ahead of 2nd place. The top 5 all broke or tied the men's high jump meet record, with both Yuto Seko (FAAS) and Tomohiro Shinno (Kyudenko) clearing 2.25 m and Takashi Eto (Kobe Digital Labo), Chao-Hsuan Fu (Taiwan) and Naoto Hasegawa (Niigata Albirex RC) clearing 2.20 m. Yuki Hashioka (Fujitsu) won the men...

Nagayama and Morita Win Nagano Marathon - Weekend Road Race Roundup

Ayumi Morita (Tokyo Metro) won the women's race at Sunday's Nagano Marathon in dominant style, finishing almost 5 minutes ahead of runner-up Chifumi Ito (MRA) in 2:32:58. Hiroki Nagayama (Sumitomo Denko) had a narrower win in the men's race, running down breakaway leader Kiyohito Akiyama (Aichi Seiko) after 35 km to win 2:12:56 to 2:13:27, with last year's winner Kento Nishi  (Osaka Gas) 3rd in 2:15:48. Elsewhere, Sachi Ito (Pacer TC) won the Kasumigaura Marathon in 2:46:38, a 45-minute improvement on her last appearance at Kasumigaura 8 years ago. Yuki Kawauchi (ANDS) won the men's race in 2:19:10. Australian Ciaran Rushton won Kasumigaura's 10-mile race in 49:36 by 4 seconds over Nozomi Sugaya (Komazawa Univ.), with Aya Inden (Takushoku Univ.) winning the women's 10-miler in 59:30. At the Shanghai Half Marathon Aoi Ota (GMO) made his corporate league debut with a 1:03:05, far off the podium in a race that saw top 3 Roncer Kipkorir , Edmond Kip...