Skip to main content

25 Years in Japan



Today's the 25th anniversary of when I first moved to Japan. It's been interesting. If I had to pick one highlight, this pic was probably it. Glad as always I decided to move somewhere guns aren't part of day-to-day life.

Re: the pic, it's of Barcelona '92 Olympic silver medalist Koichi Morishita, me, and Spanish '92 Olympian Jose Esteban Montiel running the 2017 Barcelona Marathon. I started running marathons in '93 after watching Morishita vs. Hwang Young-cho at the Barcelona Olympics. Somehow, 25 years later Barcelona hired me to bring Morishita, Hwang and Yuko Arimori to the marathon for the 25th anniversary celebration of the Olympic marathon with the other three medalists.

I was going to run, and Morishita, who doesn't really run any more, decided the night before to jump in and run the first 11.5 km with me. I tend to be a pretty lucky person and have had a lot of good things happen these 25 years, and some not so good, but of all of them this one was the most inexplicable in how it came about and meant the most.

© 2022 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

CK said…
Any inexplicable positive like getting hired to bring a Korean Champ (how did you find him?!) and others to an Anniversary Race is well-deserved Brett for somebody who has contributed so much and stuck at it through those 25 years (and maybe more before too?). Barcelona '92 ? I went there in early 1990 (while contracted to work in Madrid) to explore the possibility of working with OG. Turned out that my working visa/status for Spain was wrong and it would likely take me 6 months to see if it could even be changed, and I didn't have the determination to pursue. However used the time to check out the marathon course and it became clear that the race would be won on the long drag up to the stadium. Ended up watching Morishta and Arimori on a TV in Hong Kong - both truly inspirational performances. Here's to the next 25 years...
August 25, 2022 at 8:40 AM
Brett Larner said…
Thanks very much. A contact at ASICS helped with contacting Hwang. I ended up walking around town with him and his family and taking them up to Park Guell. Life is funny, huh. The taxi driver on the way back to the hotel recognized him and went on enthusiastically about having watched the race and how much the Olympics helped transform the city.
August 27, 2022 at 12:30 PM
Rigajags said…
25 years, wow! I Wish i can visita the country at some point!
I Hope you will do some Q&A sessions at some point, there would be so much to ask you and you could talk about with 25 years being there.
Happy anniversary :)
August 29, 2022 at 5:17 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...
Post a Comment
Read more

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...
3 comments
Read more