Skip to main content

High Schooler Fumiya Ogishi Wins Nishinomiya Shrine's Luckiest Man Race


The traditional Lucky Man Selection race was held at Hyogo's Nishinomiya Shrine, with Takarazuka high school 2nd-year Fumiya Ogishi winning the title of this year's luckiest man. Chosen by lottery to compete, 108 worshippers at the shrine started the race at 6:00 a.m. on Jan. 10 when the beating of drums signaled the opening of the shrine's Akamon Gate. The ritual race is held at the home of Ebessan, the god of successful business, and covers roughly 230 m. The winner is named the Luckiest Man, with the next two earning Second-Luckiest and Third-Luckiest honors.

Ogishi is a member of his school's track and field time and has a 100 m best in the low 12-second range. He commented, "It doesn't feel real yet, but I hope this will be a good year. I'd like to share my good fortune with all the victims of the Noto Peninsula earthquake."

Luckiest man: Fumiya Ogishi (high schooler)
2nd-luckiest man: Yuki Komatsu (university student)
3rd-luckiest man: Akihiro Yabuki (university student)

2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake in which Nishinomiya Shrine sustained serious damage including the collapse of buildings within its grounds. Despite the damage, ceremonies at the shrine have always continued uninterrupted. This year Junya Kobayashi, a priest from Suzu Hachiman Shrine in Ishikawa which was similarly heavily damaged by last January's Noto Peninsula earthquake, took part in the race as one of the gate protectors holding it closed from the inside until the drums were struck. Kobayashi was enthusiastic about the experience, saying, "I will take some of the good fortune home so that it will help change our misfortune for the better."


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Rui Aoki and Shunsuke Kuwata Making U.S. Debut at United Airlines NYC Half

When the National University Half Marathon was canceled in 2011 after the massive earthquake and tsunami struck northeastern Japan 2 days before the race, JRN talked to the New York Road Runners about bringing 2 collegiate runners to the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon the next weekend as a show of support. It wasn't possible to pull it together in the immediate aftermath of the disasters, but a year later we brought 2 young 2nd-years from Hakone Ekiden CR breaker Toyo University , Kento Otsu and Yuta Shitara , who had been the top 2 Japanese collegiate finishers at the Ageo City Half Marathon in November before Hakone. Shitara ran 1:01:48, at the time the fastest-ever by a Japanese man on U.S. soil, with Otsu running a solid 1:03:15. Thanks to that great start the Ageo-NYC partnership became a regular thing, and except for the pandemic it's continued every year since, expanding this year to June's New York Mini 10 km when 2 runners from Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden runne...
1 comment
Read more

Chepkirui Over Sato Again to Win 2nd-Straight Nagoya Women's Marathon, Chen Breaks Malaysian NR (updated)

This year's Nagoya Women's Marathon felt like a changing of the guard, with some the bigger domestic names over the last few years fading early and a lot of newer faces stepping up with quality debuts or second marathons. The front group was set to be paced for 2:20 flat with the 2nd group at 2:23:30 to hit the auto-qualifying time for the 2027 MGC Race, Japan's L.A. Olympics marathon trials race in Nagoya. Up front things went out OK, but after a 33:10 split at 10 km Ayuko Suzuki , 2:21:22 here 2 years ago, lost touch, ultimately finishing 23rd in 2:33:28. Windy conditions started to play with pacers' ability to keep things steady and the pace slowed majorly over the next 10 km, but even with a 34:05 second 10 km there were big-name casualties. 2024 Nagoya winner Yuka Ando was next to drop, ending up 17th in 2:30:32. NR holder Honami Maeda was next, followed quickly by Bahraini Kenyan Eunice Chumba and debuting Wakana Kabasawa . Maeda faded to 21st in 2:31:21, whil...
2 comments
Read more

16 Women and 26 Men on the Current Olympic Trials Qualifier List

Last weekend's Nagoya Women's Marathon and the Tokyo Marathon the weekend before brought the main part of the first year of qualification for the Marathon Grand Championship Race, Japan's L.A. Olympics marathon trials to be held in Nagoya in October, 2027, to an end. There are still a few races like the Nagano Marathon and overseas World Athletics platinum label races this season where people might qualify, but for the most part we're not likely to see many new additions until August's Hokkaido Marathon, where the qualifying period opened last year. As of right now 16 women and 26 men have qualified, although the first woman to make the cut, Ai Hosoda , announced that she was retiring after Tokyo earlier this month. Out of the 16 women to have qualified so far, Mikuni Yada is the fastest with her 2:19:57 debut at Osaka Women's in January. Including Hosoda that makes 2 qualifiers for the Edion corporate team, but Daihatsu has the biggest share of the field so ...
Post a Comment
Read more