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Retirement Season



Paris Olympics marathon team alternate Ai Hosoda and Tokyo Olympics marathon trials winner Shogo Nakamura both announced their retirements recently, but with the fiscal year ending in March there have been a raft of other retirements hitting the Japanese news in the last couple of weeks. Some of them:
  • Former women-only marathon NR holder Mao Ichiyama, 28, announced that she is retiring and leaving the Shiseido corporate team after a couple of dull seasons following her making the Paris Olympics team. Ichiyama's husband Kengo Suzuki, the former men's marathon NR holder, left the Fujitsu corporate team last fall to go it solo.
  • Kento Otsu, 34, announced he is quitting the Chuo Hatsujo team to retire and take a position on the Rikkyo University coaching staff after next month's Tokyo Marathon. Otsu helped Toyo University take the overall win at the 2012 and 2014 Hakone Ekidens, winning his stages in both races and named MVP of the 2014 Hakone for his role in helping Toyo take the overall title.
  • Kenta Murayama, 32, retired after last weekend's Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon. The U18 10000 m NR holder and until last month the fastest-ever Japanese half marathoner on U.S. soil, Murayama ran the 2013 United Airlines NYC Half Marathon while at Komazawa University along with Otsu.
  • Takuya Fujikawa, 33, retired from Chugoku Denryoku and the sport after the Marugame Half Marathon 2 weeks ago. A member of Sera H.S.' winning team at the 2009 National High School Ekiden, Fujikawa was captain at Aoyama Gakuin University when it won its first Hakone Ekiden title his senior year.
  • Kenji Yamamoto, 36, made a post-facto announcement that he was leaving Mazda and the sport after having run last weekend's National Corporate Half Marathon. Yamamoto was another member of Toyo University's 2012 Hakone Ekiden champion team and competed in both the Tokyo Olympics and Paris Olympics marathon trials races.
  • Ryo Kuchimachi, 31, will retire from competition and Subaru after Sunday's Ome 30 km Road Race. Kuchimachi won his stages at both the Izumo and National University ekidens in 2015, named MVP at Nationals for helping Toyo University claim its first national title.
  • Kazuma Taira, 31, is retiring from the Kao team and competition after the Tokyo Marathon. A stage winner at the National High School Ekiden, Taira was teammates with marathon NR holder Suguru Osako at Waseda University, his biggest achievement there being a 2nd-place finish on the Third Stage at the 2017 Hakone Ekiden.
  • Fuminori Shimo, 29, is leaving the sport and Toyota Boshoku after this weekend's Umashikuni Mie Ekiden. His 2nd year at Iga Hakuho H.S. Shimo won the Sixth Stage at the National High School Ekiden, coming back the next year to win the 10.0 km First Stage. Shimo went on to success at Komazawa University and Fujitsu before relocating to Toyota Boshoku in 2022.
  • 4 members of the Nishitetsu corporate team will leave at the end of March, the most prominent among them being yet another member of Toyo University's 2012 and 2014 Hakone champ teams, Keita Shitara, 34, twin brother of former marathon and half marathon NR holder Yuta Shitara who also runs for Nishitetsu. Keita's plans after leaving the team are unclear.
photo © 2017 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
text © 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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