japan running news

At a signing ceremony in Tokyo on Jan. 23, Sony announced that it will enter into a sponsorship agreement with World Athletics for 2024 through 2026. Beginning with the Glasgow World Indoor Championships on Mar. 1 and running until the end of 2026, Sony will provide sponsorship support for all events in the World Athletics Series. Sony subsidiary Hawk-Eye will provide services to assist in referees' decision making, contributing to fair and impartial competition management. At the signing ceremony Sony president Hiroki Totoki commented, "Through the integration of World Athletics' knowledge and know-how with Sony technology we will bring all the excitement of athletics to a wider range of people than ever before, from hardcore fans to the kids." World Athletics top Sebastian Coe added, "It brings me great pleasure to announce signing this deal with one of the leaders in the history of technology and innovation. Thank you for believing in the sport of athletics...

On Mar. 19 it was learned that 2008 Beijing Olympian Kensuke Takezawa , 32, has been named head coach of the Osaka Keizai University track and field team. Previous head coach Kunihiro Tsurutani had led Hotoku Gakuen H.S. to six National High School Ekiden titles before taking over at Osaka Keizai. He passed away last year. Takezawa was coached by Tsurutani at Hotoku Gakuen H.S. A native of Hyogo prefecture, Takezawa went on to Waseda University where he ran the Hakone Ekiden all four years. As a student athlete he ran the 10000 m at the 2007 Osaka World Championships. A year later he ran the 5000 m and 10000 m at the Beijing Olympics. He retired from competition in 2017. source article: https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20190320-00050148-yom-spo translated by Brett Larner

On May 8 the organizers of the Nov. 3 Gunma Marathon held the first session of the Gunma Marathon 180 Day Project, a new training support program aimed toward first-time marathoners, at Jomo Hall in Maebashi. Project leader Wataru Okutani , head coach of the Subaru corporate team and a two-time World Championships marathon team member with a 2:08:49 best, took questions from the 26 participants and told them, "Don't try to do the impossible. It's the accumulation of the little things you do daily over a long span of time that make up the body of success." source article:  https://www.jomo-news.co.jp/sports/gunma/51035 translated by Brett Larner

Convicted of shoplifting from a convenience store in her hometown of Ashikaga, Tochigi, former World Championships marathoner and current restaurant employee Yumiko Hara , 36, has been arrested again on suspicion of shoplifting in Gunma following her previous conviction. The Maebashi District Prosecutor's Office Ota Branch has charged Hara with theft. The charges were brought on Mar. 2. According to the indictment, on Feb. 9 at about 8:45 p.m. Hara stole a bag of candy and two other items with a total value of 382 yen (~$3.60 USD) from a supermarket in Ota, Gunma. The Gunma Prefectural Police Department said that Hara was stopped by supermarket staff and then arrested by Ota officers on the current charges. Hara denied the charges, saying, "I meant to return the items before leaving the store." In November Hara was sentenced to one year imprisonment with a three-year suspension before implementation of the sentence for shoplifting makeup and food from a convenience ...

On Sept. 1 Jinsei Gakuen H.S. announced that it has named alumnus and two-time World Championships runner Yu Mitsuya , 32, as the new head coach of its track and field team. According to school officials, Mitsuya will transfer from his current position at the Toyota Kyushu corporation to assume his duties at the school by the end of the year. Longtime Jinsei Gakuen H.S. head coach Chikara Onishi passed away suddenly in mid-April at age 56. While searching for a replacement who could coach the team with expertise the school consulted with alum Mitsuya, famed in athletics circles for his record of success as an athlete. Mitsuya expressed his interest. Yu Shimoyama , 42, who has served as interim head coach and general manager since Onishi's passing, will continue as team manager. Mitsuya entered Jinsei Gakuen H.S. in April, 2000, leading the team to the National High School Ekiden all three years. After graduating he joined the Toyota Kyushu corporate team coached by Barcelona...

In a Summer Marathon, Even World-Class Athletes' Lives Are at Risk from Heat Stroke In order to prevent incidences of heat stroke among athletes and spectators alike at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, work is progressing at a fevered pitch to develop countermeasures against the heat in the stadium environs and along the marathon course. Local municipal governments are focusing their efforts on increasing the number of large trees along the course to improve shade, and on implementing road surface materials with heat shielding properties. In past Olympics and World Championships there have been cases of athletes suffering from dehydration and heat stroke, and the issue represents a major challenge for the Tokyo Games. Late July on Sotobori Avenue in Tokyo's Kanda neighborhood. Under the peak strength of the summer sun helmeted workers hoisted by cranes cut back the branches and leaves of trees lining the street by hand. It looks like ordinary pruning work, but...

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/1766072.html http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20170116-00000213-sph-spo translated and edited by Brett Larner The Sumitomo Denko corporate men's team announced on Jan. 16 that Kensuke Takezawa , 30, a 2008 Beijing Olympian in the 5000 m and 10000 m, has made the decision to retire from competition.  Via a statement from the company Takezawa said, "I will retire from active competition at the end of this season.  The last few years I haven't been able to produce good results, but the strong, heartfelt support and encouragement I've received from everyone has made it possible to keep going this long.  I sincerely thank you all.  Please continue to cheer on the Sumitomo Denko team." Takezawa graduated from Hyogo's Hotoku Gakuen H.S. before going to Waseda University , where he set the still-standing collegiate 5000 m record of 13:19.00 and as a fourth-year in 2009 broke the Hakone Ekiden Third Stage re...

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20160831-00000069-sph-spo translated and edited by Brett Larner The Monteroza corporation, operators of bar chains such as Shirokiya, Uotami and Warawara, announced this week that its track and field team will disband on Mar. 31, 2017.  Founded in April, 2003, the team produced athletes including its current head coach, five-time decathlon national champion and 2007 Osaka World Championships national team member Hiromasa Tanaka , his 2007 Worlds teammate in the 110 m hurdles Kenji Yahata , 2015 Tokyo Marathon 10th-placer Benjamin Ngandu and 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics bobsleigh team member Masaru Miyauchi .  In the off-season the team regularly held workshops for elementary school students to share the experience and enthusiasm of world-class athletes with the next generation. A company spokesperson commented, "It is very unfortunate that we will no longer be able to support the track and field team, but due to the necessity of impr...

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nnp/f_toshiken/article/203976 translated and edited by Brett Larner A former Japanese national representative at the World Championships is getting ready to take on his second marathon.  Injuries having forced him into retirement at just age 30, this time he will be running in a new role.  With two World Championships appearances on the track behind him, Yu Mitsuya will run the Nov. 8 Fukuoka Marathon as a guide runner for blind marathoner Misato Michishita , 38, already named as a member of the women's marathon team for next year's Rio de Janeiro Paralympics.  "I want to be a source of strength that will help Michishita on her road to Rio," Mitsuya said. A native of Kagawa prefecture, Mitsuya emerged as a star in high school before joining the Toyota Kyushu corporate team after graduating in 2003.  At Toyota Kyushu he was coached by Barcelona Olympics marathon silver medalist Koichi Morishita and trained alongside future Beijin...

http://gazoo.com/my/sites/0001453813/toyokyu/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=2116 translated and edited by Brett Larner click here for these and more photos from hosts Life Style Running and the Toyota Kyushu Booster Club Toyota Kyushu member Samuel Wanjiru pacing training partner Mitsuya in June, 2005 There was a major announcement at the post-race reception at a hotel in Takasaki following the New Year Ekiden.  After a 12-year career at the Koichi Morishita -coached Toyota Kyushu corporate team where he leaves a record of achievement including two World Championships teams and numerous track and ekiden records, Yu Mitsuya announced that he will retire from competition at the end of this season.  Other athletes quickly surrounded Mitsuya to throw him into the air in premature celebration. Wanjiru and Mitsuya on the way to Mitsuya's 27:41.10 Japanese-soil record in June, 2005 Mitsuya currently plans for his final race to be the Feb. 21 Fukuoka International Cross...

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2013/02/03/kiji/K20130203005119660.html translated and edited by Brett Larner With a 2:09:43 best, 32-year-old veteran Tomoyuki Sato  (Team Asahi Kasei) lost touch with the lead pack midway through Sunday's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon , finishing 10th in 2:16:05.  Sato ran the 2007 World Championships marathon, but in recent years his body has grown more and more reluctant to cooperate.  With nothing but more changes lying in wait as he faces the rest of his career as an athlete, post-race in Oita he said, "I'm basically saying now that I'm going to give it one more year.  I want to get myself back together for one more big marathon and leave on a good note."  With this self-imposed deadline on his retirement Sato has one year to make good.

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/west/west_sports/news/120124/wsp12012418010006-n1.htm translated and edited by Brett Larner On Jan. 24 ahead of her final race at the 31st Osaka International Women's Marathon this Sunday, Jan. 29, Kiyoko Shimahara  (Second Wind AC) toured the new course that was introduced last year, helping with her mental preparations for the main event.  At the same time, Beijing Olympics marathon gold medalist Constantina Dita  (Romania) did some light running in Osaka Castle Park near the athletes' village. Shimahara started her tour at around 6 a.m., checking out the section of the course from the turnaround at Dotonboribashi Minamizume on Midosuji Street to the finish at Nagai Stadium by car.  Comparing the new course to the old one, on which she finished 3rd at the 2006 Osaka International Women's Marathon, Shimahara said, "It's very fast and looks fast.  It made me think of the 2007 World Championships,"  [where she placed 6th] .

http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/sports/0002774254.shtml translated by Brett Larner Translator's note: This article came out a few days ago and covers the Tokyo Marathon two weeks ago, but I've been a fan of Okutani since Helsinki in '05 and didn't know he had run Tokyo. I had always hoped he would make it back. Going his own way separate from the professional running world, Wataru Okutani (35, Team Subaru) ran his final race at last month's Tokyo Marathon. It has been nearly three years since Okutani's life as a professional runner came to a sudden halt. Okutani was the leader of the 2007 World Championships Japanese marathon team when he fell seriously ill and was forced to withdraw from the team. "With this race finished I can say with a free and clear heart that it's over," said Okutani. He now plans to dedicate himself to coaching the next generation of athletes. As a student at Hyogo's Nishiwake Kogyo H.S., Okutani was a part of the school...

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/flash/KFullFlash20100215133.html translated and edited by Brett Larner Two-time World Championships marathoner Yumiko Hara, 28, announced on Feb. 15 that in April she will be joining Team Universal Entertainment where she will be coached by Yoshio Koide (Sakura AC). Hara won the 2005 Nagoya International Women's Marathon in her debut, going on to finish 6th in the Helsinki World Championships marathon. She also ran in the 2007 Osaka World Championships marathon. She quit Team Kyocera in March last year, and, unsuccesful in securing a place with another team, returned home to her native Tochigi Prefecture. Now looking to revive her career, Hara stakes her future on Koide's guidance and is hopeful that the new training environment will help her to return to peak level.

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nsp/item/112393 translated and edited by Brett Larner Team Kyudenko's Kazuhiro Maeda (28) will run the marathon later this month at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin after finishing 2nd overall in his marathon debut in adverse conditions at March's Tokyo Marathon. It will be Maeda's second-straight World Championships appearance, having run the 10000 m at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka. "I'm hungry for a medal, and that's how I'm going to run," he told a crowd of 300 supporters who gathered July 30 to see him off. Having booked his ticket to the World Championships Maeda isn't trying to take the easy way by hanging back from the competition. Facing the prospect of hot, taxing conditions he has made a firm decision to be among the leaders setting the undoubtedly fast pace. "I'll be up there cruising in the flow. If I fall off I'll do everything I can to hang on," he said with assurance. Howe...

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/flash/KFullFlash20090615111.html http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/sports/0002019671.shtml translated and edited by Brett Larner On June 15, Team Subaru announced that its leader Wataru Okutani, 34, a member of the 2005 and 2007 World Championships marathon teams, has retired from competition to take a coaching position on the Subaru staff. Okutani ran a PB of 2:08:49 at the 2006 Fukuoka International Marathon and was the fastest runner on the Japanese 2007 World Championships marathon squad, but shortly before the competition he had emergency internal surgery which forced him to withdraw. He spent the next year and a half trying to make a comeback but could never regain his prior form. Okutani was born in the town of Harima in Hyogo Prefecture and attended Nishiwaki Kogyo High School. In 1992 he was a member of Nishiwaki's winning team at the National High School Ekiden Championships. After unsuccessful stints with Team Daiei and Team Sekisui he jo...

http://www.kahoku.co.jp/news/2009/05/20090530t14040.htm translated and edited by Brett Larner The way back to a complete recovery can be steep and grim. The greatest young hope of Japanese women's distance running, 10000 m junior national record holder Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno), finished last of 35 entrants in the May 17 East Japan Jitsugyodan Track and Field Championships women's 5000 m, virtually staggering in to a 17:54.97. "This is the best I can do right now. More than being discouraged I just feel surprised." Just 19, she's learning the hard way the bitter taste of tears. "I've been injured and sick and....." Kinukawa trails off. Last year she was infected with an unidentified virus which caused her to miss most of the year including her dream of running in the Beijing Olympics. In October she resurfaced, breaking her own national record with a mark of 31:23.21 which cleared the Berlin World Championships A-standard. Having felt a total com...

http://www.fujitv.co.jp/sports/marathon/tokyomarathon2009/blog_0312.html translated by Brett Larner Among the top runners at this year's Tokyo Marathon are two hailing from the Kyushu region, Tomoyuki Sato (Team Asahi Kasei) and Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko). 28 year old Tomoyuki Sato was born in Fukuoka. At the first Tokyo Marathon in 2007 he was the top Japanese finisher and 2nd overall, earning himself a spot on the team for the 2007 Osaka World Championships where he was 13th in the marathon. "I always wanted to do the marathon," Sato says of his decision 10 years ago to join the powerful Team Asahi Kasei straight out of high school. April will mark the start of his eleventh year with the team. Departing from the 'Kyushu Boy' stereotype, Sato is soft-spoken and comes across as gentle and calm. Throughout the interview he is critical of himself, dropping phrases like "I completely failed," and "I'm not trying hard enough," in passing...

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nsp/item/75735 translated by Brett Larner 2007 Osaka World Championships men's 10000 m runner Kazuhiro Maeda (27, Team Kyudenko) is about to tackle 42.195 km for the first time. Maeda hopes to make the Berlin World Championships marathon team when he runs the Mar. 22 Tokyo Marathon . Only six Japanese men have ever broken 2:10 in their debut, but Maeda hopes to add his name to this exclusive list as he books his ticket out into the world. It's a highly anticipated debut. Maeda has been up against the world's best on the track, but for Berlin he is targeting the marathon. "That's what I want to go for this time," he nods. To make the team he'll have to take at least the top Japanese position in Tokyo, a flashy debut to be sure. "I want to break 2:10," he says enthusiastically, "and if things go well, under [2 hours] 9:30." Of all the Japanese marathoners in history, only six have run under 2:10. A 2:09:30 wo...

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20090310-OHT1T00211.htm translated and edited by Brett Larner Beijing Olympics marathoner Tsuyoshi Ogata (35, Team Chugoku Denryoku) held a press conference in Hiroshima on Mar. 10 to talk about his plans for the Mar. 22 Tokyo Marathon, where he will try to earn a place on his fourth-straight World Championships team. "I want to make this [World Championships] team clearly and without any ambiguity," he said, revealing that he still has the ambition to think about winning. The Tokyo Marathon will be Ogata's first race since finishing 13th in the Beijing Olympics marathon. Discussing his condition, Ogata showed some uncertainty as he admitted, "Things haven't been going smoothly, but I feel like it's coming together now. I'll be ready just in time, but you never know what's going to happen." Nevertheless, he was determined as he said, "I'm running this because I want to win. I want it to be a ra...