My running life

(Japan)
58 years ago, a runner was born at Shimonoseki City in Yamaguchi Prefecture in Japan. Let me introduce the runner, myself, through my sports history.
I was not much interested in doing sports in my childhood. All I did was to walk 3 km distance from my home to elementary and middle schools every day.
It was happened to me when I joined an annual running event at the Railway University at Kokubunji city where I learned to be a railway man after finishing high school. I won the race not only in the first year but also in the following two years.
After 3 years’ education and becoming a “railway man” I was transferred to a railway station in Fukuoka. I continued running until the age of 24 when I completed an entire marathon at the first time.

(South Korea)
A year later I changed my occupation to become a diplomat and stopped running due to busy work routine. I could easily have become interested in other sports like Karate when I was base in Tokyo with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo. I also became interested in mountain climbing and swimming which my girl friend loved very much when I was at the Japanese Embassy in South Korea.

(South Africa)
We married soon but it took 7 years to have a baby girl who was born in Pretoria, South Africa, In the beautiful and spacey circumstances I plunged into playing golf making my wife a golf widow.

(South Korea)
Then I moved to South Korea again and lived for 7 years in the harbour city of Busan doing nothing but working hard and drinking much Soju or Korean wine untill late every night. I eventually got fat and finally felt difficulty in walking up by steps when I came back to Japan. I realised the importance of exercise. My wife kindly forced me to play tennis that she loved most and was an excellent player as well.

(North Korea)
I lived in Japan for 4 years before leaving for North Korea to assume a new assignment in the International Organization called KEDO. There was nothing to do but to play tennis in the eastern part of the country where KEDO planned to construct two nuclear power plants. I made remarkable progress in playing tennis so that I could easily beat my wife.

(South Korea)
After 2 years in the workers’ paradise I bounded down for the south to Jeju Island in South Korea. The time had come when I resumed running. In June 2001, a marathon festival was held there and I was encouraged to enter the race of 10 km by one of my Korean friends. I ran the race and won the 3rd place in my age group of 50’s. This experience motivated me to run again.

(Taiwan)
I ran more than 60 races during the next posting in Taiwan. I was vitalized by Chinese style encouragement, saying Jia You which means putting oil into body.

(New Zealand)
After being transferred to “100% pure New Zealand”, a phrase used to promote tourism to that country. I trained even harder with aim of breaking my own marathon record set at the age of 24.

(Japan)
I now live in Tokyo and have joined 4 running clubs, I run around the Palace almost everyday and heed my daughter’s advice to limit myself to 6 marathons a year.

This old runner will keep running as long as and as far as possible. Whenever you see me running please cheer me up.