Kanakuri Shizou (金栗 四三, 1891 – 1983), a native of Tamana and long-time resident of Nagomi, was the first Japanese participant in the Olympic Games when he ran the marathon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics - well, he started in 1912, but as his time was 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes and 20.3 seconds, he didn’t finish until 1967. The reason for this can be read here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shizo_Kanakuri
He is still revered not just in Kumamoto but throughout Japan. The “KK” of the stadium most commonly known as “KK Wing” stands for “Kanakuri Wing,” and many races are named after him.
The reason I bring this up is that NHK recently announced that its 2019 Taiga drama (an annual serial regarding historical figures) will center on Kanakuri. It will be titled “Idaten - Tokyo Olympic Banashi” (いだてん～東京オリムピック噺 - basically, “(Run like) lightening - Tokyo Olympic Tale” - and, yes, I had to look up “いだてん” and “噺” - apparently, the road Kanakuri used to run to and from school is now called いだてんの通学の道).
The role of Kanakuri will be played by kabuki actor Nakamura Kankuro, and much of the filming will be done in Kumamoto. So that’s something to look forward to. The Kumanichi article is at the link. - William
