Shizo Kanakuri (金栗 四三, 1891 – 1983; he died at the age of 92 in his hometown of Tamana) was a Kumamoto legend and the subject of an upcoming NHK drama. He became known as the “father of marathon” in Japan. Kanakuri was one of the only two athletes that Japan could afford to send to the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. The unusually balmy weather at the time disoriented most of the competitors, including, Kanakuri, who lost consciousness during the race and was cared for by a local farming family. Embarrassed by his inability to finish, he slunk back to Japan so secretly that he was actually listed as a missing person in Sweden for fifty years.
Perhaps the Swedes had not been reading their newspapers closely (to be fair, his name in Swedish apparently translates as “Kin Kastanjer Fyra”, the kind of name easy to overlook), Kanakuri was chosen to participate in the 1916 Summer Olympics (which were cancelled due to World War I), the 1920 Summer Olympics held in Antwerp, Belgium, where he finished the marathon race in 2 hours, 48 minutes and 45.4 seconds and placed 16th, and the 1924 Summer Olympics, where he failed to finish the race. Kanakuri is also known for his role in establishing the Hakone Ekiden relay marathon in 1920.
In 1967, though, a local TV studio discovered that he continued to exist in Japan. The television studio offered the opportunity to complete his run, which he did, setting a record for the longest marathon time: 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes and 20.3 seconds. He remarked, “It was a long trip. Along the way, I got married, had six children and 10 grandchildren.”
The reason I’m mentioning this is that NHK has chosen Kanakuri as the subject of their morning drama for 2018 (one may not overestimate the importance of the NHK morning drama), and a call has been sent out for extras. Applications are being accepted through March 29, and filming will be conducted in Kumamoto over two days, May 5 and 6. Details for application are available at this Kumanichi link, but the phone number is ＴＥＬ０９６８（５７）７５４８. - William
