Japanese sports stars on the Olympic Torch Relay route: Shizuoka and Yamanashi
Athens 2004 hammer throw champion MUROFUSHI Koji and Tokyo 1964 volleyball legend KASAI Masae are among the most famous Japanese sports stars from Shizuoka and Yamanashi – the two prefectures set to host the Olympic Torch Relay this week.
The Olympic Torch Relay is now underway following the Grand Start ceremony in Fukushima and you can follow every step of its journey towards the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in 2021 right here on Tokyo 2020 with our livestream.
Tokyo 2020 takes a look at some of the athletes from Shizuoka and Yamanashi who've graced the sporting world over the years as well as those whose Olympic careers have just begun, as the world counts down the days until the start of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
IWASAKI Kyoko
Hometown: Shizuoka
Sport: Swimming
Claim to fame: At just 14 years and six days old, Iwasaki became an Olympic champion in the 200m breaststroke at Barcelona 1992. Having set a Japanese record in the preliminaries, Iwasaki went even faster in the final (2:26.65) to break the Olympic record. She not only became the second Japanese woman in 56 years to win gold in the event but the youngest person ever to win a gold medal in swimming, a record which Iwasaki still holds to this day.
MUROFUSHI Koji
Hometown: Shizuoka
Sport: Athletics
Claim to fame: Murofushi, the Olympic hammer throw champion at the Athens 2004 Games, became the first athlete in history from Asia to win gold in a throwing event. The now 46-year-old, who is the former sports director for Tokyo 2020, also won bronze four years later at London 2012 along with a medal in each colour at the World Championships during his illustrious career.
READ MORE: Trailblazers: MUROFUSHI Koji – “Awareness can be raised by setting higher goals.”
ITO Mima
Hometown: Shizuoka
Sport: Table tennis
Claim to fame: Ito is a prodigy in Japan. At the age of 10 she became the youngest person to win a match at the senior national championships. She went on to have a rapid rise in the sport, breaking into the top 10 of the world rankings at 14 and, a year later, winning Olympic bronze in the women's team event at Rio 2016.
As of December 2018, Ito has the highest winning rate against Chinese players in the history of women's table tennis. At Tokyo 2020, alongside mixed doubles partner MIZUTANI Jun, they are among the favourites to win gold.
READ MORE: Ito Mima: The biggest thread to Chinese table tennis dominance
KASAI Masae
Hometown: Yamanashi
Sport: Volleyball
Claim to fame: Kasai was the spiritual lynchpin of the Japanese women's volleyball team at Tokyo 1964. As captain of the national team, she had led Japan to a world championship title in 1962, beating the powerhouse Soviet Union. At the Olympic Games, two years later and in front of the home nation, the team conquered the Soviets again in a straight sets win. Kasai was later inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2008. She died in 2013.
READ MORE: The weight of Japan on women's volleyball
YONEMITSU Tatsuhiro
Hometown: Yamanashi
Sport: Wrestling
Claim to fame: Yonemitsu's win over India's Sushil Kumar in the final of the 66kg freestyle wrestling at London 2012 saw Japan win their first gold medal in the sport since Seoul 1988. His medal was also Japan's 400th medal in the country's Olympic history and also its 130th gold medal in the history of the Summer Olympics. Yonemitsu also became the first person from Yamanashi Prefecture to win an individual medal.