Author: Roy Tomizawa

Takao Sakurai: A Golden Bolt from Out of the Blue

From the book
From the book “XVIII Olympiad Tokyo 1964_Asahi Shimbun”

He came from nowhere. Japan was expecting gold in wrestling, judo and women’s volleyball, but not boxing.

Takao Sakurai (桜井 孝雄) won his first match in the bantamweight class against Brian Packer of Great Britain, but no one outside the Korakuen Ice Palace took notice. He won his second match with ease against Ghanian Cassis Aryee, but there was still no interest. But when Sakurai easily outpointed Romanian Nicolae Puiu, people finally began talking about the kid from Chiba.

Japan experienced glory in boxing for the first time in Rome, when Kiyoshi Tanabe won bronze in the middleweight class. But when Sakurai defeated Washington Rodriguez of Uruguay, Japan had a boxer in an Olympic finals for the first time.

His opponent in the finals was Chung Shin-Cho of South Korea. From the beginning, Sakurai peppered Chung with stinging right jabs and hammered with hard lefts throughout the contest. Chung went down three times before the referee stopped the fight at 1 minute 18 seconds of the second round.

Takao Sakurai on the podium
Takao Sakurai becomes the first Japanese to win gold in boxing, and remained the only one until Ryota Murata did so in London in 2012.

Sakurai was perceived as a very cool competitor, sometimes overly so. When a reporter suggested it was surprising that Sakurai wasn’t brimming with tears of happiness after winning the gold, he replied, “I haven’t had any water to drink, so no tears to cry”.

American lightweight gold medalist, Sam Mosberg, at the 1920 Antwerp Games was a spectator and was quoted as saying that Sakurai was the most outstanding boxer at the Tokyo Olympics. He was “very aggressive and willing to fight,” Mosberg was quoted as saying at the Hospitality Center of the Takashimaya Department Store. Why the 68-year old Olympian was interviewed at a department store, I have no idea. But finally, everybody knew who Takao Sakurai was.

Watch this video on Sakurai. It’s in Japanese, but

Continue reading →

Golf Returns to the Olympics in 2016, but Will McIlroy Make it in Time?

See details about McIlroy’s ruptured anterior talofibular ligament – have no idea what that is, but it’s somewhere near the ankle.

In this image released Monday July 6, 2015 by world number one golfer Rory Mcilroy shows him as he poses on crutches and with his left leg in a medical support. McIlroy ruptured a ligament in his left ankle while playing soccer less than two weeks before the start of his British Open title defense. The Northern Irish golfer gave no indication how long he would be out in the announcement Monday July 6, 2015 on his Instagram account, only saying that he is
In this image released Monday July 6, 2015 by world number one golfer Rory Mcilroy shows him as he poses on crutches and with his left leg in a medical support. McIlroy ruptured a ligament in his left ankle while playing soccer less than two weeks before the start of his British Open title defense. The Northern Irish golfer gave no indication how long he would be out in the announcement Monday July 6, 2015 on his Instagram account, only saying that he is “working hard to get back as soon as I can.” (Rory McIlroy via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
Continue reading →

Steeplechase Champ Gaston Roelants

From the book, “Tokyo Olympics Special Issue_Kokusai Johosha”. Gaston Roelants is splashing to the lead.

I love etymology – the origins of words. Some people say that the classic American phrase – hunky dory – originated in Japan, although there are multiple explanations for this expression.

The etymology of the athletic discipline, the steeplechase, apparently has a clearer history – a traditional race in Ireland where horses or runners raced from church to church, jumping over narrow streams and low stone walls.

In 1964, the Belgian, Gaston Roelants, was the best steeplechaser in the world. The European Champion, Roelants came to Tokyo as the favorite, and he didn’t disappoint. He won the finals of the 3,000-meter race over hurdles and puddles in 8 minutes and 30.8 seconds, an Olympic record at the time.

There is relatively little video on the 1964 summer games on the internet, but thankfully you find nuggets, like this amateur film of Roelants running in the Tokyo Olympics. Roelants is at the head of the pack.

If you are a runner

Continue reading →

Playin’ Rugby in the Streets – Nihonbashi, Ginza

street rugby

When the new National Stadium opens for business, the first event won’t be the Olympics. Instead, the 2019 Rugby World Cup will christen the new stadium.

And in 2016, at Rio, rugby will return to the Olympics after a 92-year absence. To promote rugby in Japan, the Nihonbashi Neighborhood Association and Chuo Rugby Football Union held its inaugural Nihonbashi Street Rugby event on Sunday, July 5, in the heart of Ginza. Also partnering were the Australian and New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Japan.

It was cool and damp, but spirits were high in this very high-paced and energetic version of rugby. Take a look at this video!

Continue reading →

US – Japan: Who Will Win the Women’s World Cup?

http://img2-1.timeinc.net/people/i/2012/news/120820/olympics-soccer-1-600.jpg http://mychannel957.com/u-s-womens-soccer-team-loses-world-cup-final-to-japan/
http://img2-1.timeinc.net/people/i/2012/news/120820/olympics-soccer-1-600.jpg
http://mychannel957.com/u-s-womens-soccer-team-loses-world-cup-final-to-japan/

America and Japan haven’t had such a rivalry since the trade wars of the 1980s and 1990s.

When the Women’s World Cup Finals start on Monday morning from 8am JST, more than a few Japanese will be calling in sick, joining colleagues at a sports bar, or making furtive glances at their phones as they begin their work day.

Japan and the US are facing off in a women’s soccer championship for the third time in a row. Four years ago, Japan won in the World Cup. Three years ago, the US won in the London Olympics. Who will win tomorrow?

Here’s the breakdown of this burgeoning rivalry from the New York Times.

Continue reading →

Vesper Victorious Under Rockets Red Glare – A Dramatic Finish to One of America’s Greatest Rowing Accomplishments

The sun had already set as the eight-oared shells pulled out of the gloom and into a storybook finish. Life Magazine - October 30, 1964
The sun had already set as the eight-oared shells pulled out of the gloom and into a storybook finish. Life Magazine – October 30, 1964

When the rowers hit the 1,500 meter mark in the 2,000 race, the sky exploded with rocket’s red glare, bombs bursting in air. It was twilight’s last gleaming when the eight-oar team from America pulled across the finish line to win the gold medal in the premier rowing event at the 1964 Summer Games.

The eight men from the Vesper Boat Club of Philadelphia had pulled off an upset, beating Germany, the reigning champions since Rome in 1960.

The start of the race had been delayed by two-and-a-half hours due to winds that appeared to give unfair advantage to rowers in certain lanes. The organizers knew the final race of the day at the Toda Rowing Course would likely be in darkness, so they consulted with anyone and everyone to figure out how to create enough light to film the race, let alone see who won.

First they organized all the cars they could, and lined them up along one side of the rowing course. But the headlights of all those cars could not blanket the entire rowing course. What happened next is explained by Olympic official, Yushi Nakamura, in William Stowe’s excellent account of the championship team in the book, “All Together – The Formidable Journey to the Gold With the 1964 Olympic Crew”.

“Two or three races prior to the final of the eight it became dark and I saw many people gathered at the finish line attempting to shine automobile headlights across the course to assist the judges. Trouble was in those days photo film was not as fast as today and car headlights were not enough to shine across the 100 meters of the course at the finish. It would be fatal that the Japanese organizing committee could not record the result of the Olympic finals on film.

“Suddenly I got an idea. The Japanese Self Defense Forces had been deeply involved in the Olympic Games with their mobile electric power and equipment. At Toda they were present with the telecommunications equipment between the start and finish line and along the course. My idea was that perhaps they had a special tool to give enough light for our needs. Fortunately I was at 2050 meter mark next to their headquarters van. I approached the senior officer and asked, ‘DO you have any tool or equipment to help us?’

“He replied, ‘We have star shells. They can illuminate the course like in day time.’ “

As Nishimura continued to explain,

Continue reading →

Getting Rid of the Medal Award Ceremony – One Idea for Ridding the Olympics of Nationalism

Al Oerter Getting His Gold Medal; from the book
Al Oerter Getting His Gold Medal; from the book “The Olympic Century – XVIII Olympiad Vol 16”

I’m not sure if a lot of people liked Avery Brundage.

He served as president of the International Olympic Committee from 1952 to 1972. An American construction and hotel magnate, as well as a pentathlete and decathlete in the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games, Brundage was considered overly enthusiastic in assuring Olympic athletes received no financial reward in any way connected to their athletic pursuits.

While ignoring under-the-table payments of shoe companies to athletes for wearing their shoes, as well as the support and rewards provided by the Soviet bloc governments to their “amateur” athletes, Brundage was particularly strict with Americans getting any form of compensation.

Then there was his admiration for the Nazi regime in Germany, his refusal to shake the hands of Black American medalists, and his generally prudish exhortations in contrast to his extra-marital affairs and children.

Finally, in a move to condemn what he felt was an unnecessary swelling of nationalism in the Olympic Games, he suggested in a October 24, 1964 AP article that he wanted to eliminate the podium medal ceremonies from the Olympics. “In the first place, the national anthems are badly played,” he said in a press conference. “They are also monotonous and I think it would be better to play some sort of Olympic song.”

Thankfully, nobody took Brundage up on cutting the podium event, one of the most potent memories of most Olympic champions.

But maybe Brundage was right about the national anthem. Apparently the Tokyo Olympic organizers, in order to save time, established the practice of playing only the first

Continue reading →

Osamu “Animal” Watanabe – 189 Straight Victories in Wrestling

From
From “Tokyo Olympics Special Issue_Kokusai Johosha”
  • Byron Nelson won 11 PGA golf tournaments in a row.
  • Rocky Marciano went 49-0 in his boxing career.
  • Guillermo Vilas won 46 tennis matches in a row.
  • Edwin Moses won 122 straight in 400-meter hurdles
  • Cael Sanderson won 159 straight college wrestling matches

But Osamu Watanabe won 189 consecutive wrestling matches, as well as gold in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics

Watanabe competed in wrestling tournaments in Europe, America, Asia and won every match. He was known as the “Animal” for his strength, and as the “Swiss Watch” for his technique. He dominated in his career, and in the Tokyo Olympics, coming in as the favorite having won the 1962-1963 World Champion in the men’s featherweight freestyle division .

In the end, when Osamu Watanabe (渡辺長武) took down Soviet wrestler, Nodar Khokhashvili, he had won his 186th and final match without a blemish in the loss column. In fact, during the Tokyo Games, Watanabe was not even scored upon.

From the book
From the book “Tokyo Olympiad 1964”

After the Olympics, Watanabe joined a large Japanese advertising firm named Dentsu. Clearly, he had the itch. In 1970, while at Dentsu, he took part in an All-Japan wrestling tournament in which he wrestled once, and won. Make that 187 in a row.

Even more amazing, 17 years later, at the age of 47, 23 years after his triumph in Tokyo, Osamu “Animal” Watanabe came out of retirement to compete at the All Japan Wrestling Championship, with a hope to represent Japan again at the Seoul Summer Games in 1988. And yes, he won two more…before succumbing to time, losing, and ending a streak that is still unfathomable.

A career record of 189 – 1. Perfect

To watch Watanabe take down Khokhashvili, start watching this video from the 35 second mark.

Continue reading →