Fukushima Narihiro and Tago Yuki, both graduates of the Hosei University track and field team, are five years apart in age and never competed together on the university track and field team. However, they now work as stylists at Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi Main Store, specializing in men's clothing, accessories, men's shoes, and men's accessories, as well as sports. The Hakone Ekiden (Tokyo-Hakone Intercollegiate Ekiden Race), which has become a New Year's tradition, is just around the corner!
With Ugo from Isetan Sports Gate as the moderator, Toshiyuki Aono of On Japan, who ran the 10th leg of the Hakone Ekiden when he was a fourth-year student at Kokugakuin University, will continue the discussion about the "real Hakone Ekiden."

How Hakone Ekiden runners were born

Now , let's hear from everyone about their running careers leading up to their time at university.

I played soccer at Fukushima Elementary School, and when I participated in a city-wide ekiden (long-distance relay race) in the fourth grade, I thought, "I'm faster than everyone else," and I thought I might be able to do well in track and field, so I joined the track and field club in junior high school. The reason I aimed for Hakone was because there was a runner named Kazuyoshi Tokumoto at Hosei University, who stood out with his sunglasses and brown hair, and I saw him on TV winning the first leg of the 76th Hakone Ekiden (2000) by a wide margin, and I thought, "I want to run in Hakone for Hosei too."

I started playing soccer in a club team in the third grade of elementary school, and I was fast at running in elementary school. I chose track and field as my club activity in junior high school, and although I continued playing soccer, I kept improving my records when I ran, and the more I worked hard, the more I was able to stand on the podium, so from the second year of junior high school I focused solely on long-distance running.


Minoru Aono played the trumpet in the brass band at elementary school. The Nihonbashi Junior High School in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, which he entered, had a prestigious brass band, and the advisor was also his homeroom teacher, so he was invited to join. However, his older brother was on the track and field team and ran long distances, so he was told, "Why don't you do track and field?" and that's what he decided on. He was slow in his first and second years of junior high, but in the spring of his third year, he broke the 10-minute barrier for the first time in the 3000 meters and discovered the joy of running.
When I entered Kokugakuin Kugayama High School, everyone around me was fast, and I couldn't keep up every day. But in my third year of high school, I suddenly found myself at the top, and I thought, "I'll run in college too." I really felt myself getting faster in high school, so I enjoyed practicing.

What are some of your fondest memories from your time on the university track and field team?