This card is an ad for a Japanese television series based on the life of Shizo Kanakuri 金栗 四三. He was a Japanese marathon runner and is considered the father of marathon in Japan.
Kanakuri qualified to attend the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. Japan only sent two athletes and they had to pay for their own travel expenses. It took Kanakuri 18 days to get to Stockholm. He took a ship to Russia and then traveled on the Trans-Siberian Railway. He needed five days to recover from the journey. The day of the marathon, the temperature was 25°C. Kanakuri was weakened by the journey to Sweden, had problems with the midnight sun, and had troubles with the local food. His coach, Hyozo Omori, was bedridden due to tuberculosis during his stay in Sweden. Halfway through the race, Kanakuri pulled out and was taken care of by a local family. Embarrassed, Kanakuri returned back to Japan without notifying race officials. Rumours that he disappeared swirled in Sweden.
Kanakuri was selected for the 1916 Olympic team, but it was cancelled due to the First World War. He participated in the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp and placed 16th. He also ran in the 1924 Olympics in Paris, but he failed to finish the race.
He helped establish the Hakone Ekiden (Tokyo-Hakone Round-Trip Ekiden Race 東京箱根間往復大学駅伝競走) in 1920. It is a big university relay marathon held on January 2 & 3. There are five legs each day. Runners begin in Tokyo on day 1, with the last leg on day two finishing back in Tokyo. The runner considered the most valuable runner wins the Shizo Kanakuri Trophy. It was first awarded in 2004.
Kanakuri died at the age of 92 on 13 November 1983 in Tamana.
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