This monument in Higashi-Yuenchi Park marks “The birthplace of the marathon in Japan” in Kobe in 1909. Japan’s largest marathon competition is now held in Tokyo each year. There is a great side story about Japan’s first Olympic marathoner. During the 1912 Summer Games in Stockholm, Shiso Kanakuri failed to finish the race and never notified officials. Consequently, he was listed as missing. In 1967, at the age of 75, he was invited back to cross the finish line. His time: 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 5 hours and 32 minutes. Lest you think Kanakuri was really slow, he did hold three marathon records during his career.
