Kōkichi Tsuburaya

Tsuburaya competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan, finishing sixth in the 10,000m event and lining up for the marathon as well, on the final day of competition.Tsuburaya entered the stadium second, but was overtaken on the final lap by the furious sprint of Britain's Basil Heatley and finished third, earning the bronze medal.Tsuburaya was mortified by the loss to Heatley, saying to fellow marathoner Kenji Kimihara, "I committed an inexcusable blunder in front of the Japanese people.On January 9, 1968, he committed suicide by slashing his wrist in his dormitory room where he had stayed during his training period for the Mexico City Olympics.Yukio-kun, Hideo-kun, Mikio-kun, Toshiko-chan, Hideko-chan, Ryosuke-kun, Takahisa-kun, Miyoko-chan, Yukie-chan, Mitsue-chan, Akira-kun, Yoshiyuki-kun, Keiko-chan, Koei-kun, Yu-chan, Kii-chan, Shoji-kun: May you grow up to be fine people.
JapaneseSukagawaFukushimaNerimaLong-distance running10,000 metersmarathonathletics1964 Tokyomarathoner1st lieutenantJapan Ground Self-Defense Force1964 Summer OlympicsAbebe BikilaBasil HeatleyKenji KimiharaHinomarulumbagosuicidedried persimmonsWhiting, RobertThe Japan TimesThe New York TimesJapan Championships in Athletics5000 metresJuichi NagataniMasamichi KitamotoSeiichiro TsudaKohei MurakosoHerbert SchadeOsamu InoueSusumu TakahashiSaburo YokomizoBruce TullohSatsuo IwashitaKeisuke SawakiTsugumichi SuzukiToshiaki KamataHideki KitaHisatoshi ShintakuYutaka KanaiDouglas WakiihuriHaruo UrataThomas OsanoBrahim BoutayebAloÿs NizigamaKatsuhiko HanadaHisayuki OkawaSimon MainaJulius GitahiToshinari TakaokaTakayuki MatsumiyaYuichiro UenoYuki SatoKota MurayamaSuguru OsakoHiroki MatsuedaYuta BandoHyuga EndoKazuya Shiojiri10,000 metresShizo KanakuriBill BaillieAkio UsamiKunimitsu ItōKozu AkutsuMathias NtawulikuraKenji TakaoDaniel NjengaRyuji OnoKensuke TakezawaTetsuya YoroizakaAkira AizawaTatsuhiko Ito