Mishima Yahiko (三島弥彦)
Yahiko MISHIMA (February 23, 1886 - February 1, 1954) was an athlete of track and field in the Meiji period. Mishima was the first national member of Japan in modern Olympics. Mishima's given name Yahiko (弥彦) was also written as 彌彦. His father was the Superintendent-General of the Metropolitan Police Department, Michitsune MISHIMA, and his older brother was a banker, Yataro MISHIMA.
Career
He was from Kojimachi Ward, Tokyo Prefecture (current Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo).
He lost his father at the age of 2. After learning at Gakushuin School, he entered the law school of Tokyo Imperial University (present University of Tokyo).
Mishima was more than 170 centimeters in height when adult males were about 155 centimeters on average in those days. During learning at Gakushuin, he became an ace and captain in the baseball club, and also played at the first string in the boat club. Mishima mastered skiing when he was a student of Tokyo Imperial University. In addition, he was a second grade holder in judo, and also played horseback riding and sumo, besides he was good at skating enough to participate in competitions. In his younger days he enjoyed sports considerably like that. Also, he had an established reputation not only as a player but also as a referee, and he had often acted as referee in the Waseda versus Keio games.
In 1911, when Mishima began to be fascinated with athletic sports, he was requested to join as a member of referees committee for 'Olympic Preliminary Competition' held in Haneda playfield to determine national members for the fifth international Olympic game that would take place in Stockholm, Sweden. Although Mishima declined the offer, since he had always really liked sports and knew the event, he planned to go with his schoolmates and watch it from the outside of the track.
However, he unofficially joined the competition, because, according to his later reflection, 'his intrinsic aggressiveness emerged in his mind and he could not put up with watching the game silently, so anyway he decided to join and run regardless of his lack of practice for years.'
As a result, he won a first prize in 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter run, a second prize in 200-meter run.
In a preliminary competition, Kinichi GOTO won in standing high jump, Sukekatsu IZUMITANI won in standing long jump, and Morizo SHIMODA won in running long jump, respectively. However, mainly because of the budget problem for sending the delegation to Stockholm, Shiso KANAGURI who was expected to participate in marathon race and 10000-meter run, and Mishima was the only two chosen as the member of national team. Thereafter, every Saturday both Mishima and Kanaguri learned various techniques and knowledge of track and field from Kileson who was a secretary of the American embassy. By such lessons, his record of 400-meter run in the preliminary competition 59.30 seconds was shortened to the 50.00 seconds'.
However, he suffered from his own question 'whether to go to Europe for a mere foot race' as well as from the lack of understanding by the Ministry of Education which misunderstood that a student of national school was sent off to a sports show by Westerner. Nevertheless, he decided to postpone his graduation exam of the university and participate in the Olympics, encouraged by the support of schoolmates and chancellor of Imperial University (graduation ceremony was scheduled during the Olympics).
In May 16, 1912, Mishima departed from Shinbashi Station (present site of Shiodome Station of Japan National Railways) to Stockholm, sent off by his family and members of 'Tengu Club' that was a sports social club he belonged to, and members of 'Tokyo Club' that was an alumni organization of baseball club of Keio Gijuku that he had a relationship through baseball games.
In July 6, 1912, Mishima appeared in a opening ceremony as a flag-bearer. One Japanese reporter told about the situation of the ceremony that the loneliness of the parade consisting of only two participants drew spectator's sympathy.
Mishima took part in a preliminary short-distance run in that afternoon, but he was soon eliminated in the initial 100-meter preliminary race by more than a second behind the winner. He could not ask advice of Kileson in such remote country, Sweden, so he was completely depressed and told Shiso KANAGURI as the following.
Kanaguri, it seems impossible for Japanese to compete in short-distance run.'
In the following 200-meter preliminary race, Mishima ended up in the lowest rank defeated by the sprinters from England, America and Germany. In 400-meter preliminary race, Mishima got the right to compete in semifinal partly because an American athlete Ralph Craig who won gold medals in 100 and 200-meter sprint abstained expressing modesty toward other athletes.
However, he abandoned his right because of 'the intense ache in his right leg.'
Many recent research materials tend to argue the reason of his abandonment as 'mental and physical fatigue' or 'no chance to win.'
After Kanaguri finished all the competitions, Mishima, delegation chief Kano, and Kanaguri pledged together to revenge in Berlin Olympics that would be held 4-year later in 1916, and left Sweden before the closing ceremony to go to Germany where next Olympics would take place. There they inspected the Olympics site and so on, and bought sports goods such as shot and javelin unknown yet in Japan, then went back to Japan on February 7, 1913.
The Berlin Games was cancelled due to the outbreak of World War I, and the following Antwerp Olympics took place in 1920 after 8-year interruption. However, Mishima did not appeared even in the preliminary contest, perhaps because his physical ability had already declined from the original level that had enabled him to participate in Olympics.
Mishima graduated from Tokyo Imperial University in 1913 and entered Yokohama Shokin Ginko (Yokohama Specie Bank) at which his brother Yataro had been working. After serving as manager of Qingdao City branch, in 1939 Mishima returned to the head office to become auditor. He completely retreated from the sports circles after his graduation from the university, and he hardly appeared in the media until he died on February 1, 1954 in Meguro Ward, Tokyo.
Personality
Mishima had a gentle character for a sportsman, perhaps because he was well-brought-up person. A novelist Shunro OSHIKAWA, a key figure of Tengu Club, described Mishima as the following.
'Mishima is a great optimist.'
He is an easygoing man.'
'He is a broad-minded, indifferent to trifles, and absolutely generous person.'
As a versatile sportsman, Mishima enjoyed high popularity among students and young people, and he was selected as the top under the sportsman category by reader's vote at an event 'the vote on the ten most heroic men' performed by ''Adventure World'' magazine.