Hiroshima

A centenarian hibakusha, or atomic bomb survivor, who was selected Tuesday as one of the runners in the nationwide torch relay in Japan for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, expressed his joy and resolve to perform the mission.

Shoji Tomihisa, 102, will carry the Olympic flame for part of its journey through Hiroshima Prefecture in western Japan. Tomihisa, a resident of the city of Miyoshi in the prefecture, holds the Japanese record for the 100- to 104-year-old category of the 60-meter sprint in the World Masters Athletics competition.

“As time passes since the atomic bombing, my conviction to live and work hard, whatever it takes, grows stronger,” Tomihisa said at a press conference. “I hope my run will be a lesson to everyone, to say, 'my life is just beginning.'“

   He was a national railway staff worker at Bingo-Tokaichi Station, now Miyoshi Station, as of Aug. 6, 1945, the day of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city of Hiroshima. He was slated to head to Hiroshima Station on a train arriving there at 8:15 a.m. on the day, the exact time the bomb was dropped on the city. However, he got off the train just before its departure due to a change in plans. He learned about the bombing later.

Tomihisa later went to the city as a member of a rescue team to search for survivors. “The city was a boundless expanse (due to the destruction by the bombing), and I could not think about reconstruction at all,” he said. “All I had was a wish to save even one life.”

He was exposed to radiation from the atomic bomb during the search and rescue activity, and was recognized as a hibakusha.

Tomihisa started track athletics at the age of 97. He set the Japanese record for the 60-meter sprint for his age group when he was 100, clocking in at 16.98 seconds.

The centenarian does his own chores such as cooking, doing laundry and cleaning his house. He also works out every day with 200 to 300 pedal strokes on his bicycle, and trains at an athletics park in Miyoshi once a week. He recently started the shot put.

Tomihisa said he will prepare for the Olympic torch relay by training his muscles, which his doctor said have shrunk.

“I hope to stay positive and concentrate on running,” he said. “I want to fulfill my calling.”

Jiji Press