Tokyo Paralympics Notebook - Day 9
Sports Chief Administrative Secretary Simon Kachapin (fourth right) when he paid a courtesy call on Kenya's Ambassador to Japan Tabu Irina (fourth from left) and embassy staff on September 1, 2021.
What you need to know:
- Ambassador Irina was at the men’s and women’s marathon races in Sapporo where she handed over the national flag to Eliud Kipchoge and Peris Jepchirchir after their victories
- The Nagoya Women’s Marathon has announced its plan to hold the Nagoya Women’s Marathon 2022 with 22,000 participants, on the same scale as before the Covid-19 pandemic started
- Japan’s vehicle industry is already adjusting to this wave of electrification, with petroleum and diesel engine-related subcontractors forced to go out of business
CAS Kachapin lauds Kenyan embassy role in Olympics, Paralympics
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Sports Chief Administrative Secretary Simon Kachapin Wednesday paid a courtesy visit to Kenya’s embassy in Meguro district of Tokyo, paying glowing tribute to Ambassador Tabu Irina and her staff at the mission for supporting Kenya’s Olympic and Paralympic Games campaigns despite the difficult circumstances.
All diplomatic missions in Tokyo were warned against unmitigated physical encounters with delegations from their countries which means that officials of the Kenyan embassy could not even attend the competitions involving Kenyans, except under exceptional circumstances.
That notwithstanding, Ambassador Irina and her team have been engaging with Team Kenya virtually, making them feel comfortable and at home. Ambassador Irina was at the men’s and women’s marathon races in Sapporo where she handed over the national flag to Eliud Kipchoge and Peres Jepchirchir after their victories. A good sport indeed!
Largest women’s marathon makes bold move, resumes normalcy
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The successful hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Games under troubled coronavirus circumstances will most certainly see many other events open up, especially next year.
Already, the Nagoya Women’s Marathon has announced its plan to hold the Nagoya Women’s Marathon 2022 with 22,000 participants, on the same scale as before the Covid-19 pandemic started.
The race will be hosted in Nagoya city on Sunday, March 13, 2022. Launched in 2012, the Nagoya Women’s Marathon is the world’s largest women’s marathon certified by Guinness World Records and the only women’s race granted a World Athletics Platinum Label.
The event hosted 21,436 runners in 2019, but due to the Covid-19 outbreak, it only staged the elite race with 110 athletes in 2020. The 2021 race on March 14, 2021, was held as the first mass participation road race held in Japan after the Covid-19 pandemic started and welcomed 4,704 domestic runners with 4,800 runners competing virtually from around the world.
Brace yourselves! No petrol cars from Japan from 2040… just electric
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From 2040, Japan is expected to end the production of normal vehicles that run on fuel, instead manufacturing electric automobiles.
Japan’s vehicle industry is already adjusting to this wave of electrification, with petroleum and diesel engine-related subcontractors forced to go out of business. In April, Honda Motor Co. announced that by 2040 all its new vehicles sold worldwide will be powered by electric and hydrogen fuel cells.
The announcement was followed by reports that Osaka Giken Co., manufacturers of casting equipment for petrol engine, stopped receiving the orders it had expected. “Electrification is going at an unimaginable pace, so sub-contractors focusing only on engines cannot find a way to survive,” Osaka Giken President Ryuzo Ohde was quoted as saying by local media. “Business operators and engineers should change their mindsets and hurry to develop the technology and products needed for electric vehicles. Otherwise, they will lose most of the world’s markets” he warned.
