It's a tradition that the Olympic flame travels around the world, passing from runner to runner on its way to the summer games, and this year one of the runners has a Hot Springs connection.
Masanori Kashiwaba, 69, the secretary-general of the Hanamaki Homestay Association who has supported the Hot Springs Sister City Program since its inception, was one of the runners who carried the Olympic torch.
With his son, Kohei, as interpreter, Kashiwaba recently spoke to The Sentinel-Record via Zoom about the experience.
"I was very excited and emotional," he said.
"Before I got to the point (where I received the flame) I was really nervous, but once I got there a lot of people were waving and I started feeling very excited, so while I was running, I was not nervous at all," he said.
"I felt like I was Mickey Mouse for the parade like I was at Tokyo Disneyland," Kashiwaba said.
His time with the flame wasn't long, he said. "It was very short. It was only like 200 meters," which took him about two minutes to walk before he passed the flame to the next person.
Kashiwaba was originally selected to run with the torch on June 19, 2020, prior to the Olympics being delayed, but instead, he ran with it on June 18, 2021.
The crowd was small, he said, noting, "I think everyone wanted to come, but due to the COVID-19 I think the crowds and the capacity of the audience was kind of limited."
One of those in the crowd was his son Kohei. "I was very proud," he said of watching his father run by. He also participated in the torch relay by serving as the emcee at the torch relay in Hanamaki. Following the relay, he took a train to Shiwa Town to watch his father's run with the torch.
This was Kashiwaba's second time seeing the Olympic torch in person. When he was 13, he watched the torch pass by in Japan.
On getting to both see the torch as a teenager and then carry it as an adult, he said, "I know it was a rare experience, so I was lucky enough to do that myself." But he noted that in 1964 he didn't understand the significance of the torch.
"At the time I was only 13 years old, and I didn't quite understand the meaning of the Olympic Games at the time. So I thought, 'Oh, it's just a torch coming by,' and it had a lot of smoke, so I thought it was just like a locomotive train coming, passing by," he said.
"After that, I watched the Olympic Games on TV and finally understood the meaning of the Olympic Games, it was for the world peace. Of course, it's for the athletes, but I know it's a very special event because unless we are in a state of peace, we can't have the Olympic Games anywhere in the world," Kashiwaba said.
During the interview, Kashiwaba was holding the torch he ran with.
"Actually, I bought it," he said, noting that "about 30% of this material came from recycled aluminum" from temporary houses that were "built for the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake" in 2011.
When asked why he has supported the Hot Springs Sister City Program all this time, Kashiwaba said, "Because I like the people of Hot Springs."
"I've been involved in this Sister City program for about 30 years now, and I made a lot of friends there. They're very friendly. They're very warm. So, I truly like the people of Hot Springs, and that's why I support the program," he said.
Kashiwaba said he has visited Hot Springs twice, in 1997 and again in 2018 for the anniversary of the program. When student delegations from Hot Springs visit Hanamaki, he lets them stay at his home while they are in town.
"When we have guests from Hot Springs, we let them homestay with us," he said.
"The kids get to see the world, experience different culture, different lifestyle, so they know there are many different kinds of people in the world, and I think that's their first step to meet the world peace," Kashiwaba said.
"I think when a lot of people think of Japan, they think of Tokyo, right, the big city, but when they come to Hanamaki, it's completely different, and they get to experience differences even in Japan, so I think that's a very good experience, very good program for the kids," he said.
Due to the pandemic, student delegations were unable to travel from the two cities in 2020 and will not be able to this year either. Kashiwaba said he is looking forward to the delegations returning once it is safe to do so.
"We are looking forward to welcoming the people from Hot Springs to Hanamaki," he said.
