The Way of the Runner

The Way of the Runner A Journey into the Fabled World of Japanese Running

Welcome to Japan, the most running-obsessed nation on Earth and home to a unique running culture unlike anything Adharanand Finn, author of Running with the Kenyans, has even experienced. It may come as a surprise to many people, but Japan is the most running-obsessed country on earth. A 135-mile relay race, or "ekiden" is the country's biggest annual sporting event. Thousands of professional runners compete for corporate teams in some of the most competitive races in the world. The legendary "marathon monks" run a thousand marathons in a thousand days to reach spiritual enlightenment. Yet so much of Japan's running culture remains a mystery to the outside world, on par with many of the unique aspects of contemporary Japan. Adharanand Finn, the award-winning author of Running with the Kenyans, spent six months immersed in this one of a kind running culture to discover what it might teach us about the sport and about Japan. As an amateur runner about to turn 40, he also hoped to find out whether a Japanese approach to training might help him run faster. What he learns—about competition, team work, form, chasing personal bests, and about himself—will fascinate and surprise anyone keen to explore why we run and how we might do it better.
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Reviews

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Neil Murray@neilswmurray
4 stars
Oct 6, 2022

An enjoyable read on running and an insightful look at why the Japanese are so good at long-distance running. I also enjoyed learning about ekiden, something that’s incredibly popular in Japan yet I’d never heard of before.

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Vivek Chand@vivekc
3 stars
Aug 12, 2022

After reading “Running with the Kenyans” I was looking forward to this book because I enjoyed the first one. But was disappointed. This book was too focused around the philosophical aspects of Japanese running and the story itself was a bit slow. Yes I did learn more about the enigma of Japanese runners, but it was too long a story about something that could be told a lot easier or succinctly.

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Luke Leighfield@lukeleighfield
4 stars
Nov 18, 2021

I had no idea that Japan was so obsessed with running. One of their ekidens – a long-distance relay race that's unique to Japan – gets viewing figures equivalent to the Super Bowl. In this book, Finn moves to Japan to find out more about its obsession with the sport and what we can learn from it. If you're a runner, and even if you're not, it's a fascinating read. And it totally made me want to go back to Japan. "Running, too, can be a way to self-fulfilment. It has a purity, a power, a way of clearing the mind, of putting you in touch with your essence, that few other activities possess. Sometimes it may seem unlikely, as we creak and struggle along, our legs heavy and tired, but then come those moments when we break through and our bodies begin to feel light, strong, at one with the earth."

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Em@readbooklor
3 stars
Jan 30, 2024
Photo of Liam Byrne
Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
4 stars
Jan 17, 2022
Photo of luis martins
luis martins@luismrmartins
5 stars
Sep 29, 2021

Highlights

Photo of Sven Schmidt
Sven Schmidt@sven

I don't need to look down, I can feel it. My feet landing, crash, crash, crash, on the heel first each time. How is this happening? And then it all makes sense. This is why my achilles are hurting. I'm wearing minimal shoes, but once I get tired, my body starts to lose its form, it starts to collapse in on itself. My core still isn't strong enough to hold my form. Trip switches are being blown all over the place. Muscles are shutting down, saving themselves in case of emergency.

Page 168

Reminder how core strength is fundamental to running form.

Photo of Sven Schmidt
Sven Schmidt@sven

Rather than being frowned upon, the practice known as inemuri - or ’sleeping while present’ - is considered a sign of commitment to hard work. One day I'm invited to give a talk to a lecture hall of over two hundred students at Ritsumeikan University about my experiences in Kenya. Before I begin, the usual lecturer sidles over to me and whispers in my ear. ‘Lots of them will probably fall asleep while you're talking. Don’t be offended, it's normal.’

Page 128
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Sven Schmidt@sven

Small portions and restricted calories are buzzwords in the western health world right now, yet these things have been widely practised for years in Japan. The common Japanese phrase hara hachi bu means ‘Eat until you are eighty per cent full.’

Page 68
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Sven Schmidt@sven

At the heart of it is a fundamental difference in the perception of a person's place in society. One saying I hear repeatedly in Japan is The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. To western ears, this sounds terrible. It says, dont stand out, don't try to do anything different, but keep your head down and work together.

Page 36
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Sven Schmidt@sven

Kyoto also happened to be the birthplace of ekiden running. During Japans Edo period (1603 to 1868) couriers ran messages between Tokyo and Kyoto, the old Imperial capital. They used to stop at stations dotted along the way to rest and get refreshment, often passing the message on to another courier to carry along the next leg of the journey. lt was from this that the idea for ekiden races originated.

Page 25