KATHMANDU, Oct 5: An interaction program was held in Tokyo on Sunday to discuss sports journalist Nabin Aryal’s book, Nepal-Japan Sports Relations, with a large number of Nepalis living in Japan attending the event.
Speaking at Solmari Restaurant, Aryal said it took him two years to complete the book. He launched it in Nagoya on September 18, coinciding with the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.
Aryal, who has worked in sports journalism for 27 years, is also the first author to write a comprehensive history of Nepali sports. His first book, Chronicle of Nepali Sports, was published three years ago.
“I am happy to have launched the book in a city hosting a major event like the Asian Games,” Aryal said, thanking the Nepali community in Japan for its support.
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He said that although Nepal and Japan are marking 70 years of diplomatic relations, sporting ties between the two countries began even earlier.
“Sports helped bring Nepal and Japan closer after World War II. Their sporting relationship can be traced to the first Asian Games in New Delhi in 1951,” Aryal said. Nepali and Japanese athletes stayed in the same accommodation provided by host India, which he described as an early point of contact between the two countries.
The book traces several milestones in Nepal-Japan sporting relations. Japanese mountaineers arrived in Kathmandu in 1953 to climb Nepal’s mountains. Nepal participated in the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo and entered the Olympic movement through the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
It also covers Japanese mountaineer Yuichiro Miura, the first person to ski on Mount Everest, and Junko Tabei, the first woman to summit Everest, including the contribution of Nepali Sherpa guides to their achievements.
Aryal has also documented Japanese coaches who contributed to Nepali sports. They include judo instructor Ichizo Sakairi, volleyball coach Shunji Yanagita, gymnastics coach Masato Mori and Kiyoshi Nakamura, who trained legendary Nepali runner Baikuntha Manandhar.
The book recounts Nepal’s participation in the first FESPIC Games in Oita in 1975, where 13-year-old Surya Kumari Gurung and Shrilal Mahattar Chhetri won gold medals. Gurung’s performance impressed then Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko, who came down from the stands to shake hands with her.
It also recounts the death of Nepal’s chef de mission Naresh Adhikari during the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima.
NRNA Senior Vice President Robin Prasad Sherchan said the book could become an important reference for understanding Nepal-Japan sports diplomacy.
Former international footballers Ajar Adhikari and Basanta Gauchan also praised Aryal for documenting the sporting relationship between the two countries.
Japan-Nepal Football Association coordinator Shiva Khadka welcomed the book, while Japan-Nepal Friendship Association representative Sharad Kumar Gauchan said it would help readers understand how sports can bring countries and people closer together.
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