Kanakuri grew up in a rural town called
Nagomi on the island of
Kyūshū to a family that sold
sake. Every day, he ran nearly four miles to school. In November 1911, at the age of 20, Kanakuri raced in the domestic trials for the
1912 Stockholm Olympics where he reportedly set a
marathon world record at 2 hours, 30 minutes and 33 seconds, although the course was just . He was selected as one of
the two Japanese athletes to attend the event. Both athletes had to pay their own travel expenses of 1,800 yen, and Kanakuri's classmates conducted a nationwide fundraiser which collected 1,500 yen. Shizo's oldest brother, Sanetsugu Kanakuri, collected 300 yen. To prepare, he trained with
Kano Jigoro, the founder of judo. When he finally arrived in Stockholm, Kanakuri was weak from the long journey. To make matters worse, he struggled to sleep during the
white nights, and he had problems with the local food. The Japanese team coach,
Hyozo Omori, was mostly bedridden due to
tuberculosis and failed to give Kanakuri sufficient pre-race training. The race was held near
Stockholm amidst a heat wave. Throughout the race, dozens of competitors dropped out, including runner
Francisco Lázaro, whose mid-race collapse and subsequent death made him the first Olympic fatality. The reigning Olympic gold medalist
Johnny Hayes called the event a "disgrace to civilization." Kanakuri, too, experienced debilitating
hyperthermia. About sixteen miles into the race, an exhausted Kanakuri left the course and desperately stumbled into a nearby garden party, where he drank orange juice for an hour. Embarrassed by his failure, he silently returned to Japan without notifying race officials. Since Kanakuri did not finish, race officials gave the consolation prize, a large wooden spoon, to a Russian. Kanakuri's disappearance spurred humorous stories in Sweden about the supposedly lost Japanese runner. Sweden added Shizo Kanakuri to its missing persons list, and his name remained there for fifty years.
Later running career Despite this, Kanakuri was selected to participate in the
1916 Summer Olympics, which were subsequently cancelled due to
World War I. Kanakuri did compete in the
1920 Summer Olympics held in
Antwerp, where he finished in 16th with a time of 2 hours, 48 minutes and 45.4 seconds. Kanakuri subsequently participated in the
1924 Summer Olympics, where he failed to finish
the race.
Return to Sweden A Swedish reporter discovered him working as a geography teacher in southern Japan He accepted. Immediately upon arriving in Sweden, he "jumped off the plane" and "jogged around the tarmac" to warm up his legs, and "showed great vigor" according to the
Associated Press. While he was in Sweden, Kanakuri returned to the garden villa, where he had gulped orange juice. He met Bengt Petre, the son of his original hosts. While they drank more orange juice, Bengt Petre explained that one of the Petre family's treasured heirlooms was the scroll with Japanese writing that Kanakuri had given the family to thank them for their hospitality. Upon inspecting the scroll, Kanakuri sadly told the family, "It is just an old customs form." ==Personal life==