Kiichiro Toyama

After graduating from Tokyo Higher Normal School, Kiichiro Toyama started teaching at the Kumamoto Normal School. During this time, he competed in gymnastics at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. After World War II, he served as leader of the Japanese team at the 1954 World Championship in Roma and as referee at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. In 1951, he became responsible for radio calisthenics and popularized it in Japan. Toyama was then professor at the Chiba University until 1975 and subsequently at the Tokyo Women’s College of Physical Education until 1982. He also served as vice chairman of the Japan Gymnastics Association and published various books about gymnastics.