Torahiko Miyahata

After moving from Kochi to Tokyo, Torahiko Miyahata was a member of the Japanese 4 x 200 m freestyle relay team at the 1924 Paris Olympics. His first international appearance was at the 1923 Far Eastern Games in Osaka. One year after Paris, Miyahata represented Japan in a meet against the US. He served as manager of the Japanese swimmers at the 1927 Far Eastern Games and the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam.

After graduation, Miyahata worked as a teacher and also for the Kanto Board of Education. After the end of World War II, he was recruited to work for the Social Affairs Bureau in the Chinese city of Dalian. Three years later, he returned to Japan and was appointed a professor at Kanazawa University. Later, he worked as an inspector for the Ministry of Education and as a professor at Tokyo’s Gakugei University. He retired in 1966 but continued to work as a professor at Japan Women’s Sports University and in 1978 was named the managing director of Nikaido Gakuen Educational Association. At the age of almost 80, he went to the United States and lectured at the St. Monica College of Physical Education.

Torahiko Miyahata was inducted into the Kochi Sports Hall of Fame and was appointed an Honorary Citizen of his hometown Nakamura, now part of Shimanta.