Remarks by Ambassador Akio ISOMATA at the reception celebrating the 66th Birthday of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan (February 25, 2026)
2026/2/25
Ayubowan, Wanakkam, Assalam alaikum, Konbanwa!
Thank you very much for attending tonight's reception to celebrate the 66th Birthday of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan. I am very happy to be able to celebrate it with you all.
"The Runner Wearing Number 67" and other untold stories
Let me start with an exciting, yet somewhat emotionally moving topic, the Olympic Games. Three days ago, the Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Games 2026 came to a close. Japan earned a total of 24 medals, including 5 gold medals. “Good job” to the Japanese athletes and “Congratulations” to all the medalists and participants from around the world. Sri Lanka didn't send athletes there as it has never done so to Winter Olympic Games. So, to talk about the Olympic Games and Sri Lanka, I want to take you back to the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, not to the recent one five year ago, but to the one further back in 1964. Please bear with me for the following episode of "The Runner Wearing Number 67."
It was the fifth day of the Tokyo Olympics of 1964. The men's 10,000 meter run was the highlight of the day. About 70,000 people were in the National Stadium. 4 pm in the afternoon, the spectators went quiet. Their eyes were focused on the 38 runners at the starting line. Then, the starting pistol sounded, and the race began.
It is one of the longest and toughest races in sports. For the race, the runners had to run 25 times around the 400-meter track. In this particular race, after ten laps or so, some runners had to give up and dropped out. Then, in the last 80 meters, three runners dashed forward. An American runner crossed the finishing line first. The audience were excited. When the last runner crossed the line, everyone thought the race was over. However, that runner didn't stop. He just continued, all alone. Some people laughed and shouted, "Hey, he's a lap behind!" But he kept on running after crossing the finishing line again. "He's still running. Is he two laps behind?" The spectators were puzzled. There were even jeers and sneers. "Who's that runner?" people wondered. They looked at the program. "Number 67, from Ceylon." His name is Karunananda. As Karunananda continued to run, everyone's eyes began to focus on him. Then, suddenly, he started to speed up. It was his last lap — actually, he was three laps behind.
Now nobody was laughing. Instead, words of encouragement were heard. "Keep going, Ceylon!" "Hang in there!" The spectators now understood what was happening. He just wanted to run to the end. Soon, everyone was cheering him on. Some were watching with tears in their eyes. When at last Karunananda crossed the finishing line, he got a huge cheer from the audience.
After the race, Karunananda explained his side of the story. "I had a bad cold this week, but I was chosen to run for my country. So, my only goal was to run the whole race. That's what I did, and I'm happy with that." And then he added, "I have a little daughter back in my country. When she grows up, I will tell her: 'Your father didn't win that race, but he never gave up!'" Karunananda became a hero and showed the true spirit of the Olympics: the most important thing is not to win but to take part. The headlines of the local newspapers next day went like; "He ran the last three laps all by himself!" "Congrats to the winner, and glory to the last runner!" This story of Karunananda was widely adopted in the Japanese elementary school textbooks in 1970s with the title "The Runner Wearing Number 67" to nurture the spirit of "never giving up" among the children. And most recently, a textbook publisher in Japan started to use the story again, this time for a Japanese high school textbook, as an English language learning material. Karunananda keeps running in Japan. And today, I am honored to have Karunananda’s son and grandson here at this reception. Let’s give them a big hand!
Ladies and gentlemen,
There are many more touching stories, untold, behind the longstanding friendship between Japan and Sri Lanka: such as the Japanese Foster Parents' Educational Scholarship Program run by a non-profit organization located at Sri Mahindarama Temple in Kotte, connecting financially-strained Sri Lankan children to Japanese families through a nationwide network of Buddhist temples of both countries. This program, having benefitted more than 16,000 thousand Sri Lankan children so far, marks the 40th anniversary this year. More than 200 eyes are donated every year from Sri Lanka to Japan over the past several decades, including an eye of the late President J.R. Jayawardene, who stated in his will that the cornea of his left eye would be donated to Japan. People-to-people exchanges and interactions are truly what makes the foundation of our relations stronger.
OSA, Export-oriented Industria Corridor and roads ahead
Last year, on the occasion of H.E. President Dissanayake’s official visit to Japan, Japan announced the provision of security assistance to Sri Lanka under the new scheme called OSA, Official Security Assistance. This new scheme allows direct assistance to the armed forces and related organizations of a recipient country, in order to enhance the recipient’s security and deterrence capabilities. Relevant equipment to enhance maritime surveillance and disaster response capabilities will be provided to the Sri Lankan Navy as the first OSA project for Sri Lanka, expanding a frontier of our bilateral security cooperation. As both being maritime nations, Japan and Sri Lanka have infinite possibilities for further cooperation in maritime affairs, including connectivity projects and blue economy, having in mind a Free and Open Indo-Pacific based on the rule of law.
During the same presidential visit, Japan also launched a plan to create an export-oriented industrial corridor involving Japan and Sri Lanka, aiming at deeply integrating Sri Lanka into a regional value chain. Under the plan, Sri Lanka’s strength in key manufacturing sectors will be fully utilized, getting connected with regional markets and being supported by investment from Japan. To drive forward this plan, a high-level government delegation visited Sri Lanka last week for a policy dialogue for the first time in 10 years, together with a high-powered business delegation. The ball has started rolling.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As Sri Lanka makes steady progress with economic recovery, and as all the resumed yen-loan projects, including the BIA expansion project, make smooth progress in their implementation, I believe the two countries will be seeing renewed opportunities for working together, including on large-scale infrastructure projects, in the near future. Let us remind ourselves of the episode of "The Runner Wearing Number 67." Sri Lanka stalled in its economic development for the past several years and had to run behind others, but we believe it can finish this recovery path successfully, never giving up and heading towards the next stage of stable and sustainable development.
Sake-Making, UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage
At today’s reception, we prepared a dedicated booth for Japanese sake, a traditional Japanese alcoholic beverage. Japanese cuisine “Washoku” was inscribed in the list of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage more than 10 years ago, and most recently about a year ago, the “Traditional knowledge and skills of sake-making in Japan” also made its entry into the UNESCO list. Japanese sake with its centuries-old tradition offers an amazing variety of rich flavor and taste with more than 10,000 different brands produced at over 1,000 breweries all over the country. I hope you will enjoy different tastes of sake together with Washoku food of your liking.
Thank you very much for your attention, and I wish you all a good evening!
Thank you very much for attending tonight's reception to celebrate the 66th Birthday of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan. I am very happy to be able to celebrate it with you all.
"The Runner Wearing Number 67" and other untold stories
Let me start with an exciting, yet somewhat emotionally moving topic, the Olympic Games. Three days ago, the Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Games 2026 came to a close. Japan earned a total of 24 medals, including 5 gold medals. “Good job” to the Japanese athletes and “Congratulations” to all the medalists and participants from around the world. Sri Lanka didn't send athletes there as it has never done so to Winter Olympic Games. So, to talk about the Olympic Games and Sri Lanka, I want to take you back to the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, not to the recent one five year ago, but to the one further back in 1964. Please bear with me for the following episode of "The Runner Wearing Number 67."
It was the fifth day of the Tokyo Olympics of 1964. The men's 10,000 meter run was the highlight of the day. About 70,000 people were in the National Stadium. 4 pm in the afternoon, the spectators went quiet. Their eyes were focused on the 38 runners at the starting line. Then, the starting pistol sounded, and the race began.
It is one of the longest and toughest races in sports. For the race, the runners had to run 25 times around the 400-meter track. In this particular race, after ten laps or so, some runners had to give up and dropped out. Then, in the last 80 meters, three runners dashed forward. An American runner crossed the finishing line first. The audience were excited. When the last runner crossed the line, everyone thought the race was over. However, that runner didn't stop. He just continued, all alone. Some people laughed and shouted, "Hey, he's a lap behind!" But he kept on running after crossing the finishing line again. "He's still running. Is he two laps behind?" The spectators were puzzled. There were even jeers and sneers. "Who's that runner?" people wondered. They looked at the program. "Number 67, from Ceylon." His name is Karunananda. As Karunananda continued to run, everyone's eyes began to focus on him. Then, suddenly, he started to speed up. It was his last lap — actually, he was three laps behind.
Now nobody was laughing. Instead, words of encouragement were heard. "Keep going, Ceylon!" "Hang in there!" The spectators now understood what was happening. He just wanted to run to the end. Soon, everyone was cheering him on. Some were watching with tears in their eyes. When at last Karunananda crossed the finishing line, he got a huge cheer from the audience.
After the race, Karunananda explained his side of the story. "I had a bad cold this week, but I was chosen to run for my country. So, my only goal was to run the whole race. That's what I did, and I'm happy with that." And then he added, "I have a little daughter back in my country. When she grows up, I will tell her: 'Your father didn't win that race, but he never gave up!'" Karunananda became a hero and showed the true spirit of the Olympics: the most important thing is not to win but to take part. The headlines of the local newspapers next day went like; "He ran the last three laps all by himself!" "Congrats to the winner, and glory to the last runner!" This story of Karunananda was widely adopted in the Japanese elementary school textbooks in 1970s with the title "The Runner Wearing Number 67" to nurture the spirit of "never giving up" among the children. And most recently, a textbook publisher in Japan started to use the story again, this time for a Japanese high school textbook, as an English language learning material. Karunananda keeps running in Japan. And today, I am honored to have Karunananda’s son and grandson here at this reception. Let’s give them a big hand!
Ladies and gentlemen,
There are many more touching stories, untold, behind the longstanding friendship between Japan and Sri Lanka: such as the Japanese Foster Parents' Educational Scholarship Program run by a non-profit organization located at Sri Mahindarama Temple in Kotte, connecting financially-strained Sri Lankan children to Japanese families through a nationwide network of Buddhist temples of both countries. This program, having benefitted more than 16,000 thousand Sri Lankan children so far, marks the 40th anniversary this year. More than 200 eyes are donated every year from Sri Lanka to Japan over the past several decades, including an eye of the late President J.R. Jayawardene, who stated in his will that the cornea of his left eye would be donated to Japan. People-to-people exchanges and interactions are truly what makes the foundation of our relations stronger.
OSA, Export-oriented Industria Corridor and roads ahead
Last year, on the occasion of H.E. President Dissanayake’s official visit to Japan, Japan announced the provision of security assistance to Sri Lanka under the new scheme called OSA, Official Security Assistance. This new scheme allows direct assistance to the armed forces and related organizations of a recipient country, in order to enhance the recipient’s security and deterrence capabilities. Relevant equipment to enhance maritime surveillance and disaster response capabilities will be provided to the Sri Lankan Navy as the first OSA project for Sri Lanka, expanding a frontier of our bilateral security cooperation. As both being maritime nations, Japan and Sri Lanka have infinite possibilities for further cooperation in maritime affairs, including connectivity projects and blue economy, having in mind a Free and Open Indo-Pacific based on the rule of law.
During the same presidential visit, Japan also launched a plan to create an export-oriented industrial corridor involving Japan and Sri Lanka, aiming at deeply integrating Sri Lanka into a regional value chain. Under the plan, Sri Lanka’s strength in key manufacturing sectors will be fully utilized, getting connected with regional markets and being supported by investment from Japan. To drive forward this plan, a high-level government delegation visited Sri Lanka last week for a policy dialogue for the first time in 10 years, together with a high-powered business delegation. The ball has started rolling.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As Sri Lanka makes steady progress with economic recovery, and as all the resumed yen-loan projects, including the BIA expansion project, make smooth progress in their implementation, I believe the two countries will be seeing renewed opportunities for working together, including on large-scale infrastructure projects, in the near future. Let us remind ourselves of the episode of "The Runner Wearing Number 67." Sri Lanka stalled in its economic development for the past several years and had to run behind others, but we believe it can finish this recovery path successfully, never giving up and heading towards the next stage of stable and sustainable development.
Sake-Making, UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage
At today’s reception, we prepared a dedicated booth for Japanese sake, a traditional Japanese alcoholic beverage. Japanese cuisine “Washoku” was inscribed in the list of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage more than 10 years ago, and most recently about a year ago, the “Traditional knowledge and skills of sake-making in Japan” also made its entry into the UNESCO list. Japanese sake with its centuries-old tradition offers an amazing variety of rich flavor and taste with more than 10,000 different brands produced at over 1,000 breweries all over the country. I hope you will enjoy different tastes of sake together with Washoku food of your liking.
Thank you very much for your attention, and I wish you all a good evening!