‘At my peak’ Why Japan’s 90-year-old bodybuilder won’t stop | The Guardian – newspaper

Today, as he sips green tea at the gymnasium he runs in Hiroshima, Kanazawa’s eyes twinkle mischievously when he recalls his victory over seven other men in the 85+ category at the Japan Masters Bodybuilding Championships – his 19th national title and, he insists, not his last.

Born in Shimane prefecture on the Japan Sea coast in 1936, Kanazawa was a gifted swimmer who excelled at the 1500 metre freestyle at high school. After a muscular issue crushed his dream of competing in the Olympics, Kanazawa set his sights on professional bodybuilding.

“My mother was supportive, but my father was dead against it – he thought young men should work,” he says. “I told them I wanted to be the best in Japan but would need a few years to achieve that.”

He spent the next five years living as a near-recluse, training for six hours a day and surviving on simple meals cooked by his mother. The cash he earned from an occasional delivery job went on milk and cheese.