Stem cell researcher Shinya Yamanaka and celebrated novelist Haruki Murakami may have very different professional talents, but they share one hobby in common: running.
For both, the former a joint winner of this year's Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine and the latter a major contender for the literature prize, the hobby is an important tool to help them stay motivated and refreshed amid the pressures from their distinguished careers.
Perhaps many ordinary city runners in Japan nowadays feel the same way. Harsh working environments amid the prolonged recession appear to have contributed to a "marathon boom" in recent years, observers said.