As a former director and producer for the Nippon Television Network Corporation, Nobuhisa Sakata has participated in live broadcasts of many different major professional sporting events, such as Yomiuri Giants games and the world track and field championships.
But for him no other project inspired quite the same passion and attachment as the Hakone ekiden did. The annual collegiate relay marathon race, which is one of the biggest amateur sporting events in the country, stands out in his long and distinguished broadcasting career with the station.
After joining NTV in 1963, the Toyama Prefecture native did not understand why the local relay marathon race for universities in Kanto drew so much attention.