Motohiko Ban

Motohiko Ban was the first Japanese ski jumper to compete in Europe. He won the ski jumping at the All-Japan Ski Championships in 1926 and in 1929 at the Students’ Championships. Later he became a sports official as president of the All-Japan Student Ski Federation in 1972 and chairman of the All-Japan Ski Federation 1975-1986. He served as head of the Lake Placid Japanese Olympic team in 1980 and received the Olympic Order in silver four years later.

Although born in Kyoto, his family moved to Otaru on the northern island of Hokkaido when he was a child, after his father had been appointed director of the local commercial school. Ban attended the Hokkaido Imperial University Faculty of Agriculture and started working for Nippon Flour Milling Co., Ltd. in 1929. From manager he was promoted to vice-president, president and ultimately, in 1974, chairman. He died six months after the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998.