Weightlifter Eishiro Murakami (+109KG) Sets 3 National Records During 2022 All-Japan Championships

On May 1-2, 2022, Eishiro “Tank” Murakami shared some of his recent top lifts — a 192-kilogram (423.2-pound) snatch and a 233-kilogram (513.6-pound) clean & jerk. Murakami achieved both of the feats while competing in the Men’s 109-kilogram-plus division during the 2022 All-Japan Championships — a multi-discipline event that took place in Tokyo, Japan, in late April.

By the competition’s end, Murakami’s overall weightlifting performance was enough to garner him three Japanese National Records on his snatch, clean & jerk, and an overall total of 425 kilograms (936.9 pounds). Check out a video of Murakami’s record snatch, courtesy of his Instagram profile:

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Elite Class in Japan

Murakami’s record performance is nothing new in his native Japan. Each of those Japanese records on the snatch, clean & jerk, and total were all previous marks held by the dynamic weightlifter — which he eclipsed by one, two, and three kilograms, respectively. One of Olympic weightlifting’s current elite performers, “Tank,” might be a more than appropriate nickname for Murakami, who is a three-time Japanese National Champion, according to his Instagram.

Through other stellar feats of strength, like a 175-kilogram (385-pound) strict prone row in mid-February 2022, the 25-year-old has developed a social media reputation for staggering power. Here are some of the notable results for the weightlifter, who has enjoyed steady progress in recent years, via the International Weightlifting Federation’s (IWF) athlete directory:

Eishiro Murakami | Notable Career Results

5th International Qatar Cup (+109KG) — 6th place
2019 Ready Steady Tokyo (+109KG) — 1st place
2019 IWF World Championships (+109KG) — 11th place
2019 IWF World Cup (+109KG) — 1st place
2020 Asian Championships (+109KG) — 3rd place
2021 Open Championships (+109KG) — 1st place
2022 All-Japan Championships (+109KG) — 1st place

Notably, Murakami did not participate in the 2021 IWF World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. This 425-kilogram (936.9-pound) total would have slotted him in with a sixth-place finish at that competition.

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The Road Ahead

A good portion of Japan’s top weightlifters used the All-Japan Championships competition as a springboard toward a place in the 2022 IWF World Championships, which is set to occur sometime between November 1 and December 31, 2022, in Bogota, Colombia. At the time of this writing, the IWF hasn’t confirmed a definite date. That competition will, in turn, be a part of the eventual qualification for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.

Murakami aside, three Tokyo 2020 Japanese weightlifter male Olympians — including Yoichi Itokazu (67KG), Mitsunori Konnai (73KG), and Masanori Miyamoto (73KG) — were all participants during the 2022 All-Japan Championships. Notably, Toshiko Yamamoto (96KG) was not present. A woman Japanese weightlifter — Mikiko Andoh (59KG), who captured bronze in Tokyo — won the competition for her weight class.

Thanks to Murakami at the forefront, it appears Team Japan is ready to achieve more greatness over the rest of 2022.

Featured Image: @tank_murakami on Instagram