Career
He was the gold medallist at the 1986 Asian Games and the 1985 Asian Athletics Championships. Aikyo was Asia"s only steeplechase competitor at the World Championships in Athletics in both 1983 and 1987. He competed for Asia at the 1985 IAAF World Cup.
His personal best of 8:31.27 minutes is a Japanese junior national record.
Aikyo emerged as a teenage athlete in the 1983 season. Still studying at university, he was eligible for the Universiade that year and managed to finish in third place behind Peter Daenens and Farley Gerber.
He was chosen to represent Japan at the inaugural 1983 World Championships in Athletics. The only Asian entrant in the event, he ran a time of 8:31.27 minutes to progress beyond the heat stage.
This time was a new Japanese junior (under-20) record – one which, as of 2015, still stands in the record books
He was a little slower in the semi-finals and was eliminated in eleventh place. He did not qualify for the 1984 Summer Olympics and his next international outings were in 1985. This earned him the honour of being Asia"s representative in the event at the 1985 IAAF World Cup.
At the event in Canberra, he finished well down the field, coming last in eighth place with a time of 8:55.35 minutes (well short of his best).
His time of 8:36.98 minutes was an Asian Games record. He ran at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics, where again he was the only Asian entrant in the men"s steeplechase.
He fell short of his 1983 form and ended the competition in tenth in the heats with a run of 8:41.41 minutes. He also competed at the 1987 Universiade that year.
In a close sprint finish, Aikyo was overhauled by Valeriy Vandyak in the final metres and ultimately ended up with the bronze medal behind the Soviet runner and Cuba"s Juan Ramón Conde, repeating his finish of four years earlier.
His last major appearance was a fourth-place finish at the 1991 Asian Athletics Championships, beaten to a medal by Syria"s Saleh Mohammed Habib. In his later career he moved off the track and into long-distance road running competitions. He was fourth at the 1992 Himeji Castle 10-Miler, but had little success elsewhere.