He set a personal best of 8:33.04 minutes at the Japan Championships in Athletics,[2] then went on to take his first major medal at the 1994 Asian Games, held in Hiroshima.

[5] His form maintained until December, he took the highest accolade of his career at the 1998 Asian Games with a gold medal-winning performance.

[3] He made his international debut on grass at the 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, but was outside of the top 100 of the men's short race.

Although Uchitomi ran a time of 8:29.63 minutes (third best in his career), he was beaten by Iwamizu, who would go on to win five consecutive titles.

[6] He also took the steeplechase title for the Chugoku Electric Power Company at the All-Japan Corporate Track and Field Championships.

[2] He aimed to defend his title at the 2002 Asian Games but finished outside the medals in fifth place – his time of 8:41.02 minutes being his fastest that year.

[2] He was back within the major medals at the 2003 Asian Athletics Championships, where he took bronze in a tactic race as Japan's sole representative.