The 1998 track season proved to be a breakthrough for Takao. In May he set a 5000 m best of 13:34.55 minutes during a win at the Noboeka Golden Games. He was victorious over 10,000 m at the Japanese Championships, taking the first and only national title of his career. He followed that performance with another gold medal – running at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok he took the gold medal in the 10,000 m by narrowing beating Qatar's Ahmed Ibrahim Warsama in a tactical race. He also ran a career best of 3:46.17 minutes for the 1500 metres to take third place at the Japanese National Games. For his achievements that year he was awarded the Education, Culture, Sports, Science Minister's Prize.