Skip to main content

Japan Announces Team of 50 for Daegu World Championships

by Brett Larner

The Japanese federation Rikuren announced the complete lineup of its team for next month's World Championships in Daegu, Korea, adding to the previously-announced marathon and race walk rosters to make a complete team of fifty.  The Japanese team includes Olympic medalists Koji Murofushi (Mizuno, HT) and Shinji Takahira (Fujitsu, 200 m), World Championships medalists Yukifumi Murakami (Suzuki Hamamatsu, JT) and Yoshimi Ozaki (Daiichi Seimei, marathon), national record holders Yuki Ebihara (Suzuki Hamamatsu, JT), Masumi Fuchise (Otsuka Seiyaku, 20 km RW), Chisato Fukushima (Hokkaido Hi-Tec, 100 m, 200 m), Minori Hayakari (Kyoto Koka AC, 3000 mSC), Satomi Kubokura (Niigata Albirex, 400 mH), Daichi Sawano (Chiba Pref., PV), Keisuke Ushiro (Suzuki Hamamatsu, decathlon) and Masato Yokota (Fujitsu, 800 m) and an extensive list of national champions.  A complete listing of the team is given below.

One notable absence is year-leading 10000 m woman Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal), who skipped Nationals and last weekend's Asian Athletics Championships despite being the only Japanese woman to break 31 minutes so far this year, passing up her chance of running at Worlds.  Fukushi is listed on the lineup for the federation's road trip to run the 10000 m at the Aviva U.K. Trials later this month in London, a trip designed to give Olympic hopefuls a taste of racing with that time difference in the British summer before next year's Olympic main event.  Taken all together this suggests that for Fukushi this may be a case of all roads leading to London.

2011 Daegu World Championships - Japanese National Team Roster

Men
Marathon
Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) - 2:08:37
Yoshinori Oda (Team Toyota) - 2:09:03
Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:09:25
Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki) - 2:09:31
Yukihiro Kitaoka (Team NTN) - 2:10:51

Long Distance
Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 13:23.57 (5000 m); 27:38.25 (10000 m)
Kazuya Watanabe (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 13:23.15 (5000 m); 27:47.79 (10000 m)

Middle Distance
Masato Yokota (Team Fujitsu) - 1:46.16 - NR

Sprints
Masashi Eriguchi (Team Osaka Gas) - 10.07 (100 m)
Shinji Takahira (Team Fujitsu) - 10.20 (100 m); 20.22 (200 m)
Hitoshi Saito (Sanmesse AC) - 10.35 (100 m); 20.42 (200 m)
Yuichi Kobayashi (Hosei Univ.) - 10.48 (100 m); 20.59 (200 m)
Yuzo Kanemaru (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 45.16 (400 m)
Sota Kawatsura (Chuo Univ.) - 10.30 (100 m); 20.56 (200 m)
Hideyuki Hirose (Keio Univ.) - 45.84 (400 m)
Yusuke Ishitsuka (Team Mizuno) - 46.02 (m)
Kei Takase (Team Fujitsu) - 20.53 (200 m); 46.46 (400 m)

Hurdles
Takayuki Kishmoto (Hosei Univ.) - 49.27 (400 mH)
Takatoshi Abe (Chukyo Univ.) - 13.80 (110 mH); 49.46 (400 mH)
Yuta Imazeki (Team Aima) - 49.54 (400 mH)

Race Walks
Koichiro Morioka (Team Fujitsu) - 3:44:45 (50 km); 1:20:43 (20 km)
Takayuki Tanii (Team Sagawa Express) - 3:47:23 (50 km); 1:20:39 (20 km)
Hirooki Arai (Hokuriku Kamenoi Hotel AC) - 3:48:46 (50 km); 1:23:16 (20 km)
Yusuke Suzuki (Team Fujitsu) - 1:20:06 (20 km)

Jumps
Daichi Sawano (Chiba Pref.) - 5.83 m (PV) - NR

Throws
Koji Murofushi (Team Mizuno) - 84.86 (HT) - NR
Yukifumi Murakami (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 83.27 m (JT)

Decathlon
Keisuke Ushiro (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 8073 - NR

Women
Marathon
Yoshimi Ozaki (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 2:23:30
Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) - 2:24:09
Remi Nakazato (Team Daihatsu) - 2:24:29
Azusa Nojiri (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 2:25:29
Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:26:55

Long Distance
Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno) - 15:09.96 (5000 m); 31:10.02 (10000 m)
Hitomi Niiya (Team Univ. Ent.) - 15:13.12 (5000 m)
Kayo Sugihara (Team Denso) - 15:15.34 (5000 m); 31:34.25 (10000 m)
Hikari Yoshimoto (Bukkyo Univ.) - 15:26.72 (5000 m); 31:30.92 (10000 m)
Minori Hayakari (Kyoto Koka AC) - 9:33.93 (3000 mSC) - NR

Sprints
Chisato Fukushima (Hokkaido Hi-Tec AC) - 11.21 (100 m) - NR; 22.89 (200 m) - NR
Momoko Takahashi (Team Fujitsu) - 11.32 (100 m); 23.15 (200 m)
Kana Ichikawa (Chukyo Univ.) - 11.43 (100 m); 23.63 (200 m)
Nao Okabe (Team Mizuno) - 11.75 (100 m)
Saori Imai (Shigakukan Univ.)

Hurdles
Satomi Kubokura (Niigata Albirex AC) - 55.34 (400 mH) - NR

Race Walks
Masumi Fuchise (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:28:03 (20 km) - NR
Mayumi Kawasaki (Team Fujitsu) - 1:28:49 (20 km)
Kumi Otoshi (Team Fujitsu) - 1:29:11 (20 km)

Throws
Masumi Aya (Team Maruzen Kogyo) - 67.26 m (HT)
Yuki Ebihara (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 61.56 m (JT) - NR
Risa Miyashita (Osaka Taiku Univ.) - 55.66 m (JT)

Comments

Masato said…
Has the Japan Federation chosen who will replace Kitaoka at the World Championships?
Brett Larner said…
Looks like he's going to run after all. Hard to know what to make of it as he sat out Gifu and doesn't have other tuneup races planned that I have heard, but then again I believe he didn't race even once between Biwako and the Asian Champs last year.

Most-Read This Week

Chien Breaks TPE NR, Iwata Betters ID-Class WR - Weekend Track Roundup

The last weekend of the academic and fiscal year saw at least 5 meets with good results domestically and abroad. Kicking things off Friday was the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne, where Tomohiro Shinno and Naoto Hasegawa took 1st and 3rd in the men's high jump, both of them only clearing 2.18 m along with 2nd-placer Roman Anastasios . 12 other Japanese athletes were in action on the second day of the meet on Saturday, where 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura ran 3:42.84 for 6th in the men's 1500 m. Nagiya Mori had a better one in the men's 3000 m with a 7:45.40 for 4th. Both Yota Mashiko and Rui Suzuki cleared 8:00 too, Mashiko's 7:53.84 the 2nd-fastest ever by a Japanese-born high schooler. Abigail Fuka Ido and Nagisa Takahashi both placed 3rd in their events, Ido going 23.85 (-0.9) in the women's 200 m and Takahashi clearing 1.82 m in the women's high jump. 8 Japanese men were at The TEN in California to run 10000 m. In the B-heat won by Edward Marks in ...

JAAF Announces World Road Running Championships Half Marathon Team

The JAAF announced the men's and women's half marathon teams today for this fall's World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen: Women Yumi Yoshikawa (Canon) - 1:09:14 (1st, 2026 Osaka Half) Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:09:20 (1st, 2026 Nat'l Corp. Half) Rina Shimizu (Noritz) - 1:09:22 (2nd, 2026 Osaka Half) Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) - 1:09:23 (3rd, 2026 Osaka Half) Men Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 1:00:22 (4th, 2026 Marugame Half) Yuma Nishizawa (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:00:26 (5th, 2026 Marugame Half) Neo Namiki (Subaru) - 1:00:29 (6th, 2026 Marugame Half) Daisuke Sato (Chuo Univ.) - 1:00:40 (7th, 2026 Marugame Half) Mile and 5 km teams, if any, will be decided after June's National Track and Field Championships. © 2026 Brett Larner , all rights reserved

Updates on Transfers

April 1 is the start of Japan's new academic and fiscal year, and there's always a wave of transfer announcements to go with it. Some notable ones yesterday: 800 m NR holder Rin Kubo skipped university to go straight to 2023 Queens Ekiden national champion Sekisui Kagaku after her graduation from Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. Multiple NR holder Nozomi Tanaka rejoined the Toyota Jidoshokki women's team after having left it to pursue a solo pro career as a New Balance athlete. Already on the team for this fall's Nagoya Asian Games in the 10000 m, Ririka Hironaka announced a switch from her longtime home at Japan Post to the Uniqlo women's team. Collegiate marathon record holder Asahi Kuroda joined the 2026 national champion GMO corporate team after graduating from 2026 Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University last week. Hakone Ekdien First Stage CR holder Rui Aoki joins the Sumitomo Denko corporate team after running his final race for 2025 Izumo Ekiden w...