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National Track and Field Championships Highlights


Japan's National Championships happened Friday through Sunday at Tokyo's National Stadium, the same track where September's World Championships will take place. The biggest result of the weekend came in the women's 800 m, where high schooler Rin Kubo cleaned up the mess caused last when she became the first Japanese woman under 2 minutes but did it at a JAAF-sanctioned time trial meet that hadn't been registered to the World Athletics calendar. In Saturday's final she bettered that time with a 1:59.52, making it a national record that WA will actually recognize.

The only other record set came in the women's 5000 m on Friday, where NR holder Nozomi Tanaka set a meet record 14:59.02 to win a competitive race over Ririka Hironaka, 2nd in 15:12.61, and Kana Mizumoto, 3rd in a big PB of 15:13.19. Tanaka doubled back in the 1500 m Sunday, duly winning in 4:04.16. Veteran Tomoka Kimura ran a PB of 4:09.88 for 2nd, giving a big boost to her chances of making it through the Worlds quota where she currently sits 54th of 56.

Rain Friday hurt performances in most of the non-distance events, but a lot of events still saw breakthrough performances across the weekend. In the men's 400 m club runner Kenki Imaizumi ran a PB 45.29 for the win, with 2nd and 3rd placers Sho Tanabe and Takuho Yoshizu both PBing too in 45.39 and 45.40.

Keito Yamaura had a breakthrough in the men's long jump, winning at 8.14 m (+0.3), and Kohei Yamashita did the same in the men's triple jump at 16.67 m (+0.4). Shota Fukuda had a massive win in the men's hammer throw, coming in at all-time JPN #3 with a throw of 74.57 m. Yuta Sakiyama came in even bigger in the men's javelin throw, just missing the NR with a throw of 87.16 m to come in at all-time JPN #2. Veteran Genki Dean almost matched that, throwing an improbable PB of 84.86 m for 2nd and all-time JPN #5.

Abigail Fuka Ido pulled off the women's sprint double, winning the 100 m on Friday in 11.45 and then coming back Sunday with a 23.18 PB to win the 200 m. College students Aoi Teramoto and Yuzuki Nakao shut down a first national title for recent nationality transfer Arie Flores in the women's 400 m, running PBs of 53.14 and 53.20 to beat Flores' 53.31. The women's 400 mH also had PBs for the top 2, Satsuki Umehara winning in 56.43 and Miku Takino next in 56.68.

On the field, Shieriai Tsuda cleared 1.84 m for the first time to beat favorite Nagisa Takahashi for the women's high jump title. Triple jump top 2 Maoko Takashima and Akari Funada both PBd, Takashima winning in 13.92 m (+0.2) and Funada next at 13.80 m -0.4. In throws, Chiharu Saka threw a PB 15.76 m to win the women's shot put, while Raika Murakami came up with an all-time JPN #4 66.88 m to beat women's hammer throw NR holder Joy McArthur by 59 cm.

A lot of the big names who have already qualified for Worlds, like Haruka Kitaguchi, Rachid Muratake and Ryuji Miura gave Nationals a miss this time, but some events were full of chaos as top-ranked people crapped out early. Men's 400 m NR holder Kentaro Sato didn't make it through the first round, all-time #3 Fuga Sato was a DNF in the final, and all-time #5 Yuki Nakajima was only 4th in the final, the win going to Kenki Imaizumi in 45.29.

In the men's 100 m, all-time JPN #2 Abdul Hakim Sani Brown missed the semi-finals as he came in with an injury, while favorite Hiroki Yanagita false started in his heat and was disqualified. NR holder Ryota Yamagata made it to the semis but not the final, where Japan's first sub-10 man Yoshihide Kiryu pulled out a surprise third national title in 10.23 (+0.4).

In the men's 5000 m one of the favorites to make the Tokyo Worlds team Keita Sato was a DNS after suffering a stress reaction 2 weeks ago, while another favorite Mebuki Suzuki fell in the final and finished far back in the field. Top-ranked Japanese man Nagiya Mori, currently sitting 40th of 42 in the Worlds quota, suffered a rare loss to another Japanese athlete, Ryuto Igawa out kicking him for the win 13:37.59 to 13:38.56. 3rd-ranked JPN man Kotaro Shinohara was only 9th in 13:45.34, pretty much dooming his chances of making the Worlds team barring something spectacular at next week's Night of Athletics meet in Belgium.

National Track and Field Championships

Top Results
National Stadium, Tokyo, 4-6 July 2025

Men

Men's 100 m Final - 5 July, +0.4 m/s
1. Yoshihide Kiryu (Nihon Seimei) - 10.23
2. Naoki Okami (Aomori Pref. Govt) - 10.28
3. Yuta Sekiguchi (Waseda Univ.) - 10.28

Men's 200 m Final - 6 July, +0.0 m/s
1. Towa Uzawa (JAL) - 20.12
2. Yudai Nishi (Mint Tokyo) - 20.53
3. Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) - 20.66

Men's 400 m Final - 6 July
1. Kenki Imaizumi (Uchida Yoko AC) - 45.29 - PB
2. Sho Tanabe (Chuo Univ.) - 45.39 - PB
3. Takuho Yoshizu (Miki House) - 45.40 - PB

Men's 800 m Final - 5 July
1. Ko Ochiai (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:45.93
2. Yugo Shikata (Saurus TC) - 1:46.30 - PB
3. Sota Okamura (Kanoya Taiiku. Univ.) - 1:46.42

Men's 1500 m Final - 6 July
1. Kazuto Iizawa (Sumitomo Denko) - 3:36.81
2. Tomonori Yamaguchi (Waseda Univ.) - 3:38.16 - PB
3. Keisuke Morita (Subaru) - 3:38.76

Men's 5000 m Final - 6 July
1. Ryuto Igawa (Asahi Kasei) - 13:37.59
2. Nagiya Mori (Honda) - 13:38.56
3. Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Denko) - 13:39.30

Men's 110 mH Final - 5 July, +0.8 m/s
1. Shunsuke Izumiya (Sumitomo Denko) - 13.22
2. Shusei Nomoto (Ehime Sports Assoc.) - 13.23 - PB
3. Tatsuki Abe (Juntendo Univ.) - 13.32

Men's 400 mH Final - 6 July
1. Daiki Ogawa (Toyo Univ.) - 48.61
2. Hiromu Yamauchi (Toho Ginko) - 48.87 - PB
3. Shunta Inoue (Fujitsu) - 48.99

Men's 3000 mSC Final - 4 July
1. Ryoma Aoki (Honda) - 8:26.62
2. Yutaro Niinae (Aisan Kogyo) - 8:28.56
3. Tetsu Sasaki (Waseda Univ.) - 8:30.37

Men's High Jump Final - 4 July
1. Tomohiro Shinno (Kyudenko) - 2.29 m
2. Ryoichi Akamatsu (Seibu Prince) - 2.25 m
3. Naoto Hasegawa (Niigata Albirex RC) - 2.20 m

Men's Pole Vault Final - 5 July
1. Masaki Ejima (Fujitsu) - 5.70 m
2. Koki Kuruma (Striders AC) - 5.60 m - PB
3. Shingo Sawa (Kiraboshi Ginko) - 5.50 m

Men's Long Jump Final - 6 July
1. Keito Yamaura (Katsuura Golf Club) - 8.14 m +0.3 - PB
2. Riku Ito (Suzuki) - 8.11 m +0.1 - PB
3. Koki Fujihara (Toyo Univ.) - 7.97 m -0.3

Men's Triple Jump Final - 5 July
1. Kohei Yamashita (ANA) - 16.67 m +0.4 - PB
2. Yuto Adachi (Fukuoka Univ.) - 16.28 m +0.0
3. Taiga Oda (Xspo Seagulls) - 16.27 m +0.4

Men's Shot Put Final - 6 July
1. Daichi Morishita (Kagotani) - 18.19 m
2. Hitoshi Okumura (Senko) - 18.10 m
3. Hayate Inafuku (Gifu T&F Assoc.) - 18.07 m - PB

Men's Discus Throw Final - 4 July
1. Shinichi Yukinaga (Shikoku Univ. AC) - 59.11 m
2. Yuji Tsutsumi (Alsok) - 57.69 m
3. Masateru Yugami (Toyota) - 57.45 m

Men's Hammer Throw Final - 5 July
1. Shota Fukuda (Sumitomo Denko) - 74.57 m - PB
2. Tatsuto Nakagawa (Niigata Albirex) - 71.87 m
3. Takahiro Kobata (Support Zen) - 70.65 m

Men's Javelin Throw Final - 5 July
1. Yuta Sakiyama (Ehime Sports Assoc.) - 87.16 m - PB
2. Roderick Genki Dean (Mizuno) - 84.66 m - PB
3. Gen Naganuma (Suzuki) - 79.84 m

Women

Women's 100 m Final - 4 July, -0.1 m/s
1. Abigail Fuka Ido (Toho Ginko) - 11.45
2. Midori Mikase (Sumitomo Denko) - 11.57
3. Arisa Kimishima (DKS) - 11.58

Women's 200 m Final - 6 July, +0.2 m/s
1. Abigail Fuka Ido (Toho Ginko) - 23.18 - PB
2. Ami Takahashi (Tsukuba Univ.) - 23.57
3. Aiko Iki (Osaka Gas) - 23.82

Women's 400 m Final - 5 July
1. Aoi Teramoto (Tenri Univ.) - 53.14 - PB
2. Yuzuki Nakao (Sonoda Gakuen Univ.) - 53.20 - PB
3. Arie Flores (Nittai Univ.) - 53.31

Women's 800 m Final - 5 July
1. Rin Kubo (Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S.) - 1:59.52 - NR
2. Ayano Shiomi (Iwatani Sangyo) - 2:03.66
3. Kurumi Sugure (Tsukuba Univ.) - 2:04.14 - PB

Women's 1500 m Final - 6 July
1. Nozomi Tanaka (New Balance) - 4:04.16
2. Tomoka Kimura (Sekisui Kagaku) - 4:09.88 - PB
3. Airi Tajima (Juntendo Univ.) - 4:12.53 - PB

Women's 5000 m Final - 4 July
1. Nozomi Tanaka (New Balance) - 14:59.02 - MR
2. Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) - 15:12.61
3. Kana Mizumoto (Edion) - 15:13.19 - PB

Women's 100 mH Final - 6 July, -0.4 m/s
1. Yumi Tanaka (Fujitsu) - 12.86
2. Hitomi Nakajima (Hasegawa TC) - 12.86
3. Mako Fukube (NKK) - 12.93

Women's 400 mH Final - 5 July
1. Satsuki Umehara (Sumitomo Denko) - 56.43 - PB
2. Miku Takino (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 56.68 - PB
3. Ami Yamamoto (Fujitsu) - 56.96

Women's 3000 mSC Final - 6 July
1. Manami Nishiyama (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 9:43.22
2. Miu Saito (Panasonic) - 9:58.08
3. Yuzu Nishide (Daihatsu) - 10:00.41

Women's High Jump Final - 6 July
1. Shieriai Tsuda (Tsukiji Gindako) - 1.84 m - PB
2. Nagisa Takahashi (Senko) - 1.84 m
3. Yuki Morisaki (Nihon Joshi Taiiku Univ.) - 1.78 m - PB

Women's Pole Vault Final - 4 July
1. Mitsuki Kobayashi (Nittai Univ.) - 4.31 m - PB
2. Akari Osakaya (Ehime Sports Assoc.) - 4.20 m
3. Rena Tanaka (Yoshida Sekiyu) - 4.10 m

Women's Long Jump Final - 5 July
1. Ayaka Kora (JAL) - 6.48 m +0.8
2. Miu Kimura (Shikoku Univ.) - 6.47 m +0.5 - PB
3. Sumire Hata (Sumitomo Denko) - 6.38 m +0.2

Women's Triple Jump Final - 4 July
1. Maoko Takashima (Kyudenko) - 13.92 m +0.2 - PB
2. Akari Funada (Niconiconori) - 13.80 m -0.4 - PB
3. Mariko Morimoto (Orico) - 13.45 m -0.4

Women's Shot Put Final - 6 July
1. Chiharu Saka (Osaka Taiiku Univ.) - 15.76 m - PB
2. Kotomi Okuyama (Okayama Shoka Univ.) - 15.54 m
3. Haruka Osako (Somekyu) - 15.29 m

Women's Discus Throw Final - 4 July
1. Nanaka Kori (Niigata Albirex RC) - 56.42 m
2. Maki Saito (Taihei Dengyo) - 54.13 m
3. Akane Kawaguchi (Withus) - 51.86 m

Women's Hammer Throw Final - 5 July
1. Raika Murakami (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - 66.88 m - PB
2. Joy McArthur (unattached) - 66.29 m
3. Miharu Kodate (Somekyu) - 65.74 m - PB

Women's Javelin Throw Final - 4 July
1. Momone Ueda (Zenrin) - 59.88 m
2. Marina Saito (Suzuki) - 57.97 m
3. Sae Takemoto (Orico) - 57.64 m

© 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Comments

Anonymous said…
Two 3rd place finishing athletes caught my attention in this meet. Namely, Airi Tajima in the 1500m who I believe set a National Japanese Student (University) record with her 4:12.53 PB bettering the previous record 4:12.72 held by 4th place finisher Mizuki Michishita now running for Sekisui Chemical. I think she is one for the future. And Kana Mizumoto in the 5000m with yet another PB this year 15:13.19 along with her Edion Senior teammate and marathoner Ai Hosada who also PB'd closely behind in 15:15.87. Both Edion athletes are on a positive trajectory this year and I'm optimistic about their futures. Ai Hosada's run was surprisingly fast for a marathoner. Also good to see Yuka Kimura replicate her return to form in the Asian Championships with 2 very good runs in the 1500m.
Anonymous said…
The overall performances weren't great but there were a few standouts.

Rin Kubo turned in another great performance. The challenge will be to build from this and not end up peaking now and not taking the next step like it happened to some other guys.

The 100M men was absurd. How on Earth Yanagida makes that mistake in a heat were 10.3 was enough is beyond me. I have no idea why Sani Brown partecipated with an injury. It looked really bad the way he was running and for what? He has been very slow all season. It's like watching my countryman Jacobs who is a training partner of his: slow and injured. Baffling.

I think Japan has to be very careful with their 4x100 selection, they have a good team but right now Sani Brown can't be on it.

The other standout was Uzawa: that time in the 200 with no wind is very good. I think he has the chance to break 20 seconds and should be at least considered for the first straight in the 4x100.
Anonymous said…
As a follow up from my previous comment regarding Kana Mizumoto. She just had another PB at the Sunset Tour in the US in the 5000m with an incredible 15:06.98. That's a huge improvement on the back of the Japan Championship Race!
She posted this on her X account.
https://x.com/kanupydayo/status/1944650641516953757

I noticed Ririka Hironaka also put in a Season's Best with 15:05.69 at the Horuken Distance Challenge the other day.
It is great to see.

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