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Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon Elite Field



The Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon is the most overlooked part of Japan's late winter marathon season, far from the nearest airports in the Asahi Kasei corporate team's remote hometown of Nobeoka, Miyazaki. Traditionally it's a race for people debuting or at the end of their career, but with Beppu-Oita, Osaka and Tokyo all catering to way faster times it's also now the best choice in the season for people looking for a race where they can run 2:09-2:11. New Zealand's Caden Shields found that out last year when he came to what ended up being a 2:09:43 race won by Jin Yuasa and finished 5th in a 2:11:35 PB.

This time around Nobeoka counts toward qualification for the L.A. Olympic trials marathon in the fall of 2027, already the only thing anybody in the system here cares about, so pacing up front will be aimed to hit the sub-2:09 criterion for the winner to qualify. The field is the usual mix of people on both ends of the career spectrum, 2:08 PB runners Daiji Kawai (Toenec) and Kenta Murayama (Asahi Kasei) in their mid-30s at the top of the list and 61-minute half marathoners Hiroto Kuniyasu (Rikkyo Univ.), Shoki Yamaguchi (Soka Univ.) and Shota Maeda (Logisteed) running their first marathons. 2:08 may be a stretch, but with a solid 2nd-tier of people with 2:11 PBs and 62-minute half marathons it should be a good pack run in the 2:09-11 range like last year. 35 km race walk Asian record holder Masatora Kawano (Asahi Kasei) is an interesting addition.

64th Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon

Elite Field Highlights
Nobeoka, Miyazaki, 8 Feb. 2026
times listed are athletes' best within last 3 years except where noted

Daiji Kawai (Toenec) - 2:08:32 (Osaka 2023)
Tomoki Yoshioka (Kraftia) - 2:10:03 (Beppu-Oita 2024)
Kenta Murayama (Asahi Kasei) - 2:11:26 (Noboeka 2023)
Yuya Yamashita (Sunbelx) - 2:11:37 (Nobeoka 2024)
Takuma Kumagai (Sumitomo Denko) - 2:11:40 (Osaka 2025)
Akihito Eishin (Osaka Police) - 2:11:45 (Nobeoka 2025)
Kota Sugiho (Suzuki) - 2:12:49 (Nobeoka 2025)
Taiyo Watanabe (Togami Denki) - 2:13:28 (Nobeoka 2025)
Yuma Shimizu (Toyota Kyushu) - 2:13:52 (Nobeoka 2025)
Ibuki Kaneko (JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:13:58 (Osaka 2025)
Koshiro Hirata (SG Holdings) - 2:14:17 (Osaka 2024)
Kanta Ikeda (Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:15:11 (Nobeoka 2025)
Kazuto Kawabata (SG Holdings) - 2:15:11 (Nobeoka 2024)
Masami Nagakura (Kurosaki Harima) - 2:15:59 (Kobe 2025)
Koki Kamata (Yakult) - 2:17:23 (Osaka 2025)
Kaihei Kitano (Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 2:18:42 (Osaka 2025)

Debut
Makoto Takewari (Tokai Univ.) - 1:31:06 (Kumanichi 30 km 2025)
Koya Suzuki (Fujitsu) - 1:32:11 (Kumanichi 30 km 2025)
Hiroto Kuniyasu (Rikkyo Univ.) - 1:01:30 (Marugame Half 2025)
Shoki Yamaguchi (Soka Univ.) - 1:01:32 (Hakodate Half 2025)
Shota Maeda (Logisteed) - 1:01:44 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2024)
Kaito Nakamura (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:08 (Setagaya 246 Half 2025)
Kazusa Takanuma (Suzuki) - 1:02:27 (Marugame Half 2025)
Kiyoto Suzuki (Asahi Kasei) - 1:02:33 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2024)
Masahiro Fukumoto (Kraftia) - 1:03:23 (Tamana Half 2023)
Keisuke Kanahashi (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:03:31 (Osaka Half 2025)
Ryosuke Sasaki (Suzuki) - 1:03:35 (Osaka Half 2025)
Takumi Sukegawa (Yasukawa Denki) - 1:03:35 (Osaka Half 2025)
Nagisa Moriso (Chugoku Denryoku) - 1:03:43 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2023)
Kazuki Shinohara (Soka Univ.) - 1:03:58 (Setagaya 246 Half 2025)
Konosuke Takeda (Soka Univ.) - 1:04:04 (Tokyo Legacy Half 2024)
Teruya Wada (Nishitetsu) - 1:05:13 (Osaka Half 2025)
Masatora Kawano (Asahi Kasei) - 2:21:47 (35 kmRW, Takahata 2024)

photo © 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
text © 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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