The last big women's race of championship ekiden season, the Kitakyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden saw 8 corporate teams square off against 19 of the top high school teams in the country over a 27.2 km race. For corporate leaguers that was divided into 5 legs, with the final leg, 10.4 km, split into two legs for the high school teams.
Kairi Ikeno put National High School Ekiden 8th-placer Suma Gakuen H.S. out front on the 5.3 km First Stage, missing the CR by 2 seconds in 16:51. Only 17th at the Queens Ekiden corporate national championships, Kyocera was 5 seconds out front by the end of the 3.8 km Second Stage, but that didn't last long when Yume Yabutani ran a 12:35 CR on the 3.9 km Third Stage to put National High School Ekiden runner-up Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. in the overall lead by 23 seconds.
That lead stayed exactly the same over the 3.8 km Fourth Stage, while from behind Denso, which had failed to qualify for the Queens Ekiden, closed to 15 seconds back from Kyocera thanks to a good run from Ayaka Hori. It was up to Kyocera anchor Momoko Shimada to try to catch Osaka Kunei's last 2 runners and hold off Denso's Saeko Nakazawa for the win, but a stage-winning run from Nakazawa knocked Kyocera back to 2nd in the open division.
Even that wasn't enough for the win, though, as Osaka Kunei's last 2 runners Rio Kawamura and Yuika Tsuzurahara turned in stage wins, Tsuzurahara running a 14:22 CR to give Osaka Kunei the H.S. division CR in 1:27:13, a solid 41 seconds under the old CR set 2 years ago by Kamimura Gakuen H.S. with a lineup that included a brilliant 11:04 CR for the 3.8 km Second Stage by Kenyan Caroline Kariba. It said a lot about how good Osaka Kunei's team was this time that it did it with an all-Japanese lineup.
Denso ended up almost a minute and a half behind Osaka Kunei in 1:28:41 for the top spot in the open division, Kyocera 6 seconds back in 1:28:47 for 2nd open and 3rd across the line and Iwatani Sangyo 3rd in the open division in 1:28:58. Early leader Suma Gakuen ended up 2nd in the H.S. division and 6th overall in 1:29:42, Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. 3rd in 1:29:50.
37th Kitakyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden
Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, 18 Jan. 2026
open: 8 teams, 5 stages, 27.2 km
H.S.: 19 teams, 5 stages, 27.2 km
Top H.S. Division Results
1. Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. - 1:27:13 - CR
2. Suma Gakuen H.S. - 1:29:42
3. Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. - 1:29:50
4. Saikyo H.S. - 1:30:27
5. Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S. - 1:30:29
6. Kitakyushu Shiritsu H.S. - 1:30:38
7. Kamimura Gakuen H.S. - 1:30:46
8. Ginga Gakuin H.S. - 1:32:26
Open Division Team Results
1. Denso - 1:28:41
2. Kyocera - 1:28:47
3. Iwatani Sangyo - 1:28:58
4. Higo Ginko - 1:29:41
5. Kraftia - 1:31:15
6. Toto - 1:32:00
7. Canon - 1:32:32
8. Kitakyushu Select Team - 1:35:34
Top Individual Stage Results
First Stage (5.3 km)
1. Kairi Ikeno (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 16:51
2. Yuiri Ogata (Kyocera) - 16:59
3. Mao Fukumoto (Osaka Kunei H.S.) - 17:06
Second Stage (3.8 km)
1. Jecinta Nyokabi (Denso) - 11:35
2. Chia Wakuri (Saikyo H.S.) - 11:52
3. Florence Chepkoech (Toto) - 11:57
Third Stage (3.9 km)
1. Yume Yabutani (Osaka Kunei H.S.) - 12:35 - CR
2. Sakura Nishio (Iwatani Sangyo) - 12:36
3. Wakana Itsuki (Kraftia) - 12:46
Fourth Stage (3.8 km)
1. Nodoka Ashida (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 11:29 - CR
2. Ayaka Hori (Denso) - 11:47
3. Ayu Koyama (Iwatani Sangyo) - 11:50
Fifth Stage (10.4 km, open)
1. Saeko Nakazawa (Denso) - 34:13
2. Momoko Shimada (Kyocera) - 34:34
3. Chihiro Sato (Iwatani Sangyo) - 34:42
Fifth Stage (5.9 km, H.S.)
1. Rio Kawamura (Osaka Kunei H.S.) - 19:01
2. Rin Setoguchi (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) - 19:32
3. Aoi Yoshihara (Chiharadai H.S.) - 19:42
Sixth Stage (4.5 km, H.S.)
1. Yuika Tsuzurahara (Osaka Kunei H.S.) - 14:22 - CR
2. Sena Kaneko (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 14:40
3. Hanano Shimamoto (Chikushi Joshi H.S.) - 14:52
© 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Comments
Yume Yabutani has been a bit over-shadowed by her some of her team-mates in the last year but that was a big statement run by her.
There's so much talent on that team and I find it quite incredible that they're not the national HS Ekiden champions. I think if the national HS Ekiden was a bit longer and 7 legs rather than 5, they probably would be the champions.