Aoyama Gakuin University Launches Women's Ekiden Team With Goal of "Stopping the Declining Numbers in the Sport"
2026 Hakone Ekiden champion Aoyama Gakuin University held a press conference Apr. 4 at its Sagamihara campus announcing that it was adding a women's ekiden team to its track and field program. In its first year the team has only 2 members, Nodoka Ashida of Ritsumeikan Uji H.S., and Eri Ikeno of Suma Gakuen H.S. The team's head coach will be Susumu Hara, who coached the AGU men to their second Hakone threepeat this year and had a hand in the GMO corporate team's first-ever New Year Ekiden win. At the press conference he talked about the reasons for launching a women's team, and the harsh realities facing women's track and field.
AGU is the undisputed leader in the evolution of the university men's ekiden circuit, but adding a women's team represents a new challenge. Hara cited 3 objectives in expanding the AGU program: "creating an environment where female athletes can balance competition and life events," "expanding the opportunities available to female athletes by spreading information through a range of media," and "creating role models who will inspire the dreams of future generations and make them say, 'I can do that too.'"
Coach Hara expressed surprise at the number of journalists at the press conference, saying, "This is like an Olympic-level press conference. I didn't expect to see so many cameras lined up. I think a lot of you are probably surprised by this news. Our university is doing well financially. In the face of the declining birthrate, we are establishing the team with the aim of addressing social issues through the team rather than using sports as a road to becoming involved in management. As a research institution, this will further enhance to way we conduct women's education."
Saying, "I will now present the facts, which are not intended as a criticism of the current state of women's track and field," Hara then presented data showing that the girls' 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m high school records have not been broken in over 20 years*, and that the number of high schools participating in their prefectural high school ekiden as a single-school team has declined 40% nationwide in the last 10 years. "In my opinion this is a critical situation," he said.
Hara said that the team's goal is to "stop the declining number of participants in the sport, and raising the overall level of competition." He cited winning the Morinomiyako Ekiden national championship in 2027 and Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden in 2028 as immediate targets. "This will be my first time coaching women's ekiden," he said, "but I want to combine Aoyama Gakuin's knowhow and my own to do the absolute best job possible."
Female athletes face significant challenges, including balancing life events with their athletic activities, physical limitations, and inadequate coaching methods. Given those issues' mirror in the those women face in contemporary society, the hope is that the new team will be a vehicle through which to address and overcome those barriers. Creating a place where women can excel in their own way both as athletes and as people is the new team's primary mission.
The team will pursue 3 core concepts: beauty, freshness, and strength, the beauty radiating from someone taking on a new challenge in their own individual way, the refreshing intensity of the single-minded pursuit of a goal, and the strength to overcome adversity. Private and public-sector sponsors include I'm donut?, Wacoal, Adidas Japan, and the city of Taramizu in Kagoshima. The team aims to begin competing in its second year and will be based at AGU's Sagamihara campus in Machida, western Tokyo.
*Translator's note: This is not actually true. Caroline Kariba of Kamimura Gakuen H.S. broke both the 1500 m and 3000 m high school records in 2023, and Janet Jepkoech of Kurashiki H.S. broke the 5000 m record last year. While the fastest-ever times by a Japanese-born high school girl for 3000 m and 5000 m were both run over 20 years ago, the 1500 m mark set by Yuriko Kobayashi happened in September, 2006, still less than 20 years ago.
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translated and edited by Brett Larner
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