Four big meets with distance action happened across Japan over the 2nd half of April. Highlights from each of them:
Hyogo Relay Carnival - Kobe, 18-19 April
- Hirokazu Sakai (Senko) set a 2.25 m MR in the men's high jump.
- Sae Takemoto (Orico) threw 59.68 m to set a new MR in the women's javelin throw.
- Distance events were pretty low-key, with Ryota Natori (Konica Minolta) winning the men's 10000 m in 28:49.74 and Yuzu Nishide (Daihatsu) the women's 5000 m in 15:44.03.
National University Individual Championships - Hiratsuka, 24-26 April
- Miori Kida (1st yr., Juntendo Univ.) debuted with 4:19.14 MR in the women's 1500 m, going 0.12 under the previous record set last year.
- Sarah Wanjiru (4th yr., Daito Bunka Univ.) kicked off her senior year by chopping 25 seconds off her own 10000 m MR to by over a minute in 31:23.69. Mao Kimura (1st yr., Meijo Univ.) had a great debut in 32:31.56 for 2nd, more than 70 sec up on 3rd place.
- Shunpei Yamaguchi (3rd yr., Waseda Univ.) crushed the men's 10000 m with a completely solo 27:59.47 PB, beating Hiroto Yoshioka (4th yr., Juntendo Univ.) by almost 13 seconds, coming less than 7 seconds short of the 2007-era MR held by Mekubo Mogusu (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.).
- Taisei Tachizako (4th yr., Tokyo Gakugei Univ.) and Yushi Nakajima (4th yr., Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) both broke the men's 10000 m MR, Tachizako getting the win in 38:07.06 and Nakajima 2nd in 38:28.07.
- Nozomi Kondo (3rd yr., Meijo Univ.) joined the sub-10 club in her debut at the 3000 mSC, winning in 9:59.67.
Nittai University Time Trials - Yokohama, 25-26 April
- Women's 3000 mSC NR holder Miu Saito (Panasonic) set a 1500 m PB with a 4:13.90 win in the women's fast heat.
- Men's 1500 m all-time #2 Kazuto Iizawa (Sumitomo Denko) doubled, winning the 800 m fast heat in a 1:49.35 PB at 13:15, then coming back less than 2 hours later to win the 1500 m fast heat in a 3:39.10 SB. 2nd-placer Koki Terada (Chuo Univ.) cleared 3:40 too in 3:39.91.
- Daisy Jerop (Josai Kokusai Univ.) led the top 4 under 9 minutes in the women's 3000 m fast heat, winning in 8:49.67.
- Mary Akai (Hakoho Joshi Gakuen H.S,) soloed a 15:34.62 to win the women's 5000 m B-heat, beating A-heat winner Shiho Tachizako (Hitachi) who ran only 15:47.60.
- Emmanuel Kiplagat (Mitsubishi Juko) won a great men's 10000 m fast heat in 27:38.07, leading the top 5 under 28 minutes. Hitoshi Okahara (Chudenko) was the top Japanese finisher in 28:09.86, with Tokyo-based American Ethan Shuley running 28:16.40 in his debut at the distance after going through halfway in 13:52, 5 seconds faster than his track 5000 m debut 3 weeks ago in Setagaya. A DNF in the 10000 m at the last Nittai 2 weeks ago, Shunsuke Kuwata (Komazawa Univ.) ran only 28:32.36 for 13th of 15 finishers.
- Bilith Boi (Sapporo Yamanote H.S.) dominated the men's 5000 m fast heat in 13:24.88, the all-Kenyan top 3 all going under 13:30. Yoshihiro Kusuoka (Teikyo Univ.) was the fastest Japanese finisher at 4th in a school record 13:32.60. B-heat winner Hikari Ogawara (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) ran 13:37.09, a time that would have put him 7th in the A-heat. Ogawara's teammates Sota Orita and Kaito Iida both broke 13:40 in the A-heat as well. Other high schoolers to break 14 minutes included Masahiro Kurihara (Kyoto Gaidai Nishi H.S.), 13:58.35 for 7th in the D-heat, and Kodai Fujii (Miyazaki Nichidai H.S.), 13:58.76 for 13th in the A-heat.
Oda Memorial Meet - Hiroshima, 29 April
- After sitting the Hyogo Relay Carnival out with a back injury, Yuki Yamamoto (Takada Kogyosho) threw an all-time JPN #7 PB of 61.45 m to win the women's javelin throw, 3rd-best in the world so far this season. Yamamoto beat Hyogo winner Takemoto and all her other main domestic competition for this fall's Nagoya Asian Games team except NR holder Haruka Kitaguchi (JAL), who hasn't competed since last September's Tokyo World Championships.
- Hongjiao Wu (China) set a 2:02.49 MR to win the women's 800 m over Morgan Mitchell (Australia), 2nd in 2:02.91, and Ayano Shiomi (Iwatani Sangyo), 3rd in 2:03.41.
- Following the results at Nittai, all-time JPN #8 Keisuke Morita (Subaru) and NR holder Kazuki Kawamura (Toenec) both went under 3:40 in the men's 1500 m, Morita winning in 3:39.35 and Kawamura 2nd in 3:39.79,
- 2025 men's javelin throw national champion Yuta Sakiyama (Yamada Holdings) went over 80 m for the first time this season, throwing 81.78 m for the win.
- Women's 100 mH national champ Yumi Tanaka (Fujitsu) likewise opened with a 13.03 (-0.9) to win, runner-up Mako Fukube (NKK) also under 13.10 in 13.08.
- Rui Aoki (Honda) turned in a solid 8:22.69 win over Yutaro Ninae (Aisan Kogyo), 2nd in 8:23.60, in the men's 3000 mSC. NR holder Ryuji Miura (Subaru) paced the race partway before dropping out.
- Janet Jepkoech (Nitori) ran a 14:59.31 MR in the women's 5000 m B-heat, the A-heat going to Lucy Nduta (Ehime Ginko) in only 15:14.10. Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) had the fastest Japanese time in either race, going 15:19.50 for 2nd in the A-heat. Back from her 2:19:57 marathon debut in Osaka in January, Mikuni Yada (Edion) hit the qualifying standard for June's National Championships with a 15:26.44 for 8th in the A-heat.
- Festus Kimorwo (Kurosaki Harima) ran 13:23.40 to win the men's 5000 m A-heat, Shota Nakano (Honda) the only Japanese man under 13:30 in 13:29.88 for 3rd.
© 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Comments