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Simplified New Year Ekiden Qualifying Race to Be Held in Tahara, Aichi

The National Corporate Federation JITA announced on June 3 that starting in the fall of 2027, Tahara, Aichi will be the venue for the new unified national-level qualifying race for the New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships. Up til now the New Year Ekiden has not had an auto-qualifying bracket, forcing all teams to run one of 6 regional qualifying ekidens, East Japan, Chubu, Hokuriku, Kansai, Chugoku and Kyushu, every year in order to run in the main event.

The simplified qualification format was made in order to increase fan interest and excitement. Starting with the 2027 New Year Ekiden, top-placing teams will auto-qualify for the next year's New Year Ekiden. Teams that finish outside the auto-qualifying bracket will race the new unified qualifying race in the fall of 2027 in order to qualify for the 2028 New Year Ekiden.

JITA put out a call for hosting proposals last November and selected Tahara from among the bids. Tahara currently hosts the existing Chubu and Hokuriku region qualifying ekidens. The new event's course and date will be announced at a later date.

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Anonymous said…
This is a shame I think. I liked having all those regional qualifier Ekidens to watch on the live streams!

Hopefully, they find a way to continue those races as regional championships, maybe early in the calendar year (February?)
June 8, 2026 at 11:06 PM
Brett Larner said…
I know what you mean, but at the same time the schedule is already restrictive enough, and adding a 3rd tier of ekidens they have to do only hurts JPN athletes' chances of doing anything else. This setup at least frees up the top tier of people from the top tier of teams to actually focus on a fall marathon.
June 10, 2026 at 9:36 AM
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