The mile isn't really a thing in Japan, especially on the roads, but it's starting to change a little bit. At Nike's new Ginza Mile road race, even in the middle of heavy rain the top 7 in the men's race all broke the national record of 4:00.02 set in March by Ojiro Honda (Waseda Univ.). Soma Nagahara (Juntendo Univ.) was first across the line to become the official new NR holder in 3:57.0, just beating Shunsuke Kuwata (Komazawa Univ.) by 0.3 in Kuwata's best race since the NYC Half in March. Kaisei Okada (Chuo Univ.) and Yuto Miyake (Chuo Univ.) were right behind in 3:57.9 and 3:58.1, and while there doesn't seem to be an official Taiwanese road mile NR it's pretty much a given that the 3:58.9 by Chien Tzu-Chieh (Chuo Univ.) for 5th was Taiwan's best-ever.
Women's NR holder Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki) easily won in 4:33.8, almost 2 seconds off her NR from 2023, with Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) 2nd in 4:36.87 and Ran Urabe (Sekisui Kagaku) 3rd in 4:38.7.
Nike Ginza Mile
Ginza, Tokyo, 20 June 2026
Elite Men
1. Soma Nagahara (Juntendo Univ.) - 3:57.0 - NR
2. Shunsuke Kuwata (Komazawa Univ.) - 3:57.3 (NR)
3. Kaisei Okada (Chuo Univ.) - 3:57.9 (NR)
4. Yuto Miyake (Chuo Univ.) - 3:58.1 (NR)
5. Chien Tzu-Chieh (Taiwan/Chuo Univ.) - 3:58.9 - NR
6. Hiroto Yoshioka (Juntendo Univ.) - 3:59.2 (NR)
7. Nayabu Naoki Yoshikura (Waseda Univ.) - 3:59.6 (NR)
8. Juda Hyodo (Tokai Univ.) - 4:00.6
9. Koki Terada (Chuo Univ.) - 4:03.0
10. Ryo Higuchi (Univ. of Kansas) - 4:03.1
Women
1. Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 4:33.8
2. Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 4:36.8
3. Ran Urabe (Sekisui Kagaku) - 4:38.7
4. Yuina Nagamori (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) - 4:41.3
5. Yuzu Nishide (Daihatsu) - 4:43.0
6. Anna Svrcek (Ushiku H.S.) - 4:43.4
7. Shiho Kurokawa (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) - 4:45.9
8. Nonoha Takahashi (Azuma Tachibana J.H.S.) - 4:46.7
9. Mei Hokiyama (Athtrack AC) - 4:48.8
10. An Sakata (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) - 4:50.0
© 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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