japan running news

The  Tokyo Marathon  announced some withdrawals and additions to the field for next week's race today. Names are as below with reasons given on the Tokyo Marathon website : Men's Marathon Withdrawals Suguru Osako (Japan/Nike) - declines to participate Benard Koech (Kenya/Kyudenko) - in poor condition Hidekazu Hijikata (Japan/Asahi Kasei) - injury Tadashi Isshiki (Japan/NTT Nishi Nihon) - injury Takumi Oishi (Japan/Suzuki) - injury Keigo Yano (Japan/Kao) - injury Tatsuro Oyazaki (Japan/Shindengen) - injury Men's Marathon Additions Hiroaki Furukawa (Japan/Tokyo University Grad School) - 2:16:14 (Kumamoto 2024) Women's Marathon Withdrawals Brigid Kosgei (Kenya) - in poor condition Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia) - in poor condition Men's Wheelchair Withdrawals Jin Hua (China) - injury Women's Wheelchair Withdrawals Eden Rainbow-Cooper (Great Britain) - injury Women's Wheelchair Additions Yen Hoang (U.S.A.) © 2025 Brett Larner , all rights reserved

The Japanese fiscal and academic years run April through March, so most changes to teams' lineups happen then. With changes to regulations over team transfers after a national government investigation of potential anti-trust violations by the National Corporate Federation there's no shortage of transfers between teams. A quick look at some of the changes to the top corporate teams this year: Women Shiseido retiring  - Naruha Sato, 25 - 10000 m 31:52.43  transfer out - Wakana Kabasawa, 24 - 5000 m 15:24.79 Sekisui Kagaku new recruit  - Yuma Yamamoto, 22 - 3000 m 8:52.19, 5000 m 15:16.71 new recruit  - Akari Matsumoto, 18 - 3000 m 9:11.96 new recruit  - Yuna Arai, 22 - 10000 m 32:11.08 Japan Post new recruit  - Kokone Sugimori, 18 - 3000 m 9:10.01, 5000 m 15:34.54 new recruit  - Kae Gyu, 22 - 3000 m 9:14.29 Edion new recruit  - Kana Mizumoto, 18 - 3000 m 9:05.03 Daihatsu new recruit  - Aiko Hosoya, 18 - 3000 m 9:13.09 new recruit  - ...

The list of entries has been updated with withdrawals announced Feb. 25. So it looks like the Osaka Marathon is going to happen. The Osaka International Women's Marathon and mass-participation Osaka Half Marathon just happened the weekend before last, and even as most of the spring's Japanese road races continue to cancel, with less than three weeks to go they've announced the elite fields for the mass-participation Osaka Marathon on Feb. 27.  On the men's side, Osaka is taking the place of the historic Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon on the calendar. There are a few Japan-based internationals, but with the borders still mostly closed it's another super-deep domestic field. Beppu-Oita just happened yesterday and Tokyo looks like it's also likely to happen, but even so the entry list has ten current 2:07 guys, eight at the 2:08 level, four at 2:09, eight at 2:10, and seven at 2:11. And one guy debuting with a 1:30:38 best for 30km, two debuting sub-61 half marat...

Elite-level track racing returns to Japan Saturday, July 4 with a scaled-back version of the scaled-down Hokuren Distance Challenge 's opening meet in Shibetsu, Hokkaido. Twelve women's and men's races over 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m with from 10 to 23 runners per race will happen starting at 15:30 local time and going until 19:15, and it's all being live streamed at the link above. Key names on the start list include Japan's best bet in the Olympic women's 5000 m, Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post), women's Olympic marathon trials winner Honami Maeda (Tenmaya), 2018's Shibetsu 5000 m winner Yuka Hori (Panasonic), 2017 Pre Classic men's mile winner Ronald Kwemoi (Komor Corp.), men's 3000 m H.S. and U20 national record holder Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Denko), defending men's 1500 m champ Masaki Toda (Sunbelx), men's 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m J.H.S. NR holder Kosuke Ishida (Tokyo Nogyo Daini H.S.), 2:07 marathoners Toshiki Sadakat a (MHPS)...

Yuma Hattori age: 25 sponsor: Toyota graduated from: Sendai Ikuei H.S., Toyo University best time inside MGC window: 2:07:27, 1st, 2018 Fukuoka International Marathon PB: 2:07:27, 1st, 2018 Fukuoka International Marathon other PBs: 5000 m: 13:36.76 (2015) 10000 m: 28:09.02 (2015) half marathon: 1:01:40 (2018) marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019) 1st, 2018 Fukuoka International Marathon, 2:07:27 5th, 2018 Prague Marathon, 2:10:26 other major results: 3rd, 2019 Gold Coast Half Marathon, 1:02:39 2nd, 2019 National Men’s Ekiden Seventh Stage (13.0 km), 37:50 1st, 2019 New Year Ekiden Fifth Stage (15.8 km), 45:47 6th, 2018 Usti nad Labem Half Marathon, 1:01:40 10th, 2017 National Championships 10000 m, 28:54.91 13th, 2017 Tokyo Marathon, 2:09:46 12th, 2016 Tokyo Marathon, 2:11:46 1st, 2016 Hakone Ekiden Second Stage (23.1 km), 1:07:04 1st, 2015 Hakone Ekiden Second Stage (23.1 km), 1:07:32 1st, 2014 Kumanichi 30 km, 1:28:52 – Univ. NR 3rd...

Ryo Hashimoto age: 25 sponsor: GMO graduated from: Oita Nishi H.S., Aoyama Gakuin University best time inside MGC window: 2:09:29, 5th, 2019 Beppu-Oita Marathon PB: 2:09:29, 5th, 2019 Beppu-Oita Marathon other PBs: 5000 m: 13:57.91 (2016) 10000 m: 28:35.37 (2019) half marathon: 1:02:55 (2019) marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019) 5th, 2019 Beppu-Oita Marathon, 2:09:29 – PB 9th, 2018 Fukuoka International Marathon, 2:11:40 other major results: 7th, 2019 HDC Fukagawa Meet 10000 m B-Race, 28:35.37 – PB 4th, 2019 Sendai International Half Marathon, 1:02:55 – PB 4th, 2018 Year-End Half Marathon, 1:03:31 4th, 2017 Gold Coast Marathon, 2:10:19 20th, 2017 Tokyo Marathon, 2:13:29 1st, 2016 Hofu Marathon, 2:11:20 23rd, 2016 Tokyo Marathon, 2:14:38 Hashimoto is totally unique in the MGC men’s field, someone who went to a Hakone Ekiden champion university but never made its starting roster for Japan’s biggest race. A benchwarmer for four-time Hakon...

Tadashi Isshiki age: 25 sponsor: GMO graduated from: Toyokawa H.S., Aoyama Gakuin University best time inside MGC window: 2:09:43, 13th, 2018 Tokyo Marathon PB: 2:09:43, 13th, 2018 Tokyo Marathon other PBs: 5000 m: 13:39.65 (2017) 10000 m: 28:23.40 (2014) half marathon: 1:02:09 (2015) marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019) 11th, 2019 Hamburg Marathon, 2:11:23 10th, 2019 Tokyo Marathon, 2:12:21 17th, 2018 Frankfurt Marathon, 2:14:49 13th, 2018 Tokyo Marathon, 2:09:43 – PB 8th, 2017 Hofu Marathon, 2:15:43 other major results: 20th, 2019 Marugame Half Marathon, 1:02:15 2nd, 2018 Year-End Half Marathon, 1:03:00 4th, 2017 National Championships 5000 m, 13:39.65 – PB DNF, 2017 Lake Biwa Marathon 3rd, 2017 Hakone Ekiden Second Stage (23.1 km), 1:07:56 1st, 2016 Kanagawa Half Marathon, 1:03:03 3rd, 2016 Hakone Ekiden Second Stage (23.1 km), 1:07:35 11th, 2016 Tokyo Marathon, 2:11:45 2nd, 2015 Gwangju World University Games Half Marathon, 1...

It's one month to go until what's bound to be the best marathon of 2019, Japan's 2020 Tokyo Olympics marathon trials, the Sept. 15  Marathon Grand Championship Race . Up to now Japan has typically picked its Olympic and World Championships marathon teams based on performances in a series of specific races, primarily the Fukuoka International Marathon, Tokyo Marathon and Lake Biwa Marathon for men, and the Saitama International Marathon, Osaka International Women's Marathon and Nagoya Women's Marathon for women. This time around they're going with a U.S.-style one-shot trials race, the MGC Race . People had a nearly two-year window from August, 2017 to April this year to hit tough standards to qualify. Only 34 men and 15 women made it, and after withdrawals for the Doha World Championships the MGC Race's final entry list is just 31 men and 12 women. Swedish Athletics Federation official Lorenzo Nesi called it "the most difficult marathon race ever...

Yesterday was the last chance for Japanese men and women to qualify for the Sept. 15  MGC Race , Japan's new more-or-less one-shot 2020 Olympic marathon trials. Since August, 2017 they've had to meet tough standards, 2:08:30 or two races averaging 2:11:00 for men and 2:24:00 or two races averaging 2:28:00 for women with slightly easier marks in the traditional selection races like Tokyo and Nagoya. With yesterday's Hamburg and London marathons on the books a total of 34 men and 15 women made the cut. Of the 34 men, 20 ran sub-2:10 within the qualifying window. When Kohei Ogino (Fujitsu) and Tadashi Isshiki (GMO) qualified in Hamburg yesterday it meant all 9 men who broke 2:10 at last year's Tokyo Marathon had made it. Tokyo was the race where the most qualifiers ran their fastest mark in the window, 14 between 2018 and 2019, with Beppu-Oita next at 5 and Lake Biwa 3rd with 4. The MHPS , Toyota , Fujitsu and GMO teams each qualified 3 runners, with Nissin Shoku...

15 Japanese men and 6 Japanese women lined up at overseas marathons Sunday to try one last time to qualify for the MGC Race, Japan's new 2020 Olympic trials marathon event, ahead of its Apr. 30 deadline, or to try to get under the Olympic standard before the Sept. 15 MGC Race. For men the needed marks were 2:08:30 or two races inside the qualifying window averaging 2:11:00 or better. For women, 2:24:00 and 2:28:00. Already in, Kentaro Nakamoto (Yasukawa Denki) ran the Krakow Marathon in hopes of clearing the 2:11:30 men's standard. Running steadily and under control on 2:10:20 pace, Nakamoto lasted until a final move by eventual winner Cyprian Kotut (Kenya) around 37 km put him away. As Kotut took off to win in 2:09:18, Nakamoto began to fade, holding on the 2nd place but just missing the Olympic standard in 2:11:34. The Hamburg Marathon saw the largest number of Japanese athletes, with 4 women and 13 men. Among the women Yuka Takashima (Shiseido) had the easiest task,...

2017 Ageo City Half Marathon winner Simon Kariuki (Nihon Yakka Univ.) ended 2018 with another win, beating former Aoyama Gakuin University and current GMO corporate team stars Tadashi Isshiki and Yuta Shimoda to win the 2nd edition of the Year-End Half Marathon . A new event started last year to give people whose teams missed out on the New Year and Hakone Ekidens something to do with their fitness, the Year-End Half Marathon course consisted of a short loop followed by four laps of around 5 km each inside western Tokyo's hilly Showa Kinen Park. Initially starting in a pack with others from the GMO and Raffine corporate teams and a few university men from Chuo, Asia and Meiji Gakuin, Kariuki and Shimoda pulled away over the second lap of the park with Isshiki trailing in a chase pack of four. Over the third lap Shimoda lost touch, then was overtaken by Isshiki midway through the final lap. Kariuki took the win with ease in 1:02:42, nearly two minutes better than last year...

Five Japanese men took on two of Europe's main marathons Sunday. At the Huawei Venice Marathon runners battled strong headwinds the entire way, winds that combined with high tide to seriously flood the last three kilometers of the course through Venice proper. After breaking away from a Kenyan trio coming onto the long bridge into Venice winner Gebre Mekuant Ayenew (Ethiopia) paused, slowing to a walk and almost stopping at the end of the first of the fourteen bridges that punctuate the Venice course when he found waves breaking across the course ahead of him. Gebre lost over a minute on his projected time slogging through the water to win in 2:13:23. Women's winner Angela Jemesunde Tanui (Kenya) lost even more time as the water continued to rise, dropping off a steady sub-2:27 pace to finish in 2:31:30. Boston Marathon winner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't), expected to challenge Gebre for the win, fell off the pace after only 5 km and, looking heavy and tight...

Three main races make up the lion's share of this road racing action, two abroad and one on home ground. Bouncing back from a bad run three weeks ago at the Chicago Marathon, 2018 Boston Marathon winner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) will make his Italian debut at the Huawei Venice Marathon with support from JRN. Since Chicago Kawauchi has raced twice, a 1:05:18 the weekend after Chicago at the Namerikawa Half Marathon and a 1:00:48 for 2nd at last weekend's Takashimadaira 20 km.The Takashimadaira time equates to a 1:04:08 half marathon, and given that rate rate of improvement over Namerikawa and his 14:47 closing split he is optimistic about Venice. "If the pack gets into a good rhythm early on then I think I can run in 2:10 to 2:12 range," he said. Most years that would put him in contention for the win in Venice, and with his 2018 best standing at 2:11:46 and the fastest time ever by a Japanese man on Italian soil at 2:12:51 he's got good seco...

2nd in the women's race at last year's Riga Marathon , Kikuyo Tsuzaki (Noritz) returned to take 4th in 2:35:03 in this year's record-breaking edition, three and a half minutes slower than her solid run last year but still good enough to be the second-fastest time run outside Japan this year by a Japanese woman. More on the men's and women's races here . At Sweden's Goteborgsvarvet Half Marathon , 2015 National University Half Marathon champion and 2015 World University Games half marathon silver medalist Tadashi Isshiki and his GMO teammate Hiroki Yamagishi were ineffectual, Isshiki five minutes off the win in 1:06:37 for 17th and Yamagishi 23rd in only 1:08:20. © 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Two weeks to the day after running 2:10:53 at the Fukuoka International Marathon, Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) wrapped his 2017 with a win, running one of the few negative splits of his career to win the Hofu Yomiuri Marathon for the third time in 2:10:03. Women's winner Misako Kato (Kyudenko), a 1:09:49 half marathon, soloed an almost perfectly paced 2:28:12 to take 3 minutes off her PB and 7 1/2 minutes off the course record. Further back, Rio Paralympics T12 marathon silver medalist  Misato Michishita  broke the own world record in her category with a time of 2:56:14. Watch a complete replay of the race here. Pacers Taiga Ito and Melaku Abera , both of whom ran Fukuoka alongside Kawauchi, were tasked with taking the field out in 3:06/km, 2:10:48 pace. Pre-race Kawauchi told JRN, "If they'd run 3:04 I ccoul definitely, 100%, go faster than I did in Fukuoka. In cold and windy conditions things went in his favor in the early going with 5 and 10 km sp...

2015 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon winner Arata Fujiwara (Toyama T&F Assoc.) and 2012 / 2014 winner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) return to lead the field for the Dec. 17 edition of the race. Fujiwara comes in three weeks after a win at the Tsukuba Marathon, which itself came just four weeks after a course record win at the Toyama Marathon. Kawauchi cuts it even closer, running both Fukuoka and Hofu as usual but adding a third marathon, the Jan. 1 Marshfield New Year's Day Marathon, just two weeks later. The pair's main competition comes from the Toshinari Takaoka -coached Hiroki Kadota (Kanebo) and former Hakone Ekiden star Tadashi Isshiki (GMO). At least three other members of the elite field will be emulating the past champs' high-volume racing, Tatsunori Hamasaki (Nanjo City Hall) having run the Oct. 15 Buenos Aires Marathon in Argentina, Shogo Kanezane (Chugoku Denryoku) the Nov. 26 Asian Marathon Championships in Dongguan, China, and Yusuke Tobimatsu ...

Ten years ago today Japan Running News started with a story about the withdrawal of Wataru Okutani from the Japanese men's marathon team just before the start of the Osaka World Championships. The concept was to provide a high-quality and reliable source for information in English about as much of the fascinating and exciting but otherwise invisible world of Japanese distance running as possible, and in the ten years of almost daily updates since then that ideal hasn't changed. The timing couldn't have been better, capturing the arcs of Samuel Wanjiru , Arata Fujiwara  and  Yuki Kawauchi , the rise of the Hakone Ekiden-driven university men's running circuit and of Japanese men's sprinting, and the buildup toward the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Along the way JRN has grown in ways we couldn't have expected, bringing writing jobs for publications worldwide and TV commentating work, the chance to work directly with some of Japan's best athletes and to travel ar...