Japan Top 5 · Rookie
If Osaka and Tokyo Are Both Lotteries, Which Marathon Should Be Your First?
Time limit splits into 6-hour and 7-hour races, while registration splits between ballots and first-come, first-served entry. The five races from December 2026 through March 2027 are compared using those two measures.
For a first full marathon in Japan, the biggest fear is entering a race and then not being able to run it. The course map for Tokyo Marathon gets opened again and again, the entry date goes on the calendar, and the ballot is still lost.
Osaka Marathon uses the same ballot system, with results released a month after entries close. So the selection criteria change.
The five races are ranked by time limit, entry method, temperature and travel—not by atmosphere. For a first marathon, those four factors determine whether the race can actually be run.
1Nagoya Women’s Marathon: 5,500 ballot places, first-come entry and a women-only field
There is more than one way into the Nagoya Women's Marathon 2027. No qualifying time is required. The general entry for residents of Japan, 5,500 places, is a lottery open from 8 p.
m. on September 17 to 11:59 p.m.
on September 24, with results by early October. Before that, several first-come allocations had already opened: Challenge Entry 5,000, Travel Plan 4,000, Charity 3,000, and Heart Support 1,000 for people who have completed a first-aid course. All of them closed between July and early September.
If you would rather not leave it to luck, whether you mark next summer's first-come dates matters more than the hills on the course. The race is on March 14, 2027, with a 9:10 a.m.
start. The time limit is 7 hours, and the finish closes at 4:10 p.m.
Along the way there are cut-off point s: miss the set time at one and you are stopped there. Nagoya publishes all 10 closing times in advance: 6.0 km 10:30 a.m.
, 10.4 km 11:55 a.m., 15.7 km 12:35 p.
m., 21.5 km 12:52 p.m.
, 26.2 km 1:37 p.m., 29.9 km 2:11 p.
m., 35.0 km 2:59 p.m.
, 38.6 km 3:32 p.m., 41.7 km 4:05 p.
m., and 42.195 km 4:10 p.m.
Multiply by your own pace per 1 km and you know where it gets tight before you even apply. Not many races publish this table. The venue is Vantelin Dome.
Start and finish are under the same roof, 5 minutes on foot from Exit 1 of Nagoya Dome-mae Yada Station, or about 15 minutes from Ozone Station on the JR Chuo Line and Meitetsu Seto Line. Rain or wind, you wait and change indoors. Entry costs 19,000 yen for general and elite runners, 18,000 yen for Challenge, Travel Plan and Heart Support, and 23,000 yen for Charity.
The World Athletics label is Platinum, and every finisher receives a jewelry keepsake. There are two conditions. First, it is a women-only race: the world's largest women's marathon, with about 20,000 runners, and men cannot enter.
Second, check-in. Runner check-in at Vantelin Dome Nagoya runs on only two days, March 12, noon–8:30 p.m.
, and March 13, 10 a.m.–7:30 p.
m. There is no race-day check-in and no proxy collection. If your itinerary cannot get you to Nagoya by Friday or Saturday, winning the lottery will not get you on the start line.
Nagoya Women's Marathon 2027Sun, March 14, 2027 · D-121 · Nagoya, JapanSee race details
Fujikawaguchiko, Japan
2Mt. Fuji Marathon: a 6 hour limit and 6 cut-off points
Treat the 6-hour time limit as a different sport from 7 hours. The 15th Fujisan Marathon's full marathon starts at 9:00 on Sunday, December 13, 2026, with a 6-hour limit measured in gun time — counted from the gun, not from the moment you cross the start line. The further back your block, the more of that time you lose.
There are 6 cut-off point s. Just before Kawaguchiko Ohashi Bridge at 12.1 km: 10:57. Terasaki fishing co-op car park at 20.5 km: 12:03.
In front of Saiko Kyominso at 27.3 km: 13:00. In front of Saiko Community Hall at 30.3 km: 13:24. Ashiwada branch office at 35.1 km: 14:03.
Michi-no-Eki Katsuyama at 37.7 km: 14:24. The finish closes at 15:00. Up to the first cut-off point you have about 9 and a half minutes of slack per 1 km, but after 30 km it tightens.
The heartbreak hill the organisers call a signature feature is on this second half; the shores of Lake Kawaguchi and Lake Saiko themselves are basically flat. Still, the race has one strength that matters for beginners: four ways to collect your bib. Paid advance shipping (+1,500 yen); Alpen Tokyo in Shinjuku from December 7 to 11, before the race; the venue the day before, the 12th, 12:00–19:00; and the venue on race day, the 13th, 7:00–8:00.
Of these five races, it is the only one with race-day pickup. Whether you can cut the stay to one night, or skip it entirely, changes the maths on travel costs and leave. The venue is the Funatsuhama Hirahama car park in Fujikawaguchiko, with start and finish in the same place, 7 minutes on foot from Kawaguchiko Station and about 105 minutes by highway bus from Busta Shinjuku.
The full marathon costs 12,900 yen, with 1,000 yen off for runners aged 25 and under, and bag storage is +100 yen. The field is capped at 7,500, and entry for the 2026 race opened on May 7 and closed on August 31. The organisers describe it as the only full marathon in Japan run inside a national park.
15th Mt. Fuji MarathonSun, December 13, 2026 · D-30 · Fujikawaguchiko, JapanSee race details
3Tokyo Marathon: a flat course and acceptance odds of around 10%
Of these five, Tokyo Marathon has the gentlest course. It runs point to point, from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building to Gyoko-dori in front of Tokyo Station, with only 35–40 m of cumulative climbing. The only real rise is one bridge in the first 5 km.
The start is at 9:10, and the time limit is 7 hours, to 16:10. The problem is how narrow the door is. For its 20th edition in 2027 the race has expanded the field to 40,000 and set the winner's prize at US$170,000, but general entry ran from 11:00 on August 14 to 17:00 on August 28, 2026, and has already closed; results come on September 18.
The success rate is said to be around 10%. The entry fee is 19,800 yen, and the overseas (international) entry is US$230. In early March, Tokyo averages highs of 10–12°C and lows of 2–4°C.
The wait in the start area before the 9:10 gun is long, so bring a layer you can throw away. On race day the exits at Tochomae Station on the Toei Oedo Line are closed; plan on walking 10 minutes from Shinjuku Station. Your bib must be collected in person at the EXPO in the South Hall of Tokyo Big Sight from March 4 to 6, with photo ID; there is no proxy pickup and no race-day pickup.
Tokyo Marathon 2027Sun, March 7, 2027 · D-114 · Tokyo, JapanSee race details
Osaka, Japan
4Osaka Marathon: You Can't Book a Hotel Until the September 28 Lottery Results
Osaka Marathon 2027 will be held on February 28, 2027. The first wave starts at 9:15, and time limit is 7 hours, with the course closing at 16:15. Entry is by lottery here, too.
General registration runs from July 28, 2026, at 10:00 through August 28 at 17:00 (Japan time). If applications exceed the field limit, places will be decided by lottery, with results scheduled for September 28. Entrants overseas apply through JTB Sports Station.
The entry fee for domestic individual runners in the full course is 16,000 yen; for overseas runners, it is US$145. For first-timers, the challenge lies not in course or time limit but in the timing. The Japan Association of Athletics Federations has confirmed the 2027 race for Sunday, February 28, but the official race information will not be released until around July.
That means the details arrive only a month before registration closes, followed by another month-long wait for the lottery results. Accommodation cannot be booked with confidence until a place is secured, while weekend rooms in Osaka fill up first. The official travel information is also sparse for now.
The start is in front of the Osaka Prefectural Government Office, and the finish is inside Osaka Castle Park. The only guidance says, “Please use public transportation or other means to reach the venue.” As of August 20, 2026, there was no road-closure schedule or mention of official shuttle buses.
The EXPO will be held at INTEX Osaka; in 2026, it ran over two days: Friday, February 20, from 11:00 to 19:30, and Saturday, February 21, from 10:00 to 18:30. Getting back after the race will require planning.
Osaka Marathon 2027Sun, February 28, 2027 · D-107 · Osaka, JapanSee race details
5Kyoto Marathon: 3-Tier Entry Fees Based on Residence, With a 6-Hour Cut-Off
Kyoto Marathon has three entry-fee tiers: 18,500 yen for Kyoto residents, 19,500 yen for domestic residents outside Kyoto, and 35,000 yen for runners living overseas. The overseas fee is about 1.9 times the resident rate. The two-person pair relay costs 34,000 yen, while the wheelchair division costs 3,000 yen.
The difference reflects the race's basic design: launched in 2012 as a Kyoto city marathon, it was built first and foremost for local residents. The 2027 race will be held on February 21. The wheelchair division starts at 8:55, followed by the marathon and pair relay at 9:00.
Time limit is 6 hours. The field is capped at 16,000 marathon runners, 250 pair-relay teams, and 20 wheelchair competitors. Domestic lottery registration has typically closed on August 31, but the opening date for the 2027 race has not yet been announced.
Course starts at Takebishi Stadium Kyoto (Nishikyogoku Sports Park Athletics Stadium), loops through the northwestern part of the city, follows the area around Kyoto Botanical Gardens and the embankment along the right bank of the Kamo River, and finishes in front of Heian Shrine. The pair relay is split into 27.6km and 14.6km legs, with Kyoto Botanical Gardens serving as the exchange point. Getting to the race is straightforward.
The start is a five-minute walk from Nishikyogoku Station on the Hankyu Kyoto Line or from the Nishikyogoku Sports Park-mae bus stop. The finish is about a 10-minute walk from Higashiyama Station on the Tozai subway line and 15 minutes from Keihan's Jingu-Marutamachi Station. Bib pickup takes place over the two days before the race at Miyako Messe.
There is no same-day registration. Emergency-contact details must be entered in advance, the waiver accepted, and a two-dimensional barcode issued; the original identity document must be brought to pickup. A 6-hour time limit and a 35,000-yen entry fee for overseas residents are both significant considerations.
Whether both make sense for a first marathon deserves careful thought.
Kyoto MarathonSun, February 21, 2027 · D-100 · Kyoto, JapanSee race details
Editor's pick
For a first full marathon, a woman should pick Nagoya Women's. The reasons are numbers: a time limit of 7 hours, and the closing times of all 10 cut-off point s published in advance, so you can check them against your own pace. This year's general entry is a lottery, but there is another way in: first-come slots that open in summer.
Starting and finishing at Vantelin Dome, with the wait indoors, is no small thing on a March morning. For men, Tokyo and Osaka both allow 7 hours and both are lotteries; Tokyo's odds are said to be around 10%. Enter both and you still have no guarantee of a start.
That leaves Kyoto and Mt. Fuji, each with a 6-hour limit. Here travel decides it: if weekday leave is hard to get, choose Fuji.
It is the only one of the five where you can collect your bib at the venue on race day, 7:00–8:00, which makes it the only race where you might skip the night before. But a 6-hour gun time limit, cut-off point s crowded after 30 km and a December date will show exactly how much you have trained. At 12,900 yen it is the cheapest of the five, and still not a race to pick on price.
Line them up again on four measures and the five split cleanly. 7 hours: Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya.
6 hours: Kyoto and Mt. Fuji.
Lottery: Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya's general entry; Nagoya also has first-come slots, and Fuji closed its first-come entry, capped at 7,500, on August 31, 2026. Only Fuji lets you collect your bib on race day; the other four need an itinerary that puts you in town by the day before.
Prices run from 12,900 yen at Fuji to 35,000 yen for Kyoto's overseas entry. As of mid-September, Kyoto has not announced when entry opens for 2027, and Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya have not published race-day road-closure timetables.
Check each official announcement once before you apply.
Entry period · Accommodation
| Races | Itinerary | Entry period | INFO. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nagoya Women's Marathon 2027 | Sun, March 14, 2027 | Tue, August 11, 2026 ~ Fri, December 25, 2026 | Accommodation · See race details |
| 15th Mt. Fuji Marathon | Sun, December 13, 2026 | Mon, April 20, 2026 ~ Mon, August 31, 2026 | Accommodation · See race details |
| Tokyo Marathon 2027 | Sun, March 7, 2027 | Fri, August 14, 2026 ~ Fri, August 28, 2026 | Accommodation · See race details |
| Osaka Marathon 2027 | Sun, February 28, 2027 | Tue, July 28, 2026 ~ Fri, August 28, 2026 | Accommodation · See race details |
| Kyoto Marathon | Sun, February 21, 2027 | Thu, July 16, 2026 ~ Mon, August 31, 2026 | Accommodation · See race details |
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