Tokyo Marathon vs. Osaka Marathon: Which Is Better for First-Timers?

Osaka, Japan

1Both Allow 7 Hours, but Only Osaka Publishes Its Checkpoint Cutoffs in Advance

Tokyo starts at 9:10 a.m. and closes the finish at 4:10 p.

m. Osaka starts at 9:15 a.m.

and closes at 4:15 p.m. Divide 42.195 kilometers by 7 hours and you get roughly 9:57 per kilometer—a brisk walk.

On the numbers alone, the races are identical. The difference is the intermediate checkpoints. For the 2026 race, Osaka published cutoff times for 10 checkpoints in advance.

The first, at 5.0K, closed at 10:44 a.m.; the last, at 41.4K, closed at 4:07 p.

m. For a first-time marathoner, that table is more useful than the 7-hour headline figure, because once you know where you need to be and when, you can work backward to set your training pace. Tokyo won't release its 2027 checkpoint cutoffs until shortly before race day.

Start later and your clock is shorter. The runner behind OsakaMiles, a YouTube channel based in Osaka, ran a first marathon alongside a spouse, started in the third wave, and crossed the start line around 9:45 a.m.

That left 6 hours, 22 minutes to reach the 41.4K checkpoint. In Tokyo, the last corral also crosses the start line 30 minutes after the gun. If you're starting near the back of either race, plan around 6:20 to 6:30.

Osaka Marathon 2027Sun, February 28, 2027 · D-137 · Osaka, JapanSee race details

Osaka Marathon 2027 · Read the story

Tokyo, Japan

2Tokyo Is Almost Flat, but Its Early Downhill Can Trap First-Time Marathoners

The Tokyo course has just 35 to 40 meters of total elevation gain. It starts in front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, turns around at three points—Ueno-hirokoji (10.6K), Tomioka Hachimangu (23.95K), and in front of Tamachi Station (37.5K)—and finishes on Gyoko-dori. The first few kilometers run gently downhill, so your legs feel light.

Osaka starts in front of the Osaka Prefectural Government building, passes the Dotonbori area, and finishes inside Osaka Castle Park. It rolls too much to call flat. The OsakaMiles runner put it this way: “The course is beginner friendly.

There's a couple hills here and there.” It's a really good course, the runner added. The OsakaMiles couple walked some sections and finished in around 5 hours, 50 minutes.

On elevation alone, Tokyo wins. But the runner behind the YouTube channel Run the Rising Sun, who has now run Tokyo twice, said the quads were already hurting around 25K during the first attempt in 2023. Next time, the runner held the opening stretch slower than 5:00 per kilometer, and the legs were still there at 25K.

In a first marathon, an easy downhill causes more trouble than a hill. You're not out of breath, so you don't notice you're banking 10 or 15 seconds per kilometer—and that debt comes due all at once after 30K. At either race, run the first 5K slow on purpose, with an eye on your watch.

TOKYO MARATHON 2027Sun, March 7, 2027 · D-144 · Tokyo, JapanSee race details

TOKYO MARATHON 2027 · Read the story

Osaka, Japan

3Osaka Reached 21.4°C in February 2026

Normal temperatures are nearly identical. Osaka's average high on race day is 12.1°C, while Tokyo in the first week of March typically sees highs of 10 to 12°C and morning lows of 2 to 4°C. At both races, the wait for the start falls during the coldest part of the day.

The wild card is the year that isn't normal. The OsakaMiles runner recalled that everyone was nervous when the forecast called for 20°C. The runner behind Sunny Side Singapore, a YouTube channel from Singapore, remembered the day simply as “very hot.”

So if you're heading to Osaka, your bag gets one item heavier. You'll want throwaway layers for the start at both races. For Osaka, also pack a light singlet and a cap you'd wear at 20°C.

Osaka is a late-February race where winter gear alone won't cut it.

Osaka, Japan

4Race Morning in Osaka Starts With a 30-Minute Walk to the Start

In Tokyo, Tochomae Station on the Toei Oedo Line, right next to the start area, doesn't open its exits on race day. So the crowd walking in from the west side of Shinjuku Station all funnels in one direction, and security is strict. Bottles with liquid in them won't get through the gate.

In Osaka, the morning runs long for a different reason. The runner behind RunBry, a YouTube channel built around running a marathon every week for 52 weeks, summed up Osaka's transit this way: “public transport is super easy. Just follow the crowds.”

The problem comes after that. Bag drop was followed by a roughly 30-minute walk toward Osaka Castle and the start line, and the advice was short: “budget that in.” Runners had to be in their corrals about 15 minutes before the start.

The changing tents close at 8:30 a.m. Another trap: the whole Osaka Castle Park area becomes one big bag-drop zone.

Even the OsakaMiles couple, who arrived early at 7:30 a.m., wandered around looking for their bag drop without a map.

“Bring a map. They give you one usually at the expo.” Work backward from the 8:30 a.

m. changing-tent closure to figure out when to leave your hotel, and build in the 30-minute walk to the start and time to find your bag drop.

Osaka, Japan

5Bib Pickup Hours Should Set Your Flight Dates

At both races, bibs are handed out only before race day—no race-day pickup and no proxy pickup. Tokyo's pickup runs three days, March 4–6, at Tokyo Big Sight, and closes at 5:30 p.m.

on the final day. Osaka gives you just two days, in Hall 6 at INTEX Osaka in the Nanko port area: February 26 from 11 a.m.

to 7 p.m. and February 27 from 10 a.

m. to 6 p.m.

Both expos are far from the start line. Tokyo Big Sight is in Ariake on Tokyo Bay, and INTEX Osaka is in Nanko on Osaka Bay, so set aside a separate half day before the race. Sunny Side Singapore pointed out that the Osaka expo is split into two parts: bib pickup and sponsor booths.

Book your flights backward from the closing times: 5:30 p.m. on March 6 for Tokyo and 6 p.

m. on February 27 for Osaka. With one fewer pickup day, arriving by Friday is effectively the cutoff for Osaka.

Osaka, Japan

6Can You Still Get Into the 2027 Races? 10 Story-Contest Spots and 1,000 Charity Entries

“If I had gotten Tokyo Marathon then I wouldn't be here but Tokyo Marathon the ballot is incredibly hard,” the Sunny Side Singapore runner said in the channel's Osaka video. The general lottery for the 2027 Tokyo Marathon was oversubscribed on August 14, 2026, the first day of registration, and results came out September 18. Charity entries had already closed even earlier, on July 9.

What's left: official travel-agency packages and Interview Relay 2027, a 20th-anniversary campaign. Send a story and photo about how the Tokyo Marathon changed your life by October 13, and 10 story-contest winners get entries to the 2027 race. Each prize has its own eligibility rules on the campaign page, so check first whether overseas residents qualify.

Osaka is selling 1,000 charity entries first come, first served, with no lottery. Applications close at 5 p.m.

Japan time on October 19, or sooner if the spots run out. International applicants pay through JTB Sports Station, all at once: a $145 entry fee, a donation of at least $475, and two $5 donation units. That's $630, plus an 11 percent service fee—about three times Tokyo's $230 international entry fee.

Tokyo's 10 spots come down to luck and writing. Osaka's 1,000 come down to money and speed. If you don't want to miss spring 2027, there are two dates to circle: October 13 and October 19.