For Every country has its own distinct sporting traditions found nowhere else in the world. Japan is no exception. Its contribution is ekiden.
Simply put, it is a long-distance relay race. Team members take turns running consecutive legs of a long course, passing a cloth sash known as a tasuki from one runner to the next. What sets this sport apart is the visceral sense of continuity—the idea that the team is running as one single entity.
The pinnacle of this phenomenon is the Tokyo-Hakone Inter-University Collegiate Ekiden Race, universally known as the “Hakone Ekiden,” held annually on January 2nd and 3rd. In 2025, the race marked its 100th anniversary.
Broadcast nationwide on television during the New Year holidays, the event draws crowds exceeding one million spectators lining the course every year—a truly spectacular sight.
Technically speaking, the Hakone Ekiden is a regional tournament open only to universities in the Kanto region, which encompasses Tokyo. Despite its massive scale, it remains a Kanto-based event. Yet, in practice, it commands the status of a de facto national championship.
Talented young athletes from all over Japan flock to “Kanto universities” with the sole dream of competing in the Hakone. As a result, the starting line features a roster of runners who are, for all practical purposes, of national caliber.
Furthermore, because graduates of these Kanto universities disperse across the entire country rather than staying in the capital region, interest spans far beyond Tokyo. In this sense, a regional race takes on the sprawling atmosphere of a nationwide tournament.
In the team-based endurance of ekiden, observers might just catch a glimpse of the multifaceted facets of Japanese society: teamwork, an intense sense of responsibility, fierce collegiate loyalty, and the complex dynamic between Tokyo and the nation’s regions.
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