Tokyo Marathon 2027

There are marathons you run for the time ⏱️, others for the scenery 🌆, and others still to tick off a bucket-list box ✅. The Tokyo Marathon 🇯🇵 is all three at once—plus the feeling of running in a country that has elevated organizational rigor to the level of a martial art 🥋.

But before we go any further, let’s be honest about one fundamental thing: securing a bib for the Tokyo Marathon is one of the most frustrating exercises in global running 😅. Every year, more than 300,000 people try their luck via the official lottery, which generally opens in August for only a few days. At the end of this raffle, around 38,000 lucky ones get their spot 🎟️. That’s less than 13% of applicants. And people apply again year after year. That’s how worth it this race is ✊.

For those who don’t want to wait for luck to smile on them, there are a few alternatives 😁. Charity entry lets you get a bib by committing to raise funds for one of the organization’s partner charities—a meaningful commitment that’s worth it for everyone 💛. Official tour operators also have allocations of entries as part of travel packages ✈️. And naturally, elite athletes who meet the performance standards published by the organizers can access a dedicated pathway.

This marathon was born in 2007, and it’s not even twenty years old—an adolescence by the standards of the great global races. And yet, in less than two decades, it has achieved what others took a century to build 📖. Before 2007, Tokyo did organize races, but they were a bit scattered. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Japan Association of Athletics Federations merged everything to create a huge public celebration in the mold of London or New York. The first edition, on March 18, 2007, took place under torrential rain 🌧️. It didn’t put anyone off. 25,000 runners set off, and hundreds of thousands of Tokyoites line the course under umbrellas to cheer foreigners they don’t even know. The tone was set 🫡.

In 2013, Tokyo officially joined the World Marathon Majors, the club of the seven biggest marathons on the planet alongside Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, Sydney and New York 🏅. It’s the only Asian representative in this very exclusive circle, and it fully deserves its place. Since then, the pressure on bibs has only intensified: hunters of the “Seven Stars” medal, awarded to runners who have completed all the Majors, see Tokyo as the ultimate stamp in their running passport 🌟.

The course itself is a love letter to the city 🏙️. It starts at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku, a concrete-and-glass colossus you’ll recognize from every movie set in the Japanese capital 🇯🇵. From there, runners head east, skirt the Imperial Palace, cross Hibiya Park, dive into the chic district of Ginza, climb back up toward Nihonbashi, veer toward Asakusa with its temple and its famous Kaminarimon gate, pass by the Tsukiji market 🐟, and finish at Tokyo Big Sight, the ultra-modern exhibition center in Odaiba ⛩️. In 42.195 km, you literally pass through the city’s different time layers: medieval Tokyo, the Tokyo of markets and temples, the Tokyo of skyscrapers, the Tokyo of the future 🗼.

The route itself is considered fast for a big-city marathon, with very little elevation gain and few sharp turns ⚡️. Brigid Kosgei (Kenya) set the women’s course record in 2:14:28 at the 2026 edition, an exceptional time that ranks among the best women’s performances in world history 🔥. On the men’s side, Benson Kipruto holds the course record with 2:02:16, set at the 2024 edition after a solo recital that left the world speechless 😮. To give you an idea of what that means: 2:02:16 over 42.195 km is an average of 20.7 km/h. For more than two hours. Without stopping. Not exactly what you’d call “jogging” 😂.

The atmosphere along the course is a topic in itself. Japan is a running country, and the Tokyo Marathon is the biggest popular sporting event of the year in the country. Each edition draws between 1.5 and 1.72 million spectators along the route, making it one of the best-supported races in the world 📣. But beware: Japanese spectators are unlike any other. No dense, noisy crowd belting out chants at the top of their lungs like in New York. Here, people organize, clap with precision, hold carefully written signs, and some even take devotion as far as dressing up 🎭. In a country that gave birth to manga, cosplay, and anime culture, seeing a Pikachu cheering you on at km 35 is absolutely nothing unusual 😅. More than 10,000 volunteers nicknamed the “Team Smile” are also on the course—and the word “smile” isn’t exaggerated: they really do smile, all the time, even at 2 p.m. in the rain 😊. On the music side, taiko drums are everywhere: their deep, powerful rhythm hammers your stride in those moments when your legs start negotiating with your brain 🧠.

The race takes place each year in late February or early March 🌸, just before the cherry trees start blooming in the city streets 🍒. If you’re lucky enough to arrive a few days early, you’ll see the first pink buds peeking out. A spectacle that only Japan knows how to put on 😍.