All events & mapMarathonTokyo Marathon
Sport · Event guide
Tokyo's 2027 race is confirmed for March 7, but the general and charity entry windows have closed. A further member draw is conditional on places remaining after the organiser checks its membership count.
01 · Event details
Timing: Sunday, March 7, 2027 · published
Venue or host area: Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building to the Tokyo Station area; the catalogue point is a city-level locator, not a start or finish gate.
Access: General and charity windows have closed. ONE TOKYO describes an additional member draw only if places remain after its October 31 membership check; verify directly with the organiser.
02 · Plan the visit
The 2027 participant guidelines list general entry from August 14–28, 2026, and charity entry earlier in the year. Those windows have closed. The organiser describes a further ONE TOKYO member draw only if places remain after checking membership as of October 31. Bib pickup is scheduled at Tokyo Big Sight on March 4–6, 2027; the guidelines say there is no race-day pickup. Do not book around the conditional draw unless entry is confirmed.
03 · Location
Japan's capital is a set of merged city centres rather than one downtown, and the rail network rather than the road is how most people move.
The airports serving Tokyo and its region:
Connections, terminals and transfer arrangements change — confirm them with the airline and the organiser rather than planning around a fixed transfer time.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building to the Tokyo Station area; the catalogue point is a city-level locator, not a start or finish gate.
The catalogue marker shows Tokyo, Japan at city or region level only — it is not an entrance, a gate, a course or a transfer route. For the event’s position among its category peers, open the Marathon overview and map.
04 · Overview
A 42.195 km race through central Tokyo, starting beside the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku and finishing near Tokyo Station. The route is almost entirely flat, passing the Imperial Palace, Nihonbashi, Asakusa and Ginza before turning back towards the station, and the field of roughly 38,000 runs in waves. The race has a seven-hour limit, which keeps it open to first-timers in a way Boston or London are not.
Tokyo is the newest of the majors and the largest marathon in Asia, and its lottery is among the hardest in the sport: applications run into the hundreds of thousands for a field that is overwhelmingly Japanese. It is also the race where Japan's corporate running system meets the world — the domestic field is deep enough that a Japanese runner finishing outside the top ten can still run an Olympic qualifying time. For overseas visitors it is the major that demands the most advance planning, because entry is by draw and the ballot closes more than six months out.
The current Tokyo Marathon was first run in 2007, formed by merging the Tokyo International Marathon, a men's race held since 1981, with the Tokyo International Women's Marathon. It joined the World Marathon Majors series in 2013, becoming the sixth race in what was then a six-major circuit. The 2020 and 2021 editions were restricted to elite fields because of the pandemic, and the men's course record fell in 2022 when Eliud Kipchoge ran 2:02:40. Entry has been by lottery and charity place throughout, with member draws layered on since the event became a major.
| First held | 2007 in its current form |
|---|---|
| Series | Abbott World Marathon Majors since 2013 |
| Entry | Lottery, charity and member draws |
| Course | Shinjuku to Tokyo Station, essentially flat |
| Time limit | Seven hours |
05 · Research & credits
Evidence and event information reviewed 2026-10-31. Published edition facts are separated from typical timing and historical context.
No affiliate links. This guide is for travel planning, not a guarantee of entry or event conditions.
Related guides