Running & triathlon

Running in
Japan.

One new race so far — T100 Yokohama, a brand-new 2027 stop still working out whether it will even race the T100 distance, arriving in a city with real pedigree from years of hosting WTCS on the Yamashita Park waterfront.

0 running races and 1 triathlon, across 1 prefecture.

1
Events
1
prefectures

What it is actually like to run there

Eleven years of daily records at Yokohama, not a seasonal generalisation. "Warm mornings" counts the share of days starting at or above 24°C — the point where heat stops being a detail and starts setting your pace for you.

Month by month at Yokohama

Monthly running conditions at Yokohama
Month Avg high Avg low Rain days Warm mornings
January 9.3°C 1.3°C 5.6 0%
February 10.3°C 2.1°C 7.2 0%
March 14°C 5.7°C 12.5 0%
April 18.1°C 10.5°C 12 0%
May 22.1°C 15.2°C 11.7 0%
June 25.1°C 19°C 14.4 2%
July 29°C 23.4°C 14.2 45%
August 30.5°C 24.8°C 13 74%
September 27°C 21.4°C 15.4 22%
October 21.3°C 15.2°C 12.3 0%
November 16.7°C 9.5°C 9.4 0%
December 11.7°C 4.1°C 6.4 0%

Hottest: Aug

Averaging 30.5°C by day, 24.8°C overnight.

Easiest: Jan

The coolest month, averaging 9.3°C.

Wettest: Sep

Rain on about 15.4 days in an average month.

By prefecture

1 Kanagawa Prefecture 1 triathlon

Triathlon in Japan

T100 Yokohama Yokohama, Japan

Running here as a visitor

The hardest part of training somewhere new isn't the route — it's not knowing anyone. This is who is in Japan over the next three months: runners who live here, and runners passing through.

Checking who's in Japan…

Running in Japan: the long reads

The things a race listing can't tell you — what the conditions actually cost you, where people really run, what to carry, and what running is like in every prefecture on the map. 3 guides, 26 minutes of reading.

The conditions

Eleven years of Yokohama records show a summer that's a humidity problem, not a heat problem — including how many August mornings never cool below 24°C, even before dawn.

Running in Japan's Summer: Eleven Years of Yokohama Humidity Data Japan's reputation for oppressive summer humidity is accurate and, in Verus's own eleven-year Yokohama archive, precisely measurable: the 6am heat index (temperature plus dew point) reaches 151 in August, and on 74% of August mornings the day's low never dropped below 24°C at all — heat costing real pace before the sun is even up. 10 min read

Running culture here

The ekiden relay that outdraws most countries' entire race calendars, English-friendly clubs, and the everyday infrastructure — convenience stores, vending machines, run stations — that makes training here easy.

Running Culture in Japan: Ekiden, Etiquette and Where a Visitor Fits In Japan's running culture centres on the ekiden relay, not the individual marathon — the Hakone Ekiden alone draws TV audiences of up to 65 million. For a visitor, that translates into genuine infrastructure: English-friendly clubs like Namban Rengo and 080 Tokyo, 24-hour convenience stores and vending machines everywhere, and simple, well-understood running etiquette. 9 min read

Where to run

The Imperial Palace loop, Yoyogi Park, and Yokohama's Yamashita Park and Minato Mirai waterfront — the routes people actually run, thirty minutes apart by train.

Where to Run in Tokyo and Yokohama: The Imperial Palace, Yoyogi Park and the Bay Tokyo's Imperial Palace loop is a flat, traffic-light-free 5km run circling the palace grounds, run counterclockwise by convention. Yoyogi Park offers shorter inner loops. In Yokohama, Yamashita Park's roughly 1.8km loop extends along the Minato Mirai waterfront into a run of up to 10km — the same district that has hosted WTCS Yokohama for years. 7 min read

Common questions

How many races are there in Japan?

Verus currently lists 0 running races and 1 triathlon and multisport event in Japan, across 1 prefecture.

What is the weather like for running in Japan?

Based on eleven years of daily records at Yokohama, the hottest month averages 30.5°C by day and the coolest 9.3°C. The wettest month sees rain on about 15.4 days. In the hotter months more than half of mornings start above 24°C, so early starts are the norm rather than a preference.

Can I find people to run with in Japan?

Yes — Verus athletes list the town they are from, so this page shows who is already here. If you are travelling, adding your own location means runners here can find you too.

Add yourself to Japan All races