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New Adidas Hachiko sneakers pay homage to Shibuya’s famous loyal dog

The third release in the Adidas x Atmos Shibuya Pack promoting Tokyo street culture to the world. 

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Asics Ukiyo-e x Manga sneakers combine modern and traditional Japan for Tokyo Marathon 2021

When Mt Fuji and comic book scripts collide. 

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Does running like Naruto really make you faster? A YouTube science channel investigates【Video】

Experiments have been done before…but never with a gold medalist sprinter!

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P.E. advice from an old teacher has Japanese Twitter saying nice things about exercise for once

If you naturally flee from physical activity, maybe you just have to focus on when you get faster at it.
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Five nature hikes and trail runs just off Japan’s bullet train

Japan’s major cities offer just about everything, but did you know that includes great nature trails? From forests and waterfalls to ancient temples and shrines, many of Japan’s best hiking trails are literally just a step off the bullet train. If you have a Japan Rail Pass, you’ll find it even harder to resist these hikes near Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Hiroshima and Fukuoka. Got a day–or even a half-day–to spare? You can still get your hike in!

These hiking routes make it convenient to explore Japan’s natural surroundings. No long drives to get out to the countryside, no great changes in altitude, and there’s always a good view waiting at the top. The trails are sign-posted, well-maintained, and many pass through historic districts and are tailored for sight-seeing by foot. You’ll find eating establishments, public toilets, lockers and even hot springs along the way on some of them. In short, Japan is a day-hikers dream! And if you like to run, these hiking courses make great running trails too.

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London’s Sumo Run has Japanese confused, kind of offended

This week the annual charity event known as the Sumo Run took place in London’s Battersea Park. To raise money for education in sub-Saharan Africa, participants don inflatable sumo suits and run the 5km course around the park, no doubt delighting passersby in the country that gave us Monty Python.

But when media outlets in Japan reported on the event, the audience here was not universally pleased, with some people calling it racist cultural appropriation.

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Hooked on helping: The man who is running the length of Japan for tsunami relief

Aaron Porter is a man on a mission. Giving up drinking in 1998 and smoking two years later, he took up running. Before he knew it, his new hobby had become his life’s passion, and he began taking part in marathons, half-marathons and ultra-marathons, running thousands of miles in a single year. Running, Aaron notes, was his recovery.

Now, though, he wants to help others recover. With the goal of running the entire length of Japan, from Kyushu to Hokkaido, Aaron is aiming to raise as much money and awareness for tsunami relief as he can. To do this, however, he needs sponsorship. Which is where you come in.

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The Marathon Monks of Mt. Hiei: Better than Olympic athletes?【Part II】

In the previous article The Marathon Monks of Mt. Hiei: Better than Olympic Athletes? Part I, I explain the sennichi kaihogyo, or 1,000 Day Challenge, in which the Tendai Buddhist monks of Mt. Hiei, sometimes referred to as the “marathon monks,” walk the equivalent of one time around the earth–at the end of which they become living Buddhas.

In Part II, I trace the monks’ steps on the 30 km pilgrimage route, or gyoja michi, which passes through the sacred mountains and forests near the temple complex of Enryakuji. It’s a rigorous course that winds through the mountains, down into the town of Sakamoto, taking them past more than 250 spiritual places. This is the route they circumambulate for days on end over a seven-year period. For tips on the meaning behind the route, be sure to read Part I before continuing!

Rather than walking the course, I decided to run it. Running pilgrimages is a hobby of mine and I find it is a great way to combine the physical with the metaphysical. It brings joy to my runs and this fulfillment keeps the challenge. If you’re a skier, you’re always looking for more mountains. Sky divers jump at different locations. Runners look for new paths and new trails give running purpose. Leave it to your RocketNews24 running reporter to tackle the famed gyoja michi and reveal its intricacies.

I figured that running the 30-km course through the mountains would take the better part of a day. There is no map and from what I have read, Mt. Hiei can be fickle weather-wise. It has snow much of the winter and spring and there are bears. In June, when the weather was perfect, I set out with a small backpack fitted with a water bladder, some medical accoutrements and an extra pair of socks inside (for those inevitable foot and toe problems), plus an ultra light sleeping bag, just in case I got lost and had to spend the night in the forest (been there, done that!).

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“Glowing Man” brings smiles to the people of Tokyo while inspiring runners around the world

Early last week we published an article about an unidentified “glowing man” that was spotted on a midnight train in Tokyo. No one knew who he was or where he came from, but everyone on the train that night loved him. After just a few hours, our wonderful readers clued us in to the mystery man’s identity, and what would you know, the very next day we got a friendly email from the glowing man himself.

Joseph Tame is more than just a guy who wears a crazy costume. He’s hoping to unite strangers and break down barriers through the sport of long-distance running. And with the help of over 32 meters of LED lights, plenty of pink pinwheels (which he insists are wind turbines), and a social media rig straight out of a sci-fi flick, Joseph will unite the world this Sunday at the Tokyo Marathon where he’ll be live-streaming the entire race with the help of his homemade gear.

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Dole Japan awarding personalised Banana Trophies to 200 runners in this year’s Tokyo Marathon

The Tokyo Marathon 2014 is just a few weeks away, and hundreds of thousands of people are already pushing themselves that little bit harder during their daily training, not to mention paying extra attention to the food they eat, in preparation.

As in previous years, Dole Japan has stepped forward to sponsor the event, providing piles of hand-grown Lakatan bananas, which contain plenty of citric acid essential during exercise, for runners to munch on. This time around though, the company is awarding 200 runners with a very special bite to eat, or perhaps let sit on the shelf and slowly turn to mush: the Trophy Banana, complete with personalised message printed on the skin.

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What’s your 100m sprint time? If it’s over 23.8 seconds, then you’re slower than a 90-year-old! Last month Japan’s Turbo Granny smashed the Japanese record for her age category and now has her sights set on the world record.

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