Spring Running in Japan — A Season of Hellos and Goodbyes

Welcome to the Ekiden scene — the newly formed MABP Maverick

Spring always feels like a threshold. In Japan, it marks the end of one school year and the beginning of another. For runners, it’s a season of transition, when fresh starts and farewells mix together in ways that are both exciting and bittersweet.

From high school stars putting on their university singlets to collegiate heroes stepping into the corporate world, this time of year reminds us that the running journey is rarely linear. Runners move on, change uniforms, find themselves back at square one, and for those of us following the sport, it's a season of shifting identities and quiet reintroductions.

Hello: Rui Suzuki’s Next Chapter

One of the most talked-about transitions this spring is the arrival of Rui Suzuki on the university stage. After a sensational high school career capped by a 13:25.59 5000m at the Maurie Plant Meet in Australia, Suzuki is now taking his talents to Waseda University. Still just 18 years old, he’s entering the next phase of his career with enormous promise (and a fair amount of pressure).

What makes Suzuki’s transition so compelling isn’t just his talent but how quickly he’s moved through the ranks. That 13:25 would be impressive for a seasoned pro. For a teenager in a high school kit, it was electric. Now he's swapping that kit for the maroon of Waseda, and it'll be fascinating to see how he adapts to the team-based, high-mileage world of university running, especially under the shadow of the Hakone Ekiden.

Goodbye: Hakone Heroes Move On

At the other end of the university pipeline, Hakone Ekiden stars are graduating, and many now find themselves starting over. After years of being the main character in January’s most-watched sporting event, they’re suddenly rookies again, newcomers in the corporate world, running alongside teammates with years of pro-level experience.

That shift can be jarring. These are runners who were cheered by millions on national television, who anchored winning legs or climbed mountain stages with the hopes of their universities on their shoulders. Now, they’re bottom of the ladder again — getting used to new coaches, new training environments, and new team dynamics.

It’s part of the process, of course. But it’s also a reminder that Japanese running is built on a deep structure of progression, high school to university, university to corporate, each with its own rhythm and hierarchy. The excitement of starting fresh is real, but so is the disorientation.

Changing Colors, Changing Roles

One of the most visual markers of this transition is the changing of team colors. Watching Masaya Tsurukawa, formerly of Aoyama Gakuin, now running in the black kit of GMO, or Kotaro Shinohara, the former Komazawa captain, now in the red/orange of Fujitsu, is oddly affecting. You get used to seeing these runners in the bright greens and purples of their university squads, the colors become part of their identity.

Suddenly, they’re wearing something new. The logos have changed. The familiar bib numbers are gone. And for fans who’ve followed their journeys, there’s a moment of adjustment. You know it’s them — the form, the stride, the fighting spirit — but it takes a second to recalibrate.

Of course, this is the natural cycle of the sport. No one stays in school forever. But there’s something poignant about seeing a runner you’ve watched since their teenage years now stepping into a corporate team environment, looking just a little smaller in the pack, starting again.

A Goodbye to Meijo’s Megane-chan

No roundup of 2025 spring transitions would be complete without mentioning Nanase Tanimoto, the bespectacled anchor of Meijo University’s Ekiden dynasty. With five stage-best awards and a key role in their seven straight national titles, she became instantly recognizable — not just for her fearless racing, but for her trademark glasses and headband, a look that made her a fan favorite.

After closing out her college career with a tearful but defiant final season, she's now joined Japan Post, one of the top corporate teams in the country. Trading Meijo's maroon and gold for Japan Post's red, Tanimoto will train alongside Olympians as she takes her next steps in the sport. Her journey has already left a mark, and her next chapter looks just as promising.

A Fresh Start, With Weight

For many of these runners, joining a corporate team isn’t just about performance — it’s about identity. The expectations shift. The stakes are higher. Some join high-profile teams like Fujitsu or Honda or GMO, while others land in smaller squads, quietly continuing their careers away from the spotlight.

Shinohara, who recently signed with On and joined Fujitsu, is a perfect example. He leaves behind a storied university career — national records, leadership roles, iconic Ekiden performances — and now finds himself in a system where he’s not automatically the star.

He’s incredibly accomplished, but the corporate world doesn’t hand out seniority for past wins. He’ll need to earn his place all over again.

And yet, that’s the beauty of it. These athletes aren’t resting on their laurels. They’re choosing to re-enter the climb. It takes humility to start fresh, especially after a glittering college career. But it also offers a chance to grow in new ways.

A New Team on the Scene: MABP Maverick

It’s not often a brand-new corporate Ekiden team with real potential appears out of nowhere, but that’s exactly what’s happening with MABP Maverick — and I, for one, am watching closely. Formed earlier this year, the team began training together in March and just had their first official outing at the Adidas Tokyo City Run, where two of their runners took 2nd and 3rd place in the 5K. That’s a serious statement right out of the gate.

What makes Maverick especially interesting is how open they’ve been about the process. Japanese Ekiden teams are famously closed-door and generally hesitant to show too much behind the scenes. Maverick is taking a different route, regularly posting training updates and behind-the-scenes moments on social media. It’s refreshing, and it’s building early interest not just around their results but around their journey.

The team is led in part by Daichi Kamino, a legend from Hakone Ekiden’s mountain stages, now stepping into a dual role as both runner and team manager. His presence gives the project real credibility — Kamino knows what it takes to compete at the highest level, and fans still remember his fearless climbing legs. With him in the fold, Maverick feels less like a novelty and more like a serious contender in the making.

It’s early days, but this has all the makings of an underdog story in the works, and in the world of Japanese running, where tradition and hierarchy are strong, that alone is compelling. I’ll be following closely as the season unfolds.

The Constant in All the Change

What doesn’t change, even as kits and teams and roles shift, is the essence of why these runners show up. Whether it’s a freshman like Rui Suzuki chasing his potential or a graduate like Tsurukawa adapting to a new environment, the thread that ties them together is a deep love for the sport — and a willingness to evolve.

As fans, we get to witness that evolution. And maybe that’s what spring is really about — not just saying goodbye, or hello, but appreciating the moment between the two. The moment when something ends, something begins, and the runner is still running.