On November 2, 2025, the 57th All-Japan Intercollegiate Ekiden kicked off. The race, along with the Izumo Ekiden and the Hakone Ekiden, is considered one of Japan’s three major university ekiden events, and serves as an important test of schools’ and athletes’ strength ahead of the next year’s Hakone Ekiden.
The race has been held every year on the first Sunday of November since 1988. The full course is 106.8 kilometers, divided into eight stages, starting at Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya and finishing at Ise Grand Shrine in Mie Prefecture. A total of 27 teams competed, including seeded schools, 25 representative schools that won regional qualifying races across eight regions nationwide, and open teams from the Japan University League and the Tokai University League.
This year’s overall champion was Komazawa University, with a time of 5:06:53 — the second-fastest in the event’s history and just 6 seconds off the school’s course record. Chuo University and Aoyama Gakuin University finished second and third respectively.
The top three teams and athletes in each segment are as follows:
Section 1 (9.5 km):West gate of Atsuta Shrine → Fujimae, Minato-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture (in front of First Cargo)
The shortest section of the course, but perhaps the decisive segment of the race. Akito Nakamura of Shigakkan University and Junpei Sanada of Waseda University crossed the line together in 27:20, average pace 2:53/km, while Junto Oguma of Kokugakuin University and Sho Koyama of Komazawa University followed closely in 27:21. After the first section, team standings were Shigakkan University and Waseda University tied for first, with Kokugakuin University and Komazawa University tied for third (+1s).
Section 2 (11.1 km):Fujimae, Minato-ku, Nagoya → Nagashima, Kuwana, Mie Prefecture (in front of BLUEGRASS Golf Academy)
On the second leg, Teikyo University's 楠冈由浩 took the section award with 31:01 and an average pace of 2:48, equalling the previous section record. Chuo University's 吉居骏恭 (31:07) and Komazawa University's 谷中晴 (31:14) finished second and third. In the team standings Chuo University are first, Teikyo University second (+1s), Komazawa University third (+3s).
Section 3 (11.9 km):Kuwana City Nagashima Town → Yokkaichi City Hazu (in front of Kasumigaura Lake Green Area)
Kokugakuin University's 野中恒享 ran 33:11, averaging 2:47/km, to win the stage prize. Josai University international student Victor Kimutai ran 33:12, and Komazawa University's 归山侑大 ran 33:38, placing second and third respectively. Komazawa University moved into first overall, while Kokugakuin University and Chuo University were both one second back, sitting in second.
Section 4 (11.8 km)：Yokkaichi City Hazu → Suzuka City Hayasaki-cho (in front of FamilyMart Suzuka Hayasaki-cho store)
Chuo University’s Daichi Shibata 33:52, average pace 2:52/km, won the section; Kokugakuin University’s Goki Takayama 33:54 and Teikyo University’s Sota Taniguchi 34:00 took second and third. Chuo University also moved into first overall, Kokugakuin University second (+2s), Teikyo University third (+22s), and the gap between second and third began to widen.
Section 5 (12.4 km):Suzuka City Hayasaki-cho → Tsu City Kawashimo-cho (in front of The Big Extra Tsu Kawashimo store)
Komazawa University’s Aoi Ito 35:01, pace 2:49, blew past rivals to set a new section record; Kokugakuin University’s Shinta Hanaguni 36:26 and Chuo University’s Yuto Miyake 26:33 took second and third in the section. Komazawa surged to first in this section and opened a sizeable gap; Kokugakuin remained second (+52s), Chuo dropped to third (+57s). Aoyama Gakuin started off sluggishly and gradually moved up from 10th to 7th.
Section 6 (12.8 km):Tsu-shi Kawashimo-cho → Tsu-shi Fujikata (Bay Square Tsu Rats)
Aoyama Gakuin's runners began to push: Shota Iida covered the leg in 37:20, averaging a pace of 2:55/km to take the stage win. Komazawa University's Go Murakami (37:22) and Chuo University's Daisuke Sato (37:29) were second and third on the leg. Team-wise, Komazawa University still leads, Chuo University moved back up to second (+64s), Kokugakuin University is third (+65s), and Aoyama Gakuin sits fifth (+172s).
Section 7 (17.6 km):Tsu-shi Fujikata → Matsusaka-shi Toyohara-cho (in front of JA Sango Naka)
Section seven was Aoyama Gakuin's ace Asahi Kuroda's show. He covered it in 49:31 with an average pace of 2:49/km, charging past the field to lift the team from fifth to second and setting a new section record. Japanese university foreign student Kipkemei (50:17) and Komazawa University's Keita Sato (50:26) took the section's second and third spots. Komazawa remained first overall, Aoyama Gakuin moved up to second (+117s) — entering the top three for the first time since the race began — and Chuo University sits third (+141s).
Section 8 (19.7 km):Matsusaka City, Toyohara → Uji Bridge, Ise Grand Shrine (Inner Shrine)
In the final leg, Waseda University veteran, nicknamed the "Mountain Detective," Shinsaku Kudo ran 56:54 (pace 2:53) to take the stage win; Chuo University's Tamaike Ichita was 57:03 and Komazawa University's Takuma Yamakawa was 57:23, finishing second and third on the leg.
The overall team rankings are also final: Komazawa University won in 5:06:53, just 6 seconds off the course record, claiming the school's 17th All-Japan University Ekiden title; Chuo University, thanks to a strong final-leg runner, overtook Aoyama Gakuin University to take second in 5:08:54; Aoyama Gakuin finished third in 5:09:28.
Complete finishing times and team rankings are shown in the image below.
