The is an annual

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

road race for women over the classic distance of 42.195 kilometres which is held on the 4th or 5th Sunday of January in the city of

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and hosted by

Japan Association of Athletics Federations The is the national governing body for the sport of athletics in Japan. Presidents * Ryōzō Hiranuma (1929–1958) *Hiroshi Kasuga (1958–1964) *Ichirō Kōno (1965) *Kenzō Kōno (1965–1975) *Hanji Aoki (1975–1999) *Yōhei Kōno (1999–20 ...

Kansai Telecasting Corporation JODX-DTV, virtual channel 8 ( UHF digital channel 17), branded as or , is the Kansai region key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and Fuji Network System (FNS), operated by the . Kansai TV is a company affiliated in Hankyu Hanshin Holdin ...

, the

Sankei Shimbun The (short for ) is a daily newspaper in Japan published by the It has the seventh-highest circulation for regional newspapers in Japan. Among Japanese newspapers, the circulation is second only to ''Yomiuri Shimbun'', Seikyo Shimbun, ''Asah ...

Sankei Sports is a Japanese-language daily sports newspaper published by Sankei Shimbun. In 2014, it had a circulation of 1,270,000. The newspaper is known by its nickname . Relating sports teams * Kanto area - Tokyo Yakult Swallows (Nippon Professional Baseb ...

Radio Osaka is an AM radio station of National Radio Network (NRN) in Osaka, Japan, and it is known as "Radio Osaka (ラジオ大阪 ''Rajio Ōsaka'')". It is also a company of Sankei Shimbun Group in Fujisankei Communications Group. Radio Osaka starte ...

and Osaka City. The first edition took place on January 24, 1982, and was won by

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Rita Marchisio Rita Marchisio (born 13 February 1950 in Cuneo) is a former long-distance runner from Italy Biography She won the inaugural Osaka Ladies Marathon on 24 January 1982 in an Italian record time of 2:32:55 hours. More than a year later the record w ...

. The 1995 marathon was cancelled due to the

Great Hanshin earthquake The , or Kobe earthquake, occurred on January 17, 1995, at 05:46:53 JST (January 16 at 20:46:53 UTC) in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, including the region known as Hanshin. It measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and had ...

. The race takes place in the city and passes prominent landmarks such as

Osaka Castle is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Layout The main tower ...

. The course was altered in 2011 to allow for faster times by cutting out a number of hilly sections near

. The finish line of the race is at

Nagai Stadium , known as the Yanmar Stadium Nagai ( ja, ヤンマースタジアム長居) for sponsorship reasons, is a stadium in Osaka, Japan. It is the home ground of J. League club Cerezo Osaka. The stadium has a seating capacity of 47,000. History When ...

, which was the host venue for the

2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federat ...

. The Osaka Half Marathon, open regardless of gender, is held alongside the women's marathon. The Japanese rock group

The Alfee The Alfee is a Japanese folk rock band who debuted in 1974, and have been recording and touring since then, with 23 studio albums and 63 singles throughout their career. The band marked its 40th anniversary in 2014 with their 64th single. Histor ...

has written many of the theme songs for the marathon.

Winners

Key: * Tetyana Hamera-Shmyrko was suspended by the Ukrainian Athletic Federation for four years from 30 September 2015 until 29 September 2019 due to doping rules violation. All her results from 26 August 2011 to 30 September 2015, including victories in the 2013, 2014 and 2015 editions of the Osaka International Ladies Marathon, were annulled.

Notes

:1 2021 edition has male pacemakers including

Yuki Kawauchi is a Japanese marathon runner. He came to prominence after running the 2011 Tokyo Marathon in 2:08:37, finishing as the first Japanese citizen and third overall. He was known as the "citizen runner" given that he used to work full-time for the go ...

References

;List of winners * Ota, Shigenobu & Larner, Brett (2009-12-27)
Osaka International Women's Marathon
ARRS. Retrieved on 2010-01-31.

External links

*
Marathon infoStatistical overview
by Ken Nakamura (2011) {{IAAF Gold Label Sport in Osaka Recurring sporting events established in 1982 Women's marathons in Japan 1982 establishments in Japan