Tokyo Marathon Joins Other Major Marathons in Adding Non-Binary Runners Category

The Tokyo Marathon is adding a non-binary category for runners from 2025, making it last of the six World Major Marathons to do so. 

The marathon with a planned field of about 38,000 runners will set up non-gendered changing rooms and restrooms, while participant lists and records will include the non-binary descriptor. The Tokyo Marathon Foundation said in a statement posted Monday on its website that it “aims to be the most inclusive race in the world, respecting the diversity and identities of participants.”

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The other World Major Marathons—Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London and New York—have added the non-binary category over the past few years.

“Finally, Tokyo is catching up,” said Yuka Kanno, a professor at Doshisha University in Kyoto specializing in gender and sexuality studies. “A non-binary category is overdue and yet welcome news.”

But while New York in 2022 became the first of the major marathons to have prize money awarded for its top non-binary finishers, Tokyo has not designated any awards for those who compete in the non-binary category, race guidelines indicated. 

Japan has faced criticism from advocacy groups and the U.S. ambassador to Tokyo, Rahm Emanuel, for not doing enough to advance the rights of LGBTQ individuals. Japan is the only member of the Group of Seven leading economies not to give legal recognition to same-sex marriages or offer legal protection against discrimination.

A law passed by Japan’s parliament last year promotes understanding of LGBTQ issues but stops short of protecting any specific rights. Business lobbies have warned that Japan’s lack of LGBTQ-friendly policies hampers the country from recruiting global talent.