Fukuoka Marathon: Dates, Tickets & Venue (Fukuoka)

A marathon that starts among office towers and ends near the sea makes a strange kind of sense in Fukuoka. The city sits right on Hakata Bay, and you can reach open coastline from downtown in under an hour by train. The Fukuoka Marathon turns that short trip into a 42.195-kilometre run.

The 2026 edition is on November 8, 2026. It draws runners from across Kyushu and beyond, and they come for the course: it starts in Fukuoka City and finishes in Itoshima.

A race that changes cities

The defining fact is the direction. Most big-city marathons loop back to where they began. This one keeps going.

Runners leave the dense grid of central Fukuoka, where buses, department stores and the elevated expressway set the scenery. The course then heads west along the coast, out past the city’s newer waterfront districts toward Itoshima. The first half feels urban and the second half feels coastal, with paddy fields, low hills and the sea.

For spectators, this means the race doesn’t come back. If you watch near the start, you won’t see the finish unless you take the train west.

November 8, 2026: dates and entries

The race date for 2026 is Sunday, November 8. Early November is a sensible window for distance running in northern Kyushu. The summer humidity has passed and the winter wind off the Genkai Sea hasn’t set in yet.

Runners enter through the organiser’s official entry system, not through a ticket booth. Like most popular Japanese city marathons, demand for places tends to outstrip supply. The organiser publishes the entry terms, fees and race rules on the official Fukuoka Marathon website.

Spectating needs no ticket at all. Anyone can stand along the public roads of the course.

From Tenjin’s grid to the Itoshima shore

The start is in central Fukuoka, in the Tenjin area, the city’s main shopping and business district. Think wide avenues, department store frontages and crosswalks that are packed on any ordinary weekday.

From there the route pushes west. Along the way runners pass the bayside districts on the western side of the city, where the Fukuoka Tower and the Momochi seaside development sit. Later the route follows the coastal road toward Itoshima.

Itoshima itself is the reason many people sign up. On a normal weekend it’s where Fukuoka residents drive for:

• Futamigaura, with the Meoto Iwa “wedded rocks” joined by a white torii and rope in the sea
• surf beaches and seaside cafés along the coast road
• farm stands and fish from the Genkai Sea

Finishing a marathon there, rather than in a stadium car park, is the selling point.

Getting to the start and back from Itoshima

The rail line does the work here. The Fukuoka City Subway Kūkō (Airport) Line runs from Fukuoka Airport through Hakata and Tenjin. West of the city it runs through onto the JR Chikuhi Line toward Chikuzen-Maebaru in Itoshima.

So one line links the airport, the start area and the finishing city. Visiting runners usually stay in Tenjin or around Hakata Station, walk or take the subway to the start, then ride the train back from Itoshima afterwards.

On race day, central roads close for the event, so buses and taxis are a poor bet near the course. The subway runs underneath the roadblocks, which is why most people use it. Expect trains back from Itoshima to fill with runners in foil blankets.

Cheering from the kerb

Watching a Japanese road race has its own rhythm, and it’s easy to join in. Here’s how spectators usually behave along the Fukuoka course:

• The cheer: “Ganbatte!” (keep going) is the standard shout, often shortened to “Faito!” Clapping in time and holding up handmade signs are both normal.
• Barriers mean it: people stay behind the rope or railing. Crossing the road happens only at marked points, when marshals in vests wave pedestrians through.
• Carry your rubbish: public bins are scarce in Japan. Spectators bring a small bag and take wrappers and bottles home.
• Pick a spot near transit: families often stand near a subway exit in the city section. Others take the train west to catch runners on the coast and again near the finish.

Runners who want a friend to spot them usually say which side of the road they’ll keep to. Thousands of people run past in the same few minutes, and this makes it easier.

In Japanese the race is called 福岡マラソン (Fukuoka Marason), which helps when asking station staff for directions.

Not the December race

Fukuoka has two famous marathons, and visitors mix them up all the time.

The Fukuoka International Marathon is an elite race held in early December. It is known in running history for fast times and big names, and it finishes in the city’s Heiwadai athletics stadium. The field is limited to qualified, fast runners.

The Fukuoka Marathon, held in November and covered by this page, is the mass-participation road race from Fukuoka City to Itoshima. If you’re a recreational runner looking for an entry, or a spectator hoping to see thousands of club runners in costumes, this is the one you want.

Making a weekend of it

Most visiting runners stay at least two nights. The evening after the race usually means food, and Fukuoka is a good place for it.

The yatai, open-air street stalls along the river in Nakasu and around Tenjin, serve Hakata tonkotsu ramen, yakitori and oden at a narrow counter under a canvas awning. Each stall seats only a handful of people. Sitting elbow to elbow with strangers is part of the experience.

Some people head back to Itoshima the day after, when the roads are open again. Futamigaura’s wedded rocks are best at sunset, when the sun drops behind the torii into the sea. In the cooler months, oyster huts (kaki-goya) set up around the Itoshima coast, where you grill shellfish yourself over charcoal.

Hakata Station and Tenjin both have long shopping streets underground. These make easy walking for stiff legs the morning after.