Seed
Seed schools (シード校 seed-kou)
Seed rights (シード権 seed-ken)
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▼Izumo Ekiden（Univ・Men・October）
・Participating teams in the Izumo Ekiden are chosen based on their region’s rules. For example, in the Kanto region, the top 10 universities from the previous Hakone Ekiden essentially receive a seed right for the Izumo Ekiden.
・Approximately 20 teams take part in the race held in Shimane prefecture.
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▼All-Japan University Men’s Ekiden（Univ・Men・November）
・In the All-Japan University Ekiden known as ‘Zen-Nihon‘, the top 8 universities from the previous year’s race qualify for the following year’s race. Typically, these 8 seed spots are dominated only by strong Kanto teams.
・Other universities must compete in regional qualifying races divided into 8 regions to earn a spot in the race.
・The All-Japan University Ekiden features approximately 25 teams and starts from the Atsuta Shrine in Aichi prefecture and ends at the Ise Grand Shrine in Mie prefecture.
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▼Hakone Ekiden（Univ・Men・January 2-3・Kanto region）
・The Hakone Ekiden is the most famous and largest ekiden in Japan.
・The race runs between Tokyo and Hakone (Kanagawa Prefecture), and the top 10 universities are automatically given the right to participate in the following year’s race.
・The race is contested by 20 teams, with 10 universities having seed rights, and the other 10 through the qualifying race.
・In the qualifying race held in Tachikawa in October, no less than 40 universities in the Kanto region without seed rights participate to earn a spot in the Hakone Ekiden. Thus, earning seed spots means exemption from the highly competitive qualifying race and provides a significant advantage.
・Moreover, for the 100th commemorative race to be held in 2024, universities from all over Japan that meet certain criteria will be granted the opportunity to participate in the qualifying race, not just those in the Kanto region. This represents an exciting innovation for the Hakone Ekiden.
・The following universities are the Seed Schools for the 100th Hakone Ekiden to be held in 2024:
【1st】Komazawa Univ.
Bluish purple（藤色 fuji-iro）
【2nd】Chūō Univ.
White with Red ‘C’（白地に赤のC shiroji ni aka no ‘c’）
【3rd】Aoyama Gakuin Univ.
Fresh Green
【4th】Kokugakuin Univ.
Black & Red
【5th】Juntendō Univ.
Often called ‘Eggplant Navy’, but actually close to Indigo（茄子紺 nasu-kon)
【6th】Waseda Univ.
Traditional dark red（燕脂 enji）
【7th】Hōsei Univ.
Orange Express
【8th】Sōka Univ.
Red and Blue Stripes
【9th】Jōsai Univ.
Red wear and Yellow tasuki sash
【10th】Tōyō Univ.
Navy（鉄紺 tetsu-kon）
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▼All-Japan University Women’s Ekiden（Univ・Women・November）
※作成中
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▼Mt. Fuji University Women’s Ekiden（Univ・Women・December）
※作成中
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▼All-Japan Corporate Men’s Ekiden（Co・Men・January 1）
・Surprisingly, there are no seed rights in the Men’s All-Japan Corporate Ekiden, known as the ‘New Year Ekiden’, approximately with 35-37 corporates.
・All teams are required to compete in their respective regional qualifying races, no exception even if the previous year’s champion.
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▼All-Japan Corporate Women’s Ekiden（Co・Women・November）
・The Women’s All-Japan Corporate Ekiden, also known as the “Queen’s Ekiden“, takes place in Miyagi prefecture and passing through the cities like Matsushima Shiogama, and Sendai.
・The top 8 out of 24 total corporate teams from the previous year’s race, referred to as the “Queens Eight,” are granted automatic qualification for the next year’s race without the need to go through the qualifying race, which is called the “Princess Ekiden“.
・Princess Ekiden is held in October in Munakata City, Fukuoka prefecture.
・Around 30 teams, including all districts, compete for 16 spots to advance to the Queen’s Ekiden in a single qualifying race.
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▼All-Japan High School Ekiden （H.S.・Men/Women・December）
・There are no seeded teams in the All-Japan High School Ekiden, both for men and women’s divisions.
・It is held in December in Kyoto prefecture and is also known as ‘Miyako-ōji‘.
・As with other high school sports tournaments, the 47 participating teams (one from each prefecture) must first win their own prefecture’s race. The previous year’s results don’t affect their eligibility to participate.
・Every 5 years, there is an opportunity for additional teams from each district to participate in addition to the representatives from the 47 prefectures.
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