2026.09.30runner
Here is a sneak peek at the medal and ribbon designs that will be presented to finishers of the Kyoto Marathon 2027!
The finisher’s medal features Nijo Castle, a World Heritage Site. It was created to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Kan’ei Imperial Procession, when the Tokugawa shogunate welcomed Emperor Go-Mizunoo to Nijo Castle and treated him to various forms of hospitality in 1626.
The front of the medal depicts the splendidly carved cranes and pine trees that decorate the Karamon Gate, a national treasure. White and green, the principal colors symbolizing the cranes and pine trees, add a subdued Japanese color palette to the design.
The back depicts the Kyoto Marathon course traveled by the runners, together with an elegant pattern of golden clouds, against a background of the same karahana floral pattern found on the metal fittings that decorate Higashi Ote-mon Gate at Nijo Castle.
The ribbon that adorns the runner’s neck also features patterns closely associated with Nijo Castle and the Kyoto Imperial Palace, the settings of the Kan’ei Imperial Procession. It features the pine trees that adorn the sliding-door paintings of the Ninomaru-goten Palace at Nijo Castle, together with a lattice pattern inspired by its coffered ceilings. It also depicts the Sakon-no-Sakura and Ukon-no-Tachibana trees that stand in front of the Shishinden Hall at the Kyoto Imperial Palace. People have long seen their vitality and beauty as symbolic representations of their own hopes and dreams, and have incorporated them into a broad range of paintings and crafts as important motifs since ancient times. In homage to our predecessors who brought this culture to life 400 years ago, we have rendered these motifs in the colors of the Reiwa era.
(Collaboration)
● Finisher’s Medal
Design and Manufacturing: Kyoto Emblem Crafts Cooperative
● Finisher’s Medal & Ribbon
Design: KIMURA SENSHOW Inc.
Manufacturing: Kyoto Emblem Crafts Cooperative
