Applying 100 Tapes Looks "Bizarre"... Japanese Runners Draw Attention for Unique Appearance

Marathon runners Hibiki Yoshida and Seira Fuwa competed in the 2026 Hokkaido Marathon held in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, on August 30.

In the men's division, Yoshida surged to the lead after the 30km mark, but his pace dropped sharply past 37km, finishing 9th with a time of 2 hours, 13 minutes, and 16 seconds.

On the other hand, Fuwa, taking on her first-ever marathon, finished 2nd in the women's division, securing a ticket to the Marathon Grand Championship (MGC), which serves as the trials for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

The reason both runners are drawing attention is because they captured everyone's eyes with their unique appearance. Standing at the starting line, Yoshida had circular tapes the size of 10-yen coins attached all over his neck, torso, and legs. Fuwa also entered the race with multiple tapes of the same kind attached around her neck.

What is this all about? Check it out in the on-site footage.

(Producer: Yang Hyun-yi | Video Editing: Lee Eui-seon | Design: Yang Hye-min | Source: Yahoo! Japan, NIKKAN SPORTS | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.