Adventure Race Japan 2020 Cancelled After Typhoon

Press Release / 23.10.2019

After the recent typhoon in Japan the organisers of Adventure Race Japan have taken the tough decision to cancel next year’s ARWS race.

Masa Inada explains their reasons in this statement.

We have come to the difficult decision to cancel the race without postponing and to seek other opportunities in the future.

The main reasons for the cancellation are:

1.  Almost all areas we were planning to use were significantly damaged by Typhoon Hagibis. The storm has especially damaged riverbanks and surrounding areas are devastated. This means it is not possible to negotiate with the authorities for use of those areas until all recovery works are done.

2.  We must think of the feelings of the public who are affected.  Out of 47 prefectures in Japan, 28 were affected. The typhoon claimed 79 lives and nearly 50,000 houses are damaged, and the numbers are still rising. We feel organizing an event would not be supportive to affected communities so soon after these disasters.

3.  Because it is an adventure race, our planned course areas are not in regular use. It will take far longer for recovery works in these areas than in populated areas. Hence, it would be more difficult to get permits. Also we cannot guarantee the safety of competitors and staff in those areas.

4.  As winter is just around corner, we do not have enough time to reassess the course, or re-organize in alternative areas.  We are not able to go into the area for assessment now and it will have to wait until next April. Because the damage has spread extensively, we do not have an alternative course or area we can use.

5.  We do not have enough human resources to conduct reassessment and organise a new route if the area does not become accessible until April as this would leave only 2 months to the race date.

For the above reasons, we regrettably cancel the ARJ 2020.

Again, thank you so much for your support and consideration.

Masa INADA

Overseas coordinator

ARJ 2020