For October 11, the night before the 38th Izumo All-Japan University Invitational Ekiden (出雲駅伝; Monday, October 12, 2026, a national holiday, 9:10 a.m. start), MetroEngines Research data on booking pace at accommodation in Izumo City shows that occupancy (estimated, based on OTA-listed inventory; hereafter “estimated OCC”) had already reached 98.8% at 45 days before the stay date, with only 17 rooms left across the 49 properties and 1,420 rooms in the sample. A normal Sunday in the same city sits at just 59.5% at 45 days out, a gap of 39.3pt. By contrast, for the 58th All-Japan University Ekiden (全日本大学駅伝), which starts at 8:10 a.m. on Sunday, November 1, estimated OCC in Ise City on the finish side for the race-eve night of October 31 runs only about 6pt above a normal Saturday, and in Nagoya on the start side the event is barely visible at all. This article measures how many rooms actually sit around the start and finish points, compares race-eve inventory depletion and listed prices with the ordinary days on either side, and works out when, for how many nights, and how far the pre-race lodging demand of a single-day event spreads.

The Three University Ekiden Races — Morning Starts Make a Pre-Race Night a Given

First, the outline of the three races covered. The Izumo Ekiden leaves the main torii of Izumo Taisha (Seidamari) at 9:10 a.m. and returns to the front of Izumo Dome over six legs and 45.1 km, with 22 teams competing. The All-Japan University Ekiden departs Atsuta Jingu in Nagoya at 8:10 a.m., and 27 teams carry the sash over eight legs and 106.8 km to the Ujibashi Bridge at Ise Jingu’s Naiku in Mie Prefecture. In both cases it is not realistic for athletes, staff and university officials to arrive on the morning of the race, so these are events that presuppose a stay the night before.

Table 1: Overview of the three university ekiden races (FY2026)

Race	Date and start	Start / finish	Legs and distance	Field	Race eve
38th Izumo All-Japan University Invitational Ekiden	Mon (holiday), October 12, 2026, 9:10 a.m.	Izumo Taisha main torii → Izumo Dome	6 legs, 45.1 km	22 teams	Sun, October 11 = middle night of the three-day weekend
58th All-Japan University Ekiden Championship	Sun, November 1, 2026, 8:10 a.m.	Atsuta Jingu → Ise Jingu Naiku Ujibashi Bridge	8 legs, 106.8 km	27 teams	Sat, October 31
103rd Tokyo-Hakone Round-Trip College Ekiden Race (reference)	Sat, January 2 and Sun, January 3, 2027	Otemachi, Tokyo ⇔ Lake Ashi, Hakone	10 legs, 217.1 km	—	Fri (holiday), January 1 / Sat, January 2

Source: Compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team from the event outlines on each race’s official website

The eve of the Izumo Ekiden falls on the middle night of a three-day weekend that includes Sports Day (October 12). In other words, “holiday-weekend lodging demand” and “pre-race lodging demand” land on Izumo City at the same time on October 11, so even when inventory has disappeared, it is not obvious at a glance which effect is responsible. The middle of this article shows a way to read the two apart. Compared with mass-participation city marathons, an ekiden has a much smaller field of runners, and the participants move as teams.

Room Stock Within 3 km and 10 km of the Start/Finish Points — 138 Rooms Within 3 km of Ujibashi, 36,547 Within 10 km of Atsuta

The table below counts the properties with an observed selling price in the latest three months inside circles of 3 km and 10 km radius drawn around each of the four start and finish points. The thinnest room stock is at the finish of the All-Japan University Ekiden: the 3 km ring around the Ujibashi Bridge at Ise Jingu’s Naiku holds only 16 properties and 138 rooms, with not a single hotel-type property. Widening to 10 km brings in the business hotels around Iseshi and Ujiyamada stations and the ryokan of Futami, for 86 properties and 2,369 rooms. In contrast, the start point at the Atsuta Jingu west gate has 301 properties and 36,547 rooms within 10 km, 15.4 times the depth of the finish side.

Table 2: Room stock within 3 km and 10 km of the start/finish points (properties / rooms)

Start / finish point	Within 3 km properties / rooms	Within 10 km properties / rooms	Of the 10 km ring: hotel types	Ryokan	Other
Izumo Taisha main torii (Izumo, start)	29 / 280 rooms	67 / 1,969 rooms	17 / 1,578 rooms	9 / 265 rooms	41 / 126 rooms
Izumo Dome (Izumo, finish)	25 / 1,287 rooms	69 / 2,008 rooms	17 / 1,619 rooms	11 / 278 rooms	41 / 111 rooms
Atsuta Jingu west gate (All-Japan, start)	23 / 2,520 rooms	301 / 36,547 rooms	199 / 34,607 rooms	12 / 204 rooms	90 / 1,736 rooms
Ise Jingu Naiku Ujibashi Bridge (All-Japan, finish)	16 / 138 rooms	86 / 2,369 rooms	16 / 1,582 rooms	28 / 587 rooms	42 / 200 rooms

Hotel types = business, city, resort and capsule hotels; Other = whole-house rentals, guesthouses, minshuku, etc. Properties with an observed selling price in the latest three months (based on listings on major booking sites). Source: Compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team from MetroEngines Research

The Izumo Ekiden starts and finishes within Izumo City, and the two points are only 5.2 km apart in a straight line. The contents of their 3 km rings, however, are a study in contrast. On the Izumo Taisha start side, ryokan account for 6 properties and 212 rooms of the 29 properties and 280 rooms, and the rest are mostly whole-house rentals and guesthouses. The Izumo Dome finish side takes in the cluster of business hotels around Izumoshi Station, so hotel types alone reach 12 properties and 1,251 rooms. Even overlaying the two 10 km rings gives 74 properties and 2,073 rooms, a scale at which most of Izumo City as a whole (90 properties, 2,252 rooms) fits inside a single circle. The 22 teams, race officials and visiting supporters all have to be absorbed by this 2,000-room-class market.

Izumo Ekiden: start and finish points (★) with the 3 km ring (dashed) and 10 km ring (dotted); circle size shows room count. Source: Compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team from MetroEngines Research

All-Japan University Ekiden: 3 km and 10 km rings around the finish point (★). There are no hotel-type properties within 3 km; rooms are split between the Iseshi Station area and Futami. Source: Compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team from MetroEngines Research

Izumo City on Race Eve, Oct 11 — Estimated OCC 98.8% at 45 Days Out, 39.3pt Above a Normal Sunday

So how did this 2,000-room-class market fill on the eve of the race? For the stay night of Sunday, October 11, 2026 in Izumo City, estimated OCC at 45 days out (as of August 27) was 98.8%, with 17 rooms left against the 49 properties and 1,420 rooms in the sample. A normal Sunday at the same point (the three-day average of September 13, September 27 and October 4) was at 59.5% with 576 rooms left, meaning race-eve inventory was down to roughly one thirty-fourth of the ordinary level. The level then barely moved: 97.5% at 30 days out (36 left), 98.0% at 14 days out (28 left) and 98.6% as of October 5 (6 days out; 20 left). The small rebound in rooms left from 17 to 36 between 45 and 30 days out shows that a small amount of inventory keeps moving in and out right up to the last minute.

Izumo City, all segments. Sample: Oct 11 = 49 properties / 1,420 rooms; Oct 10 = 52 / 1,446 rooms; Oct 12 = 51 / 1,425 rooms; normal Sundays = 52–53 properties / 1,391–1,460 rooms; Matsue City Oct 11 = 52 / 3,118 rooms (based on listings on major booking sites). Source: MetroEngines Inc.; compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team

Table 3: Izumo City — booking pace and rooms left by stay date (as of October 5, 2026)

Stay date in Izumo City	Position	45 days out	30 days out	14 days out	As of October 5
Sat, October 10	First night of the three-day weekend; two days before the race	92.3% (111 left)	99.2% (11 left)	99.2% (11 left)	99.7% (5 left; 5 days out)
Sun, October 11	Middle night of the three-day weekend; race eve	98.8% (17 left)	97.5% (36 left)	98.0% (28 left)	98.6% (20 left; 6 days out)
Mon (holiday), October 12	Night of race day	72.8% (387 left)	76.3% (338 left)	81.5% (260 left)	81.5% (263 left; 7 days out)
Normal Sunday (three-day average)	Sep 13, Sep 27, Oct 4	59.5% (576 left)	65.1% (493 left)	74.0% (367 left)	76.1% (338 left; 6 days out)
Sun, July 19 [reference]	Middle night of the July three-day weekend (no race)	69.1% (430 left)	82.5% (244 left)	91.1% (124 left)	93.6% (89 left; 6 days out)

Occupancy (estimated, based on OTA-listed inventory) and rooms left. Sample is 49–53 properties / 1,391–1,460 rooms for each date, except July 19 at 35 properties / 1,391 rooms (based on listings on major booking sites). Source: MetroEngines Inc.; compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team

The row to watch in the table is the night of race day (October 12). This night, a holiday Monday, stood at 81.5% at 7 days out, only 5.7pt above a normal Sunday at the same lead time (75.8%). A race that starts at 9:10 a.m. is over around midday, and most teams are likely to head home the same day. The lodging the race adds is in effect the single night before, and 263 rooms of inventory remain on race-day night. This “open window” can be read as room for extra-night offers aimed at supporters who go sightseeing after the awards ceremony, or at independent travelers who want a quiet last day of the long weekend.

The reason race-eve inventory had all but vanished from view by 45 days out cannot be narrowed down to one from listing data alone. The possibilities include: (1) group arrangements tied to the race and sales through travel agencies went first, leaving few rooms to flow to OTAs and similar channels; (2) properties anticipated the overlap of the long weekend and the race, cut their listed allotments in advance and released rooms in small lots close to the date; and (3) early bookings by individual guests really did accumulate. It is also worth keeping in mind that the 17 rooms left are “what remains within the allotments listed on OTAs and similar channels” and do not directly show that every room in the city was sold.

Separating the Holiday Effect from the Race Effect — Only in Izumo City Did the Middle Night Outrun the First

The point to hold on to here is that October 11 is the middle night of a three-day weekend, a night that fills even without a race. In fact, on the middle night of September’s five-day Silver Week (September 20), Izumo City had also been depleted to the same level, 98.6%, at 45 days out. Looking only at the final level, the holiday effect and the race effect overlap and cannot be told apart. This article therefore focuses on sequence: within the long weekend, which night filled first?

As a rule, a three-day weekend fills from the first night (Saturday), and the middle night (Sunday) catches up later. Comparing estimated OCC at 45 days out for this October three-day weekend as “middle night (Oct 11) minus first night (Oct 10)” gives Matsue City −9.7pt, Ise City −18.3pt, Tsu City −16.3pt, Matsusaka City −30.2pt, Toba City −8.7pt, and Nagoya’s Naka Ward −4.6pt and Nakamura Ward −4.3pt: the middle night trailed the first in seven of the eight comparison cities and wards, and Oda City was level (0.0pt). Izumo City itself, in the July three-day weekend with no race, had its middle night (July 19) 7.4pt below the first night (July 18). Yet in Izumo City alone in October, the middle night was at 98.8% and the first night at 92.3%, a reversal with the middle night 6.5pt ahead.

Difference in occupancy (estimated, based on OTA-listed inventory) at 45 days out. Sample: Izumo City 49–52 properties, Matsue City 51–52, Oda City 13, Ise City 37–38, Toba City 72, Tsu City 22, Matsusaka City 10, Nagoya Naka Ward 58, Nakamura Ward 44 (based on listings on major booking sites). Izumo City in July: 33–35 properties. Source: MetroEngines Inc.; compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team

This “reversal of sequence” is what can be read as the trace of the race effect, isolated from the holiday effect. If Izumo City’s July gap (−7.4pt) is taken as the ordinary long-weekend pattern, the distance to October’s +6.5pt is 13.9pt. By 30 days out, however, the first night is at 99.2% and the middle night at 97.5%, both nearly full, and the gap is no longer visible. For a single-day event that overlaps a holiday, the effect of the race shows up not in “how far it fills” but in “when it fills” — that is the reading the Izumo measurements support.

Listed prices tilt the same way. Comparing each property’s lowest-plan listed price at 45 days out with its normal Sundays (average of Sep 13, Sep 27 and Oct 4), October 11 in Izumo City came to a median of 1.55x (N=35 properties). July 19, with no race, was 1.25x (N=37 properties) and October 10, the first night of the three-day weekend, was 1.35x (N=40 properties), so race eve alone sits a step higher. Race-day night, October 12, falls back to 1.13x (N=46 properties). In neighboring Matsue City it is the other way round — the first night at 1.65x (N=40 properties) and the middle night at 1.45x (N=42 properties) — keeping the usual long-weekend shape.

Ise City on Race Eve, Oct 31 — About 6pt Above a Normal Saturday, but Not the Top Autumn Saturday

The eve of the All-Japan University Ekiden looks different. In Ise City, home of the finish point, estimated OCC for Saturday, October 31 was 91.3% at 45 days out (38 properties, 1,827 rooms in the sample; 159 left), 97.3% at 30 days out (49 left) and 97.5% as of October 5 (26 days out; 45 left). October 17, the Saturday two weeks earlier, was at 92.1% at the same 26 days out and 85.3% at 45 days out, so the race-eve uplift is 5–6pt. It is 18.0pt higher than the following week’s November 7 (73.3% at 45 days out), but there is nothing like the nearly 40pt departure from the ordinary-day level seen in Izumo City.

Ise City, all segments, Saturday nights. Sample is 36–38 properties / 1,813–1,827 rooms for each date (based on listings on major booking sites). Nov 7 is observed at 45 days out only. Source: MetroEngines Inc.; compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team

Behind this is the fact that autumn Saturdays in Ise City run high to begin with. October 10, the first night of the three-day weekend, was at 99.2% at 26 days out and October 24 at 98.5% — two Saturdays in the same month that outrank race eve. The eve of the ekiden is “one of the stronger nights among Ise’s autumn Saturdays”, not a night that moves the market on its own. Listed prices bear this out: the lowest-plan listed price is at a median of 1.00x a normal Saturday (average of Sep 26, Oct 3 and Oct 17; N=37 properties), i.e. set at the same level. Given that October 10 was 1.24x and October 24 was 1.20x, October 31, where inventory depletion is running ahead, can be read as still having upside on the price side.

On the start side in Nagoya, the outline of the event is fainter still. Naka Ward, close to Atsuta Ward where Atsuta Jingu stands, was at 77.4% at 26 days out for October 31 (59 properties, 10,748 rooms; 2,430 left), and Nakamura Ward, home of Nagoya Station, at 75.3% (44 properties, 7,436 rooms; 1,840 left). Against the following week’s November 7 at 45 days out, Naka Ward was 69.7% versus 72.2% and Nakamura Ward 63.6% versus 68.4% — race eve is, if anything, lower. Even with 27 teams staying the night before, a market with 36,547 rooms within 10 km does not see its overall level move. In a race whose start and finish are 76 km apart (straight line), the same race eve is a completely different night on the “deep” side and the “thin” side.

Where Does Demand Flow? — Matsue City from 86.4% at 45 Days Out to 97.6% Just Before

When rooms at the start and finish points fill early, demand that moves later heads for the surrounding area. For the Izumo Ekiden, the receiving markets are Matsue City to the east and Oda City to the west. Izumo Dome is 30.6 km from Matsue Station in a straight line, and Izumo Taisha is 27.4 km from Odashi Station. Matsue City on October 11 started at 86.4% at 45 days out (52 properties, 3,118 rooms; 424 left), 12.4pt below Izumo City, and built to 92.9% at 30 days out, 96.4% at 14 days out and 97.6% as of October 5 (74 left), a gain of 11.2pt over 39 days. Oda City likewise rose 9.9pt, from 79.5% (13 properties, 132 rooms; 27 left) to 89.4% (14 left). Whereas Izumo City was settled at 45 days out, the 30 km ring fills between 45 days out and the final days — a clear time lag.

Race-eve occupancy (estimated, based on OTA-listed inventory). Izumo Ekiden = stay night of Oct 11 (latest = 6 days out); All-Japan University Ekiden = stay night of Oct 31 (latest = 26 days out). Properties and rooms covered are as in the table below (based on listings on major booking sites). Source: MetroEngines Inc.; compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team

Table 4: Race eve by city/ward — booking pace, rooms left, listed price and estimated settled ADR

City / ward	Straight-line distance from start/finish	Properties / rooms covered	Race-eve estimated OCC 45 days out → latest	Rooms left (latest)	Race-eve listed price (vs. normal day)	Estimated settled ADR, September 2026
Izumo Ekiden — race eve, Sun, October 11
Izumo City	Start/finish	49 / 1,420 rooms	98.8% → 98.6%	20 rooms	1.55x (N=35)	¥11,330 (N=36)
Matsue City	30.6 km (Matsue Station)	52 / 3,118 rooms	86.4% → 97.6%	74 rooms	1.45x (N=42)	¥11,962 (N=56)
Oda City	27.4 km (Odashi Station)	13 / 132 rooms	79.5% → 89.4%	14 rooms	1.50x (N=12)	¥10,548 (N=13)
All-Japan University Ekiden — race eve, Sat, October 31
Ise City	3.8 km (Iseshi Station)	38 / 1,827 rooms	91.3% → 97.5%	45 rooms	1.00x (N=37)	¥13,815 (N=44)
Toba City	11.4 km (Toba Station)	72 / 2,223 rooms	79.6% → 87.2%	284 rooms	1.00x (N=59)	¥19,577 (N=79)
Matsusaka City	21.6 km (Matsusaka Station)	10 / 869 rooms	89.9% → 93.0%	61 rooms	1.09x (N=10)	¥6,531 (N=15)
Tsu City	36.3 km (Tsu Station)	22 / 1,581 rooms	77.3% → 82.7%	274 rooms	1.08x (N=22)	¥7,984 (N=27)
Nagoya, Naka Ward	Start side	59 / 10,748 rooms	69.7% → 77.4%	2,430 rooms	—	¥16,927 (N=87)*
Nagoya, Nakamura Ward	5.6 km (Nagoya Station)	44 / 7,436 rooms	63.6% → 75.3%	1,840 rooms	—	¥17,440 (N=72)*

Distances are straight-line: for the Izumo Ekiden from the finish (Matsue) and the start (Oda); for the All-Japan from the Ujibashi Bridge (within Mie Prefecture) and from the Atsuta Jingu west gate (Nagoya Station). Latest is as of October 5, 2026. Listed price is the median, across properties, of each property’s lowest-plan listed price (two guests per room, tax included) at 45 days out relative to its normal Sundays / normal Saturdays. *September was the month of the Asian Games in Nagoya. Source: Compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team from MetroEngines Research

In terms of price level, Matsue City’s estimated settled ADR for September was about ¥12,000 (N=56), in almost the same band as Izumo City’s roughly ¥11,300 (N=36; +7.8% YoY). Moving a stay from Izumo to Matsue involves little step in rate, making this a pairing where substitution works easily as long as the travel time is acceptable. On the All-Japan University Ekiden side, Ise City is at about ¥13,800 (N=44; +5.7% YoY), while Toba City, dominated by ryokan and resorts, is about ¥5,800 higher at roughly ¥19,600 (N=79), and Matsusaka City (about ¥6,500, N=15) and Tsu City (about ¥8,000, N=27), dominated by business hotels, are conversely about ¥5,800–7,300 lower. Depending on the budget band of visitors staying the night before to support or watch, the flow splits east (Toba) and north (Matsusaka, Tsu).

As of October 5, race-eve rooms left in Ise City are down to 45, while Toba City has 284 and Tsu City 274. Tsu City is also on the roadside, with the course passing through it, and its race-eve estimated OCC is 82.7% at 26 days out, 12.5pt above the Saturday two weeks earlier (Oct 17, 70.2%). Inventory is thinning in order from the cities nearest the finish, with slack remaining outside them — which means that for properties in the surrounding area a “window still open to be captured” exists right now.

Hakone Ekiden (January 2–3, 2027) — Two Days That Overlap the New Year

The third race, the Hakone Ekiden (箱根駅伝), is a 217.1 km round trip over two days between Otemachi in Tokyo and Lake Ashi in Hakone; the 103rd edition will be held on Saturday, January 2 and Sunday, January 3, 2027. The eve nights are New Year’s Day and January 2, when New Year lodging demand is already high in both Hakone and central Tokyo. As the Izumo measurements showed, a race that overlaps a holiday cannot be distinguished by its final occupancy level; the effect shows up in the order and timing of filling. Forty-five days before the January 2 stay night is November 18, so when race-eve inventory moves around Lake Ashi — the finish of the outbound leg and the start of the return — is something to confirm again with observations from mid-November onward.

Designing for Single-Day Events — How Many Days Out It Fills, and How Many Nights It Sells

Pulling this together, the shape a morning-start single-day event leaves on a lodging market is largely determined by the depth of room stock at the start and finish points. In 2,000-room-class Izumo City, race eve was settled at 45 days out, and Matsue City and Oda City in the 30 km ring filled right up to the final days. In Ise City — also 1,800-room class, but with autumn Saturdays already high — the uplift stayed at 5–6pt. In 36,000-room-class Nagoya, the race did not register in the level of the market as a whole. The table below sets out, alongside the observed figures, the points to consider when building single-day demand that arrives only a few days a year into a property’s own plan.

Table 5: Single-day events — issues and design implications

Issue	What was observed	Design implication (suggestion)
How many days out it fills	Race eve in Izumo City was 98.8% (17 left) at 45 days out. Ise City went from 91.3% at 45 days out to 97.3% at 30 days out.	Properties in the start/finish city will want rates, sales conditions and allotment splits decided earlier than 45 days out. Having a resale rule ready in advance for the small amount of inventory that comes back late (17 → 36 rooms) makes it easier to pick up the opportunity.
How many nights it sells	Izumo City: 98.6% on race eve versus 81.5% on race-day night (+5.7pt vs. a normal Sunday). The uplift is in effect one night.	With the race-eve night as the anchor, there is room to fill race-day night with a “stay one more night after watching” extension offer. The 263 rooms left on race-day night are a window of opportunity.
Years when it overlaps a holiday	Only in Izumo City did the middle night run 6.5pt ahead of the first. Listed prices, too: 1.55x on race eve, 1.35x on the first night.	Rather than the long-weekend rule of thumb (the first night is strongest), a design that makes race eve the axis of pricing and inventory allocation looks effective.
Properties in the 30 km ring	Matsue City 86.4% at 45 days out → 97.6% just before; Oda City 79.5% → 89.4%.	The 45–14 days-out window, after the start/finish city has filled, becomes the peak selling period. This is the time to strengthen information for pre-race guests, such as transport to the venue and breakfast hours.
Weekends that are already high	Race eve in Ise City is +5–6pt in occupancy, but the listed price is 1.00x a normal Saturday.	On nights when inventory depletion is running ahead, revenue opportunity may remain in reviewing the lowest plan and adjusting sales conditions.
Cities with deep room stock	In Nagoya’s Naka and Nakamura wards, race eve is below the following Saturday.	Because the market as a whole does not move, sales effort that captures team and official group demand one account at a time becomes the axis. Breakfast service timed to early-morning departures and the like can be a selling point.

Source: MetroEngines Inc.; compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team

The point to stress most is that in designing for single-day demand, the difference is made less by “how strong the day is” than by “how early the deadline comes”. Race eve in Izumo City had only 17 rooms left at 45 days out, so a rate review at 30 days out finds almost no inventory left to apply it to. In our article on the Omagari Fireworks in Akita, too, event-day inventory was all but settled at 45 days out. For a fixture like an ekiden, whose date can be read a year ahead, minimum-stay conditions and rate tiers can be set up early on the basis of the previous year’s results.

The other issue is the “business-as-usual night” sitting next to the high-demand night. October 12 in Izumo City and October 30 in Ise City (a Friday; 85.3% with 268 rooms left at 25 days out) have not filled to the extent race eve has. A single-day event creates a one-night peak, but whether it can be turned into a two- or three-night stay that includes the nights around it is left to the property’s own product design. Given the structure of the Shimane market ahead of Kamiarizuki, Izumo’s annual peak arrives the month after the race, and building a path that turns visitors won through October’s single-day demand into return visits in November is also worth considering.

Summary

On October 11, the eve of the Izumo Ekiden, estimated OCC in Izumo City had reached 98.8% at 45 days out, 39.3pt above a normal Sunday. Because it is also the middle night of a three-day weekend, the final level cannot be told apart from the holiday effect, but among the nine cities and wards — Izumo plus the eight comparison markets — Izumo City was the only one where the middle night ran ahead of the first, and this “reversal in the order of filling” is the trace of the race effect. For the All-Japan University Ekiden, Ise City on the finish side runs 5–6pt above a normal Saturday, while in Nagoya on the start side, with 36,547 rooms within 10 km, the market as a whole has not moved.

In Izumo, where rooms at the start and finish filled early, Matsue City 30 km away built late, from 86.4% at 45 days out to 97.6% just before the date, and outside Ise, Toba City has 284 rooms and Tsu City 274 rooms left. What a single-day event sells is basically the one night before, and there is still room for design in the nights on either side and in the surrounding areas. It is precisely for demand days that come only a few times a year that fixing conditions earlier than 45 days out, and combining the event night with its neighbors into a longer stay, widens the revenue opportunity.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How full is accommodation in Izumo City on the eve of the Izumo Ekiden 2026?
A. For the race-eve stay night of Sunday, October 11, 2026, occupancy (estimated, based on OTA-listed inventory) had reached 98.8% at 45 days before the stay date (as of August 27), with 17 rooms left out of the 49 properties and 1,420 rooms in the sample. As of October 5 (6 days out) it was still 98.6% with 20 rooms left. This is, however, what remains within the allotments listed on OTAs and similar channels, and does not directly show that every room in the city was sold.

Q. If race eve in Izumo City is full, where nearby is inventory still available?
A. Matsue City, 30.6 km in a straight line from Izumo Dome, was at 97.6% with 74 rooms left for the October 11 stay night as of October 5, 2026 (52 properties, 3,118 rooms), and Oda City, 27.4 km from Izumo Taisha, was at 89.4% with 14 rooms left (13 properties, 132 rooms). In Izumo City itself, race-day night on Monday, October 12 (a holiday) is at 81.5%, with 263 rooms left.

Q. What is the situation in Ise City and the surrounding area on the eve of the All-Japan University Ekiden 2026?
A. For the race-eve stay night of Saturday, October 31, 2026, Ise City, home of the finish point, was at 97.5% with 45 rooms left as of October 5 (26 days out; 38 properties, 1,827 rooms), 5–6pt above a normal Saturday. Outside it, Toba City has 284 rooms and Tsu City 274 rooms left. On the start side, Nagoya’s Naka Ward is at 77.4% and Nakamura Ward at 75.3%, with no visible change in level due to the race.

Q. When a three-day weekend and a race overlap, how can you tell which effect is at work?
A. Look not at the final level but at the sequence — which night of the long weekend filled first. In the October 2026 three-day weekend, the middle night trailed the first night at 45 days out in seven of the eight comparison cities and wards, and Oda City was level, but in Izumo City alone the middle night was 6.5pt ahead of the first. In the July three-day weekend, with no race, Izumo City’s middle night was also 7.4pt behind, and we read this reversal as the trace of the race effect.

Q. How far ahead should accommodation properties prepare for single-day events that come only a few days a year?
A. Properties in the start/finish city will want rates, sales conditions and allotment splits decided earlier than 45 days out. Race eve in Izumo City had only 17 rooms left at 45 days out, so a rate review at 30 days out finds almost no inventory left to apply it to. For properties in the 30 km ring, the 45–14 days-out window after the start/finish city has filled is the peak selling period.

Q. Is the occupancy in this article the same as official statistics or each property’s actual room occupancy?
A. No. The figures in this article are estimates based on how inventory sold on OTAs is being depleted, covering a set of properties that list at least 30% of their total rooms. Rooms sold outside the listed allotments, such as through group arrangements or travel agencies, cannot be captured, so the definition differs from a property’s actual overall occupancy and from the occupancy in the Japan Tourism Agency’s Accommodation Travel Statistics Survey (宿泊旅行統計調査).

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Asian Games 2026: Lodging Demand Moves Beyond Nagoya — Toyohashi +18.7pt, Kuwana +14.4pt, an Occupancy Snapshot 37 Days Before Opening