35th Chubu Walkathon I Meijo Park May 24

Countless Steps, One Community

Every year the Chubu Walkathon takes over a corner of Nagoya, and every year the same basic things happen: the smell of food stalls gets to you before the stage does, kids disappear toward the activities, and someone you haven't seen since last spring taps you on the shoulder near the walk route.

The 35th edition will be held Sunday, May 24 at Meijo Park — 10:00 to 15:30, rain or shine — and the numbers behind it tell you what kind of event this actually is. ¥196 million raised for local charities since 1992. Sixteen organizations supported in 2025 alone. An NIS Grade 9 student's footprint design on the anniversary T-shirt that gets at the event's purpose more cleanly than most descriptions have managed.

Attending is easy because you can join in as much or as little as you want. Come hungry. Food stalls are part of the point — lunch, snacks, drinks, and the inevitable second round of whatever smelled best the first time you passed it.

The stage runs throughout the day with live music and performances, while kids can burn through their energy on games, activities, crafts, and the kind of festival distractions that make a park afternoon much easier for parents. Raffle prizes give you another reason to hang around and watch other people win plane tickets, hotel stays, electronics, gadgets, and assorted Shop Japan mysteries! lol.

If you want to join the walk, it moves through the shade of Meijo Park. Go at your own pace — with friends, family, coworkers, classmates, or people you only met five minutes earlier. The more you eat, play, walk, buy tickets, and take part, the more money moves toward the charities the event was built to support — all without breaking your budget.

Entry and raffle participation work through raffle tickets: ¥3,000 for adults, ¥1,000 for kids and students. All raffle-ticket proceeds go directly to the charities. Online ticket and donation purchases run through Square by credit card. At the park, bring cash.

Food, drink, Marche vendors, and activities run on a separate system — Food & Activity Tickets, sold in sheets of 10 for ¥1,000. Booths don’t take cash directly. You buy ticket sheets at the park and spend those. Charity-operated booths may accept cash for some items. Unused tickets at the end of the day are non-refundable and become part of the donation total.

Robert Roche, Harry Hill, Henry Gomez, and Seisho Kondo were instrumental in founding the Walkathon.

Thirty-five years, four parks
In 1992, organized by Robert Roche, Harry Hill, Henry Gomez founding members of the American Business Community of Nagoya, along with the generous efforts of Seisho Kondo. The first event took place in 1992 at the former Central Park in Sakae. (now known as Hisaya-odori Park and the MIRAI TOWER district.)

The American Business Community of Nagoya (ABCN) was later folded into the American Chamber of Commerce as the Chubu Chapter. Together the organization worked alongside Nagoya International School. Around 200 people walked a loop around the park that first year . The idea was not complicated: Nagoya's international business community wanted to put something back into the city it was operating in.

The event eventually outgrew Central Park, and moved to Meijo Park and then later to Tsuruma Park, then to Moricoro Park in Nagakute, where it ran from 2011 through 2020. COVID didn't stop it — the event just moved online. After COVID it returned to an in person event back at Meijo Park, where it is now held every year.

Supporting Local Organisations
The 2025 Walkathon recipient list covered 16 organizations: children's homes, scholarships, phone counseling for minors, domestic-violence shelters, developmental-disability support, food banks, service-dog training, bone-marrow donor support.

The largest single 2025 grant went to the Chubu Children's Fund, which funds university and vocational scholarships for children living in children's homes — a direct investment in what happens next for kids who don't have a family structure supporting that step.

Childline Aichi runs phone and chat counseling for children up to 18, specifically for those who can't easily ask the adults around them for help. The 2025 support went toward staff training and outreach.

In Okazaki, Aoinokaze put Walkathon funding toward refrigeration equipment for a food-delivery van — donated food moving safely to single-parent households, struggling families, and children's cafeterias. The Japan Service Dog Association in Nagakute directed support toward safety improvements at its training center.

Local, practical — community driven.

The Walkathon has been funding this kind of work for more than three decades.

This year's T-shirt
Each year NIS students compete to design the official Walkathon T-shirt. The 2026 winner is Shin, Grade 9, whose design places individual footprints into the shape of a shachihoko — the gold-finned castle ornament that has been shorthand for Nagoya for four centuries.

The thinking behind it: 35 years of people moving through the same event, step by step, year after year. The slogan is 35 years, One Community.

It's a strong design and the right image for the anniversary. T-shirts are available at the park for raffle-ticket holders at ¥1,000 while supplies last. Pre-orders are closed. Arrive early if it matters to you.

Cheers For Charity Campaign

This year the fundraising has reached into Nagoya's bar and restaurant scene. Through Cheers for Charity, Tallboys Brewing and Hyappa Brews have produced special beers, with ¥100 from every sale going to Walkathon-supported causes. You can put money toward the charities at The Hungry Moose in Fushimi, Burgers Republic in Imaike, Japan Craft Beer & Wine GRILLMAN, Izakaya Ja Nai! in Okazaki, and Midtown BBQ near Meieki — before you even get to Meijo Park. Customers 20 and up.

The People Who Do The Work

The event continues to grow and evolve because of the people who keep turning up. Bryce Conlan — long-time supporter, former Committee Planning Chair during milestone years including the 2011 move to Moricoro Park — is back in 2026 as English emcee and Prize Tanto, while also helping with the kids' Super Ball Scoop alongside his family. Thirty-five years produces that kind of person. The event doesn't work without them.

Nao Geisler of Kakuozan International Preschool has continued to lead event panning, overseeing the overall project every year with enthusiastic dedication.