Green Ribbon Running Festival

The Green Ribbon Running Festival is a distinctive annual running event held at Komazawa Olympic Park in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. Rather than being focused solely on competition, the festival combines recreational and competitive running with a broader social mission: raising awareness and understanding of organ transplantation and organ donation. The “Green Ribbon” is an international symbol associated with transplantation medicine, representing the connection between organ donors and recipients and the “gift of life.”

The event is designed to be unusually inclusive. Organ-transplant recipients, runners with disabilities, families, experienced athletes, and recreational runners are encouraged to participate together. One of the festival’s signature traditions is its Balloon Ceremony, during which participants release biodegradable balloons as an expression of gratitude to organ donors. The festival atmosphere extends beyond the races themselves, with family activities and a children’s running clinic also forming part of the program.