Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa of Bahrain will attempt to win her third consecutive Nagoya Women's Marathon next month after she was named among the seven runners invited from overseas on Wednesday.
Kirwa, the Asian Games champion who came home in a time of 2 hours, 22 minutes, 40 seconds to win last year's meet, is joined by 2013 world silver medalist Valeria Straneo of Italy among the seven foreign invitees for the March 12 race that starts and finishes at Nagoya Dome.
Rei Ohara, who finished third by one second behind second-placed Tomomi Tanaka in last year's race and missed out on a place at the Rio Olympics, is entered among eight domestic invitees along with Reia Iwade, who placed fifth in 2016.
The race doubles as a qualifier for Japanese runners for the world championships in London in August.