The competition replaced the Tokyo International Women's Marathon which was held in Tokyo from 1979 until 2008. Following the creation of the annual Tokyo Marathon in 2007, which featured its own annual women's marathon, the sponsors decided to move the women's marathon to Yokohama in 2009.[2]
First held on November 15, 2009, it is scheduled for November every year. The second edition was postponed to February 2011 due to APEC Japan 2010 being held that November and the third edition returned to the usual November timing. In 2012 Lydia Cheromei ran a course record time of 2:23:07 hours.[3]