Toray Industries Returns As Sponsor Of Shanghai Int'l Marathon

Toray Industries Inc. is sponsoring the Shanghai Int'l Marathon "once more, after a three-year absence that reflected strained diplomatic ties between Japan and China," according to JIJI. The race is slated for Nov. 8. Formerly, the annual event was named the Toray Cup Shanghai Int'l Marathon, as the company was the main sponsor "ever since the second race," which was held in '97. In '12, Toray quit as sponsor amid a "spike in tensions between Japan and China after the Japanese government put several of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea into national ownership." Toray agreed to become the "founding" sponsor, a second-tier position after the main sponsor, Nike. Japanese companies Seiko Holdings Corp. and YKK AP Inc. will also sponsor the marathon (JIJI, 9/9).