Meet Katsunori Oba, a 61-year-old private researcher from Japan who has spent more than a decade figuring out how people might have run during the Edo period (1603–1867). His answer involves leaning forward like you’re about to face-plant, taking tiny rapid steps, moving the arm and leg on the same side together, and occasionally scuttling sideways like a determined crab.
Predictably, the internet lost its mind.
The hikyaku inspired Oba, an Edo-era courier messenger, to cover the roughly 500-kilometre route between Edo (now Tokyo) and Kyoto in about three days. He dug into old paintings, manuals, and the better-known namba (or nanba) running style, in which the same-side arm and leg move together instead of the usual opposite-side pattern most of us use. From that, he developed his own version, which fans call Edo-bashiri or Edo-style running.
In his videos, he usually appears in a navy traditional work outfit (samue) and straw sandals (waraji). He demonstrates short, quick strides, a relaxed body, and a forward lean that turns controlled falling into forward motion. One signature move is the sideways “crab” or yoko-hashiri style. Another is a high-cadence “ninja” run that can hit around 288 steps per minute, plus a quick-turn technique called hiza-nuki that he claims lets him pivot in 0.6 seconds by relaxing the knees.
The clips exploded. Reports put total views in the hundreds of millions; his Instagram following jumped from a couple hundred to well over 100,000, and his face-to-face classes now fill up immediately.
Modern running form is all opposite-arm/leg coordination, longer strides, and a more upright posture. Oba’s style is the opposite: minimal upper-body swing, high cadence, forward lean, and occasional sideways motion. He argues this shifts more of the work onto the calves and reduces stress on the knees, an appealing claim for anyone whose joints have opinions about pavement.
Commenters immediately made the connections the algorithm demanded:
“So that’s where the Naruto run comes from.”
Ministry of Silly Walks energy.
Phoebe Buffay’s signature run.
The way kids gallop, or the “shuffle” some ultra-runners and military guys already use when they’re tired.
Dwight Schrute would absolutely master this.
One person summed up the sideways version as “how I run when I have to go to the bathroom really fast after being stuck in traffic.”
The historical inspiration is real, and the biomechanics are interesting, but solid modern evidence is still thin. A small 2006 study on nanba-style running found higher cadence but no clear advantage in economy or perceived effort relative to normal running. Oba’s own claims about knee-friendliness and longevity are plausible and enthusiastically promoted by him, yet they continue largely unproven in rigorous trials.
That hasn’t stopped the memes or the workshops. Oba himself has said he’s “just an ordinary old guy who suddenly got famous” and finds the attention confusing, while still wanting the culture of these older techniques to survive. He has even talked about attempting the full Tokaido courier route in three days to test the method in real conditions.
So do you think we’ve been running wrong this entire time? His method looks really fun!
