Sapporo Half Marathon
In 2009, she was second at the Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon and fifth at the Sapporo Half Marathon. She appeared at two World Marathon Majors that year: the New York City Marathon and the London Marathon. She took a tumble onto the pavement in the former race but managed to recover and finished in ninth place. She finished in eleventh place in London. Kanō was selected to represent Japan at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. She finished seventh overall and was Japan's second best performer in the World Championships marathon race after silver medallist Yoshimi Ozaki. She brought an end to her 2009 campaign with a silver medal in the half marathon at the 2009 East Asian Games, finishing just behind Kim Kum-Ok of North Korea.