The results are in for the 2016 Japan Nationals, arguably one of the biggest and toughest national yoyo contests in the world. 1A was an upset, with Takeshi Matsuura being favored to win and instead taking second place to a killer routine from Yusuke Otsuka. Takuma Yamamoto clinched another 2A title easily enough, while 3A player Tomoya Kurita took a commanding win over current World Champion Hajime Miura! In the 4A division, Rei Iwakura proves he is still absolutely untouchable, and Takeshi Matsuura easily took home top honors in the 5A Division. Check out all of the winning freestyles below, along with full scoring breakdowns.
Fist Salud – 2013japannationalyoyocontest
Fist Salud keeps the great Japan National Yo-Yo Contest clip train rollin’ with a short fun edit featuring Kento Muraoka’s futuristic 1A, a great new bind from Maru of Shaqler, Iwata Masanobu bringin’ the 2A heat, and… Moriki dancing? I love videos like this because they give you a look at the offstage smiles & shenanigans that make yo-yo contests so fun, and who doesn’t love mini-montages of yo-yo shirts? Check it out!
Japan Nationals on CBC TV
The Nagoya-based CBC TV has a niece piece on Japan Nationals, held in the city last week.
There’s some of the usual “the yo-yo is not what it used to be”, but there are some quite interesting bits on Tatsuya Fujisaka and Izuru Hasumi’s lives outside of yo-yoing.
A rare glimpse into the production and development of YoYoRecreation products is also provided, with a brief visit to the machine shop, and a close look at YoYoRecreation’s titanium yo-yo prototype, complete with Tatsuya Fujisaka testing a freshly-turned piece wearing his everyday suit.
And as a bonus, courtesy of YouTube’s translated subtitles, here’s your bad yoyo translation of the week:
S.Kon – Japan Nationals Vertical Mod
Master yoyo modder and creator Shinobu Kon once again created something amazing for the Japan Nationals Mod Contest! This Iron Man-inspired creation is absolutely gorgeous, and really shows off the precision that has become Shinobu-san’s trademark. With the combination of metal and plastic parts and the perfect color combinations, this is functional art. Beautiful!
Akitoshi Tokubuchi is the 2013 Japan National YoYo Champion!
The 2013 Japan National Yo-yo Contest is over!
YoyoRecreation’s Akitoshi Tokubuchi, who was the first runner-up last year, stepped up his game and is the 2013 Japan National Champion, beating Tatsuya Fujisaka by a hefty five point margin and Hiroyuki Suzuki by over ten points!
In 2A, 2008 world champion Takuma Yamamoto beat Shu Takada and Ryo Yamashita for first place with a smooth freestyle and ended up over twenty points ahead of the second place!
The former world champion battle in 3A ended up with Minato Furuta ahead of Kentaro Kimura for first place, showing he’s ready to take back the world title later this year.
Rei Iwakura took the title in 4A ahead of Naoto Okada in another contest between world champions.
Finally, in 5A, the newer generation dominated the top placings with Takeshi Matsuura convincingly beating Sora Ishikawa and the world’s cutest player, Yoshihiro Abe, for first place.
Check the full results below:
1A
- Akitoshi Tokubuchi
- Tatsuya Fujisaka
- Hiroyuki Suzuki
- Shinya Kido
- Yusuke Ootsuka
- Iori Yamaki
- Shion Araya
- Hirotaka Akiba
- Kazuki Okada
- Shinya Azuma
- Masahiro Terada
- Izuru Hasumi
- Toya Kobayashi
- Atsunori Tanimoto
- Kento Noda
- Ryosuke Iwasawa
2A
- Takuma Yamamoto
- Shu Takada
- Ryo Yamashita
- Tomoyuki Kaneko
- Shuhei Kanai
- Ginji Miura
- Toshiaki Onuma
- Yoshihiro Matsubara
3A
- Minato Furuta
- Kentaro Kimura
- Ryosuke Ito
- Yasuki Tachibana
- Kyohei Hosono
- Mizuki Takimoto
- Takumi Yasumoto
- Hajime Miura
- Taiichiro Higashi
4A
- Rei Iwakura
- Naoto Okada
- Yohei Kagawa
- Shotaro Masuda
- Keita Kido
- Tsubasa Onishi
- Yudai Kimura
- Atsushi Takeuchi
- Shinya Muraki
- Haruaki Nishitani
5A
- Takeshi Matsuura
- Sora Ishikawa
- Yoshihiro Abe
- Sojun Miyamura
- Hideo Ishida
- Takayuki Kuriyama
- Naoya Takeuchi
- Hiroyasu Ishihara
- Junpei Shimizu
Thanks to C3yoyodesign and mrmatio for the freestyle videos!
Japan National YoYo Contest – Day 1 Results!
Day 1 of Japan Nationais is over in Nagoya! A few of the crowd favorites did not make it, but there are plenty of big names competing for the national title!
In 1A, the favorite is no doubt the current world champion Hiroyuki Suzuki, but team C3’s newest addition, former world champion Shinya Kido, and former national champions Tatsuya Fujisaka and Ryosuke Iwasawa won’t make Mickey’s life easy.
2A also sees the current world champion, Shu Takada, facing a former world title holder, Takuma Yamamoto, and a former national champion, Ryo Yamashita.
More former world champions will battle it out in the incredibly strong 3A division, with Kentaro Kimura facing Minato Furuta.
Even more world champions face off in the 4A division. 2012 world champion Rei Iwakura will have a tough time ahead competing against Naoto Okada and Tsubasa Onishi.
Finally in the 5A division, you got it: another world champion! Takeshi Matsuura is the sole world title holder and by far the favorite in this division.
This the order of the final freestyles:
1A
- Kento Noda
- Toya Kobayashi
- Atsunori Tanimoto
- Shion Araya
- Hiroyuki Suzuki
- Izuru Hasumi
- Shinya Azuma
- Masahiro Terada
- Kazuki Okada
- Yusuke Otsuka
- Hirotaka Akiba
- Ryosuke Iwasawa
- Iori Yamaki
- Shinya Kido
- Tatsuya Fujisaka
- Akitoshi Tokubuchi
2A
- Yoshihiro Matsubara
- Toshiaki Onuma
- Ginji Miura
- Shu Takada
- Shuhei Kanai
- Tomoyuki Kaneko
- Ryo Yamashita
- Takuma Yamamoto
3A
- Kentaro Kimura
- Hajime Miura
- Takumi Yasumoto
- Kyohei Hosono
- Taiichiro Higashi
- Ryosuke Ito
- Yasuki Tachibana
- Mizuki Takimoto
- Minato Furuta
4A
- Tsubasa Onishi
- Keita Kido
- Haruaki Nishitani
- Shinya Muraki
- Yudai Kimura
- Shotaro Masuda
- Yohei Kagawa
- Atsushi Takeuchi
- Rei Iwakura
- Naoto Okada
5A
- Junpei Shimizu
- Sojun Miyamura
- Takeshi Matsuura
- Yoshihiro Abe
- Hiroyasu Ishihara
- Naoya Takeuchi
- Sora Ishikawa
- Hideo Ishida
- Takayuki Kuriyama
Shinya Kido joins C3YoYoDesign, debuts a new signature yo-yo!
The contest has barely started and the news from Japan are already coming in hot! 2009 World Champion Shinya Kido has just announced his admittance into the ever-growing Hong Kong powerhouse team!
Shinya, who had just recently left Japan’s top YoyoRecreation team, is also debuting a new yo-yo from C3, the Krown:
The Krown is a full-sized yo-yo, weighting in at 65.5 grams, 56mm diameter, and 45mm width, and built in 7075 aluminum. The shape and specs leave no doubt about what should be obvious from such a partnership: a 100% competition-focused yo-yo.
The Krown is being released at Japan Nationals this weekend!
YoYoDrop – Werrd 2K13 Hour
Werrd dropped pics of the updated Hour yoyo on their way to Japan Nationals, but I was able to catch Stu Brown in transit for some more details!
Werrd 2K13 Hour Specs:
- 60mm diameter
- 41.5mm wide
- 4.7mm gap
- 65.5 grams
- K-pad response
- Center Trac Bearing
- BluePrint String
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Splash Anodised (multiple colors)
-
Gold Anodized (for the pimp look)
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Silver Anodized (for stage bling)
According to Stu:
I revised the weight distribution to see if we could speed up the Hour on the string a little. This is tricky for such a large diameter yoyo but I was able to do this by adding percentage weight to the rim and increasing spin time while actually making the 2K13 Hour lighter and more maneuverable. Success.The Werrd Bounty is still up for grabs and the Hour and 2K13 Hour are the current weapons of choice. Before Worlds we will add another yoyo (or maybe 2) to the eligible Bounty yoyo arsenal.Limited pieces of the 2K13 Hour will be pre-released at Japan Nationals this weekend. For Japan Nationals Werrd is attending in force; flying in, fresh off his BAC 3A Win is Eric Tran-ton. Australian National Champion Vu Ho and Yu Tsumura will also be in attendance as well as the heart beat of Werrd – Stu Brown and Andrew Savage.
Sounds like huge things are in store for Werrd…we’ll update with more info as we’re able to get it. In the meantime, check out the team and new throws at Japan Nationals this weekend! Stu hinted to me that there might be some more new releases at Japan Nationals if they make it in time…we’ll find out soon!
2012 Japan Nationals Day 1 results
Day one of the 2012 Japan National Yo-yo Contest is over, and as expected, a fierce competition took place in all divisions! See who’s joining the seeded players tomorrow!
1A
- Ryota Ogi
- Shinya Kido
- Amane Ookubo
- Shinnosuke Miyamoto
- Ryosuke Iwasawa
- Shinya Azuma
- Tatsuya Fujisaka
- Izuru Hasumi
- Iori Yamaki
- Yuusuke Ootsuka
2A
- Shu Takada
- Toshiaki Oonuma
- Michio Kohno
3A
- Takumi Yasumoto
- Mizuki Takimoto
- Ryosuke Ito
4A
- Atsushi Takeuchi
- Takuma Inoue
- Yuuichi Tominaga
5A
- Hideo Ishida
- Kazuma Miyakawa
- Naoto Takeuchi
With just three spots in 2A to 5A, it’s no surprise that some of the favorites did not make it to the final round. Taichiro Higashi in 3A, and Ryota Torigoe in 5A got fourth in their divisions and won’t be battling for the title. In 1A, a notable absence among the finalists is Reiki Sekiya, who ended up in 15th and is also out of the final round.
Be sure to watch the live stream to catch all the action of the final day! It could well be the toughest edition of Japan Nationals yet!
We’ll be back tomorrow with final results!