YoYo Related News From Around The World
Congratulations to Tomoya Kurita on winning the 3A Division of the 2018 Japan National YoYo Contest! Check out full results and video of the top 3 winners below.
The 2014 South Japan Regional Yo-yo Contest was held earlier this month in Fukuoka, and we have the results!
In 1A, newcomer Tsukasa Ryu got first place ahead of Toya Kobayashi. The remaining divisions saw very experienced players win with considerable ease. Veteran Shuhei Kanai won took the 2A division, former World Champion Minato Furuta won 3A, Tomohiko Zanka won 4A, and Hideo Ishida took home the 5A title.
Check the results below:
YoYoRecreation put together a solid video of their team at the 2013 World YoYo Contest…beautifully shot and edited, and top-notch play from one of the best contest teams in the world! Featuring Yusuke Otsuka, Izuru Hasumi, Ryota Ogi, Iori Yamaki, Yasuki Tachibana, Minato Furuta, Naoto Okada, Tatsuya Fujisaka, Akitoshi Tokubuchi, Samm Scott, Ahmad Kharisma, and Ryosuke Iwasawa, with a special appearance by the Rosen Plaza carpet.
YoYoRecreation has posted a couple of great teasers of what we can expect from their team at the 2013 World YoYo Contest…and it looks like we can expect a lot! Check out some great tricks from Tatsuya Fujisaka and Minato Furuta below.
As we gear up for the 2013 World YoYo Contest, we take a step back to appreciate and admire the greats of years past. We will be posting the top 5 in each division in the weeks leading up to the World Yo-Yo Contest.
Triple A is another style that has roots in the Duncan demonstrators of the 50s and 60s, but it took a modern player to see the potential and bring it into the current day. Early promotional images of Duncan demonstrator Wayne Lundberg show the most rudimentary of 3A play….a Sleeper with one hand, a Trapeze from the other. With the wooden yoyos of the 50s and 60s, this is generally all that was possible, but with the move from fixed axles to ball-bearing axles in the 90s, suddenly the equipment could handle a lot more. In 1998, Mark McBride created the first string trick involving two spinning yoyos, Velvet Rolls. Created as part of a bet with Steve Brown, Velvet Rolls is the trick that served as the catalyst for modern 3A play. From there, McBride worked on dual-mount tricks and kink mounts, while Brown focused on “assisted” 3A tricks…using one yoyo as a slave to create an additional anchor point within a trick. From early tricks like Assisted Suicide (ironically still one of the most difficult single tricks) and Blue Line Rolls came the foundation of modern 3A play; brought from being a “parking lot” division held for fun after established contests to one of the most complicated and difficult divisions in competitive yoyoing, 3A has grown tremendously and is one of the fastest growing divisions today.
5. Paul Yath – 
A huge early innovator with concepts that combined 2A and 3A, Paul paved the way to what is now modern 3A. Complex tech tricks, visually appealing mounts and tangler combos, Paul had it all. Capturing a world title in 2006, as well as multiple National titles over some others players on this list, Paul demonstrated why he is one of the greats.
4. Hiroki Miyamoto – 
Bursting on the scene at the Central Japan regional competition, Miyamoto brought to the stage tricks that had concepts never before been attempted. His unmistakable methodical style saw him to the top spot in the world of 3A in 2008. Many of his tricks from 2007-2008 would still hold up against todays competition. He injected a level of innovation that took 3A to a whole different level and thus earned his spot as one of the greatest to ever throw the style.
3. Hank Freeman –
With unmatched flow and ease, Hank is quickly cementing his place in the 3A hall of fame. With three National titles and back-to-back World titles, Hank proved what so many knew for so long—he’s incredible. Hank’s personality shines bright on stage with his laid back attitude when performing extremely difficult tricks. If Hank decides to continue competing, he may take over the greatest of all time in 3A.
ARVE Error: need id and provider 2. Kentaro Kimura – /
The single most incredible 3 minutes of 3A yo-yoing belongs to this man. After several previous years of disappointment, Kentaro beamed with confidence after he completed the legendary 2009 routine. Kentaro is perhaps one of the fastest 3A players of all time and innovated a style of 3A that is very popular today. He is undeniably one of the greatest, and with his recent decision to compete again he may have more to add to his list of achievements.
1. Daisuke Shimada –
Daisuke Shimada brought so much to 3A, it is very easy to put him at the top. With four World titles as testimony, his level of play was far beyond anyone at the time; creator of possibly the most visually impressive single trick in Sword Dancers in 2004, Daisuke still blows minds with his trick in 2013. He has proved his influence on the style and inspired many to start. Daisuke is the greatest 3A player of all time.
Honorable Mentions: Yuki Tanami (World Champion), Minato Furuta (World Champion), Maya Nakamura (National Champion), Jun Aramaki (Regional Champion) , Masanobu Iwata (Regional Champion)
Who do you think are the greatest 3A players of all time? Feel free to post your thoughts below!
As a reminder, these rankings take into consideration competitive players from around 2000 and on.
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:
Thanks to C3yoyodesign and mrmatio for the freestyle videos!
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:
This year’s South Japan regional contest saw very little surprises at the final placings, with strong players taking the top spot.
In 1A, YoyoRecreation’s Akitoshi Tokubuchi won for the second time in a row, followed by sOMEThING’s young newcomer Touya Kobayashi.
2A, 3A and 5A were won by the former World Champions Takuma Yamamoto, Minato Furuta and Takuma Inoue, respectively, all with perfect technical execution scores. Hideo Ishida, who had won the 5A division five times in a row, ended up in second place.
Finally in 4A, 2008 winner Shotaro Masuda is back to the top. Check the final placings:
1A
2A
3A
4A
5A
March 11th will be an action-packed Sunday for yoyoing!
In Mexico, the 7th National Yo-yo Contest will put YoyoFactory’s extraordinary duo Paul Kerbel and Luis Enrique against each other again for the title. With expressive results at last year’s World Yo-yo Contest (5th for Luis Enrique, 7th for Kerbel), and Triple Crown (1st place for Kerbel), Mexico is quickly becoming a major force in international yoyoing!
The contest will be held in Plaza Satelite, Mexico City, and will also features guests Paul Yath, Augie Fash, and Tyler Severance.
In Japan, the South Japan regional contest will take place in Fukuoka, featuring big names such as former World Champions Takuma Inoue (5A) and Minato Furuta (3A). In 1A, Kengo Kido, Shinya Azuma, and last year’s winner Akitoshi Tokubuchi are some of the names to keep an eye on!
We’ll be back with contest results as they become available!