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A look at the 2017 All-Japan Open Weight Championships (April 29th) brackets

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Official draw from the All-Japan Judo Federation homepage (Source – http://www.judo.or.jp/p/40224)

I may be getting ahead of myself since the All-Japan Weight Class Championships will be held this weekend, but most of the search engine traffic linking to my site  is related to people searching for the draw for the open weight tournament on April 29th. The brackets have been up for a couple of weeks and though we are still over a month out, I am already excited to see how this tournament plays out.

The noteworthy athletes’ names have been translated and can be seen in red. Before looking at those athletes however, let’s first discuss how they got here. The champion and runner-up from the previous year get the top 2 seeds going into the tournament as well as an automatic invite. Therefore, you see Takeshi Ojitani (#1) and Daiki Kamikawa (#23) at the top of each half of the bracket.

3 additional players were awarded special entries and were not required to participate in a qualifying tournament. Those slots were awarded to Mashu Baker (#9), Shohei Ono (#31), and Hisayoshi Harasawa (#34). To be selected in this way, one must: (I) be a 2016 Olympic Champion, (II) be a 2016 Olympic medalist in the +100kg category, (III) be a 2016 Tokyo Grand Slam champion in the +100kg category, or (IV) be either ranked in the top 22 in the +100kg IJF rankings, or be specially selected by the All-Japan Judo Federation (source). Everyone else was required to enter through a regional preliminary tournament(s).

Now, for an analysis. With no disrespect intended to some athletes, Takeshi Ojitani (#1) and Daiki Kamikawa (#23) should have a fairly clear path into the quarterfinals. For everyone else, it will be a really good fight to get into the quarterfinals, and from there, anything can happen. Mashu Baker (#9) will likely have a very tough round of 16 match with national team member Shohei Shimowada (#6), who used to compete in the -90kg category and now competes at -100.

2-time world silver medalist, Ryu Shichinohe (#12) has what is in my opinion, the toughest route to the quarterfinals of any of the top contenders. He needs a win at this tournament like fish need water and it will be no easy task. He gets by far the most high-profile 1st round match against Daigo Kagawa, who is my pick as this year’s dark-horse for the tournament. Kagawa has had a stellar judo career going back all the way to elementary school. He was the All-Japan heavyweight champion in high school and in 2014, became the youngest ever competitor in the All-Japan Open Weight Championships at 17 years and 2 months of age. This year, he finished second in the most competitive qualifying region (Tokyo), only losing out to Yusei Ogawa (#17), also only 20 years of age. Ogawa is the son of former great, Naoya Ogawa who won this tournament an astounding 7 times. I pick Ogawa to make it into the quarterfinals.

On the other side of the bracket, Kamikawa should be safe until the quarterfinals. His opponent there is anyone’s guess. The group from #28-33 is the most intriguing group for a number of reasons. At #28, Aaron Wolf qualified into this tournament having finished 3rd at the Tokyo qualifier, losing to his younger teammate at Tokai University, Daigo Kagawa. At slot #31, is the competitor that has made the most headlines, Shohei Ono, who I will reserve a seperate blog post to. Ono gets a bye in the first round, but will have a mountainous task of winning in the 2nd round. His opponent will either be -90kg competitor Kensei Ikeda of the Japan Racing Association Team or high school entry, Sosuke Matsumura, a 142kg 17-year-old, who won the All-Japan High School Championships last week. Ikeda and Matsumura will both be very tough for Ono to overcome.

Finally, 2016 Olympic silver medalist, Hisayoshi Harasawa should have a fairly clear path into the quarterfinals. Former Jr. World’s silver medalist, Masaru Momose (#37) may give him some problems, but my money is on Harasawa to get to the quarterfinals with relative ease. The final athlete on the list I want to mention is Hirotaka Kato (#42), the winner of the 2012 edition of this tournament. He’s always the one player that can spoil the party for the top contenders. His newaza is probably the best in this tournament, and his unorthodox style poses problems for everyone. He’s been competing in the elite ranks for quite a long time, and though I don’t think he has what it takes to win again, he’s the most likely to pull off a major upset.

Thanks to everyone who has been reading and supporting this blog. The traffic to it has grown considerably in the past month. I will do my best to keep bringing you original and insightful content about judo. If you have the chance, please register an account and let us know who you think will be the 2017 All-Japan Open Weight Champion.

A Look Back: 1996 All Japan Weight Class Championships (Nomura, Koga, Yoshida, Nakamura Brothers and Ogawa)

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In a little over a week, the All-Japan Weight Class Selection Championships will be held, with nearly all of Japan’s top judo athletes participating in what will serve as the final tournament to select the team that will represent Japan at the  Budapest World Championships in August. The notable absences in this year’s edition are Shohei Ono, Misato Nakamura, Miku Tashiro and Masashi Ebinuma, but aside from them, nearly all of the heavy hitters in Japan’s judo scene will be present. The weight of this tournament and quality of the field makes it one of the most competitive tournaments in the world, I would say even on par with the Grand Slam events.

Today, I want to reflect on the 1996 edition of the tournament, which featured a whole slew of world champions and gold medalists, in what was one of the deepest fields imaginable for any era of judo. Though the present Japanese team is right up there with the best, this ’96 team would definitely give them a run for their money in terms of class and depth. The 1996 tournament determined the 1996 Atlanta Olympic team in all categories except for the +95kg category, which was decided at the All-Japan Open Weight Championships later in the month. Tadahiro Nomura came into the tournament as a dark horse for the spot on the olympic team, probably the last time he was ever an underdog in any tournament thereafter. We also saw two veterans hoping to defend their gold medals in Barcelona in Koga and Yoshida as well as one of the last times we got to see Naoya Ogawa as his time as the dominant heavyweight in Japan came to a close.

Another point worth mentioning is that the competitors in this tournament now make up a large portion of the top competitive coaches in Japan at the moment. Reading down the list is a who’s who of Japan’s current coaching staff:

Kazuhiko Tokuno  (1999 World Championships silver, 2001 Bronze) – Assistant manager of the Komatsu Women’s Judo team. Notable athletes: Ayumi Tanimoto, Haruna Asami, Nae Udaka, Miku Tashiro, and the list goes on forever.

Kenzo Nakamura (1996 Olympic champion, 1997 world champion) – Assistant coach of Japanese men’s national team.

Toshihiko Koga (No introduction necessary) – Head coach of International Pacific University, coach of semi-pro trade team OG Wellness and founder of Koga Dojo.

Ryuji Sonoda (1993 World Champion) – Unfortunately, a former women’s national team coach, who was at the center of a major scandal concerning abuse of the athletes. As a result, he was fired and now works on the coaching staff of the trade team, Park 24, managed by Hidehiko Yoshida. Notable athletes are Naohisa Takato and Masashi Ebinuma.

Michiaki Kamochi (1991 Asian Games Champion) – Coach of the Japan Racing Association team, whose top star is Hisayoshi Hirasawa. Other notable athletes from this team include Kaihan Takagi and Kyle Reyes of Canada.

Katsuyuki Masuchi (1994 Asian Games Champion) – Head Coach of Japanese Women’s National Team, and former coach of Tsukuba University, one of the greatest judo universities of all-time.

Yoshiharu Makishi (1997 World Championships silver) – If you have been to the Kodokan to train, you have probably seen him as he is one of the sensei there.

Shinichi Shinohara (2000 Olympic Silver, 2x World Champion) – Head coach of the Japanese Men’s National Team for the 2012 London Olympic cycle.

 

I’m sure I’m leaving a few others out, but it makes you realize that if you want to have a career as a coach in Japan, it is pretty difficult to do if you don’t have matching credentials as an athlete. Anyways, without any further ado, please enjoy the 1996 All-Japan Weight Class Selection Championships.

High school student qualifies to the 2017 All-Japan Open Weight Class Championships

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2017 Chugoku Region Representatives Akira Okushima (L) and Sosuke Matsumura (R)

Last month, I wrote about the 1st leg of qualification for the All-Japan Open Weight Class Championships, which will be held at the Nippon Budokan, in Tokyo on April 29th. On March 5th, regions all over Japan held their 2nd and final leg of qualification. The number of athletes chosen to represent their particular region varies by the area due to population of judo participants. Tokyo is allowed 10 athletes, while many of the smaller regions are granted 2 spots in the tournament.

In this year’s Chugoku region qualification round, 2nd year high school student, Sosuke Matsumura took first prize, and is set to become only the 8th high school student to qualify for the All-Japan Open Weight Class Championships since the first edition in 1948. His predecessors include Kosei Inoue and Yasuhiro Yamashita. Though Matsumura has yet to make a name for himself abroad, he holds the distinction of being the All Japan heavyweight champion as an elementary school student, as well as junior high school student. At last summer’s All-Japan Inter-High tournament, he finished 5th in the +100kg division. Here is his final match, where he defeats All-Japan veteran, Akira Okushima, who also qualified in the second spot for next month’s tournament.

At 17 years old, his chances to win seem to be a longshot. The Chugoku Region lacks top-class universities and trade teams, so the competition is sparse in comparison to the larger regions such as Tokyo. Additionally, while some of the lower weight classes have seen high school students get on the top step of the podium (Ryoko Tani comes to mind), the youngest competitor to ever win the open weight tournament was Satoshi Ishii, who won the 2006 edition at 19 years and 4 months. In Kosei Inoue’s debut, he lost in the second round to Michiaki Kamochi, the current coach of Hisayoshi Hirasawa. Here is a short clip of Inoue’s first round match in the 1996 edition of the tournament:

https://youtu.be/0ax6h5x9UFA?t=31m44s

Of the high school students, Yamashita had the best showing in his debut, finishing 3rd before losing to Haruki Uemura, gold medalist at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. There is also limited footage of this tournament, but here is a clip of his quarter-final match:

2017 Shimane Prefecture Judo Championships: 1st Qualification Round for the All Japan Championships

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The All Japan Open Weight Judo Championships held every year on April 29th is the most prestigious domestic judo tournament in Japan. Having been to 4 different editions of the event as well as a fair number of national tournaments in Japan, the All Japan Open Weight Championships is without a doubt the one I look forward to more than any others. The open weight format, old-school rules, as well as utilizing only one mat for the entire tournament create an atmosphere that is one of a kind. Yasuhiro Yamashita famously won this tournament 9 times in a row in an era where one could easily make the argument that the All Japan Championships was more competitive than the Olympics.

The way athletes are selected are by competing in a prefectural tournament, followed by a regional tournament. The only exception to this is Tokyo’s tournament, which does not require a regional tournament due to the number of athletes that participate in that event (140 in 2016’s edition).

The Shimane Prefectural Championships were held Sunday, February 5th at the Shimane Prefectural Budo Hall. Shimane is the second least populated prefecture in Japan and as such, the level of competition is not as competitive as in other areas. There is only 1 major university, and no semi-pro teams, so the top competitors come from the police department, prison guards or high schools. Despite this, there is still plenty of good judo in Shimane. The top high school in the area (Kaisei High School) finished in the top 8 at last summer’s national high school championships, and their current star player, Sosuke Matsumura is currently one of the top high school players in the country.

The next stage of the process will take place on March 5, at the Chugoku Region Judo Championships, where the top 2 will get a ticket to Tokyo. Please enjoy some matches from the 2017 Shimane Prefecture Judo Championships.