The 2020 Kodokan Cup will be held on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at the Chiba Port Arena in Japan. It is the first major judo competition to be held in Japan since the 2019 Osaka Grand Slam nearly a year go and a lot has changed since then.
The Kodokan Cup is one of the largest domestic tournaments in Japan that decides the national team for the coming year. The “A” team members (top 1 or 2 ranked athletes in each weight category) do not compete, but for the rest of the elite players in Japan, this tournament carries a huge amount of importance. Being nominated to the national team carries with it not only funding, but exposure to international competition, regular training camps at the Japan National Training Center, and for students, the exposure necessary to get corporate sponsorships and future employment. This year, the number of athletes has been greatly reduced due to the Covid-19 pandemic and will be contested without an audience.
The brackets for the tournament were released today, and here are some of the notable stories going into the tournament:
Absences:
Sara Asahina – One of the developing stories and notable absences, is that of Sara Asahina. The former world champion is the alternate for the 2020 Olympic games in the +78kg category. However, after dropping out of school a year early to focus on judo, she has now left her trade team, Park 24 after only a year on the team. She said she would be retiring after the 2021 Tokyo Grand Slam, but it is looking more and more like she has already retired for all intents and purposes.
Ryu Shichinohe – The +100kg, former world silver medalist will also not be lining up, though he has vowed to continue on with his career. He is probably hoping for a strong showing at the All-Japan Open Weight Championships that will be held in December to earn back his spot on the national team.
Hayato Koga – the -73kg phenom and son of the great Toshihiko Koga has been one of the most-watched judoka in Japan, going all the way back to when he was a child. Having been a long-time member of the national team, he made the decision to retire from elite judo and focus on a teaching career at Keio Senior High School in Tokyo.
Ami Kondo – The former world champion and olympic bronze medalist announced just hours ago that she would be retiring from the sport. She narrowly missed out on her second birth to the Olympics but has left the sport as one of the greatest ever.
Mashu Baker – The Rio Olympic gold medalist is not slated to line up in the -90kg category. No public announcement about his condition has been made, but injuries are likely the culprit.
Noteworthy side-stories:
Mitsui Sumitomo Women’s Judo Team – Mitsui Sumitomo is one of the most successful women’s judo teams in history, having produced many past Olympic and world champions. In the past two months, three of their athletes have left under slightly unusual circumstances. Ami Kondo, who as mentioned announced her retirement did so at a time that is not typical in Japan. Normally, an athlete of her stature would compete one final time in a big national event, but it is possible that Covid-19 prevented her from having a proper farewell tournament. The more unusual story though has been the departure of two current national team members, Nami Nabekura and Rinoko Wada. Both have opted to leave Mitsui Sumitomo and compete as unattached athletes. This is quite an unexpected move for both and it will be interesting to see how they fare in this tournament as athletes without a team. Both Wada and Nabekura are good bets to win the entire tournament.
Toru Shishime – Longtime gatekeeper in the -60kg category and former world bronze medalist will make his debut in the -66kg category. At his age, the weight cut was probably too much.
Kento Shimizu – For those who like the underdog, this is your man! Shimizu, the 2010 jr. world champion has been around for quite some time. The 29-year-old finished second at the 2011 Kodokan Cup, and then seemingly fell off the face of the earth with barely any significant results between 2013 and last year. However, he came out of nowhere to win the prestigious All Japan Businessman’s Tournament and thus has earned a spot in this year’s tournament. A win here would cement one of the most unusual careers you could think of.
Predictions:
Predictions are almost pointless. It’s so hard to know who will be on form this year. Most of the police departments have opted not to have practice. Some universities and companies have been able to train more regularly than others, and some athletes will have hardly trained at all in the past year. Regardless, here are my predictions:
Women:
-48 – Wakana Koga
-52 – Ai Shishime
-57 – Haruka Funakubo
-63 – Masako Doi
-70 – Yoko Ono
-78 – Mami Umeki
+78 – Hikaru Kodama
Men:
-60 – Genki Koga
-66 – Yuji Aida
-73 – Masashi Ebinuma
-81 – Takeshi Sasaki
-90 – Sanshiro Murao
-100 – Ryunosuke Haga
+100 – Sosuke Matsumura
And there you have it. My apologies for having abandoned this blog for so long. A new work environment, a son, and some other life changes have prevented me from updating this blog. However, I have a new project in the works, and so I will be doing my best to keep up with this blog in the future. Thanks for your support!