The 2023 World Championships, which will be held on 11–13 August 2023, are hosted in Japan for the first time! In these articles, we will take a look at the best players that are qualified to compete in the biggest event of the year.
Here we have the home region, Japan! Let’s meet the 8 players with a Day 2 invite, and take a look at the other 58 Day 1 invitees this region brings.
Table of Contents
Japan at Worlds
The fact that Pokémon is a Japanese franchise is notorious, as this country in particular deserves a whole separated treatment from the rest. Japan is great at this game and features the current World Champion!
From the time when VGC was not even VGC, Izuru Yoshimura proved that Japan is a giant force with his victory in the 2008 Video Game Showdown. Since then, Kazuyuki Tsuji (2009), Shoma Honami (2015), Ryota Otsubo (2017) and Naoto Mizobuchi (2019) have repeated that feat.
The latest World Championships featured the 2019 World Champion Naoto in top 8, Rinya Kobayashi and 2019 Senior World Champion Ko Tsukide in top 16, and four other players also reaching top cut spots. Will Japan keep dominating the scene, now that they play home?
Requirements for a Worlds invite
As per the Japanese system, all players that have made it to a top 64 (or better) finish in the Japan National Championships earn a Day 1 invite. Additionally, the top 8 players achieve a direct pass to Day 2, with the best 4 players earning a Travel Award.
While it has been some years that in-game ladder competitions (known in English-speaking regions as Global Challenges) have been the Japan National Qualifiers, this time the qualification to a live stage was not immediate. Yet another in-game ladder tournament, the Main Stage, would filter down the 450 players to the 64 that would receive a Day 1 invite and would end up in the live stage… but this tournament was stained by technical issues. Day 1 invites were ultimately not granted at this point, and a second Main Stage event was played, with 64 more players qualifying to the live stage. The live event featured thus 128 players, but only 64 would get the invites. Only Day 2 of the live event featured open team lists.
This year, the Japanese circuit was even more different from the TPCI regions than usual. Having only played in CTS (closed teamsheet) in-game ladder tournaments and a best-of-1 double-elimination tournament, Japanese players must adapt to the open-teamsheet best-of-3 Swiss rounds + top cut format of the TPCI-run World Championships. Their only OTS (open teamsheet) experience features known Natures but unknown Tera Types. Will they be able to play at their highest level in these conditions?
Day 2 players
1. 
Kaito Arii
Kaito has achieved his second Worlds invite, the other having been in 2022, although he didn’t attend back then. There is a tradition that says that the Japan National Champion will reach finals at odd-year Worlds, something that has been true for Shoma, Ryota and Hirofumi Kimura so far… Will this trend show up again?
The Japanese has achieved the invite with his victory at Japan National, to which he qualified by placing in the top 32 at the second Japan National Qualifier (a result he improved to a second place in the third Qualifier) and a back-to-back second place in the messy Main Stage that had to be repeated later on.
Kaito is also a renowned ladder hero. He has placed 2nd in the Ranked Battles Season 1, played with Regulation Set A; 5th in Season 3, with Regulation Set B; 1st in Season 5, with Regulation Set C; and 1st again in Season 8, played with Regulation Set D and using Iron Hands and Amoonguss… Beware if you find his IGN “Naku” (ナーク) in your ladder games!
Watch Hodaka has achieved his second Worlds invite, the other having been in 2022, although similarly as Kaito, he didn’t attend back then.
Hodaka earned his invite with a second place at Japan National, in which he survived Day 1 undefeated and only lost in Day 2’s Winners Finals and Grand Finals to the eventual champion. He had barely qualified to the live stage with a top 64 in the second Main Stage tournament, though (fun fact: it was the only player in this page’s list that made it through the second event!).
You may be facing Hodaka if you find “Haki” (ハキ) on ladder!
It has been thirteen full years since Kanade first made it to Worlds, as he qualified all the way back in 2010 in the Junior division. Now, in 2023, he will try to achieve a better result in his second Worlds, and first as a Master!
Kanade earned his invite with a third place at Japan National. He made it all the way through Day 1 undefeated, but had to face the eventual champion in the first round of Day 2. He lost that match, but then made a miracle run through the Day 2 losers bracket and only lost in Losers Finals versus Hodaka. He had qualified to the live stage with a top 64 in the first Main Stage tournament.
Commonly seen in high spots of the Ranked Battles, he has achieved a peak 7th place in Season 2, back in February.
Amongst the Day 2 invitees Japan has this year, Shohei is remarkably the one that international players know the most. This is his fourth time at Worlds, after playing in Day 1 in 2016, in Day 2 with a direct pass in 2017, and all the way through Day 1 into Day 2 in 2022.
Shohei placed fourth at Japan National, having been eliminated in the Day 2 losers bracket semifinals. He had been undefeated in Day 1 and only lost to the eventual champion Kaito and third place Kanade. Shohei did not want to wait and already secured a spot at the National with a top 64 in the first Qualifier, and made it to the live stage through the first Main Stage tournament.
Shohei also likes to play on ladder. His best end results in the Pokémon Scarlet & Pokémon Violet Ranked Battles Seasons include a 30th place in Season 1, a 5th place in Season 2, 13th place in Season 3, and an 18th place in Season 5. Although everyone knows him as “Zeen” (じーん), he sometimes uses “Goldburn” (ゴルドバーン) on cart. Additionally, he got a top 16 finish in the early-meta VR Welcome to Paldea tournament and has played the World Cup of Pokémon VGC as part of Team Japan since 2021.
5. Kenji Miura
Kenji will be playing his second World Championships in a row. He navigated Day 1 in 2022, but could not advance. Now, with a direct invite to Day 2, his odds have greatly improved!
Last year, Kenji was one match away from Day 2, as he finished the 2022 Japan National in top 16. This time, he could make it, and in such fashion! He went undefeated in Day 1, securing the direct Worlds Day 2 spot, and eventually ended in the top 6 of this year’s Japan National, being eliminated by third-place Kanade. Kenji had qualified to the National by placing 9th in the first Qualifier, and made it to the live stage by reaching the 1st place in the chaotic first Main Stage tournament.
You can find Kenji in game as “Sapphire” (サファイア).
6. Kengo Hirata
This will be the first time Kengo plays in the World Championships!
Kengo earned his invite by reaching the top 6 of Japan National. In Day 1, he had lost the win-and-in but secured advancing to Day 2 through the losers bracket. In Day 2, he was eliminated after losing against fellow top 6 Kenji in the winners bracket and fourth-place Shohei in the losers bracket. Kengo had qualified to the National by placing 11th in the first Qualifier, and made it to the live stage with a 21st place in the first Main Stage tournament.
If you encounter “Minato Tomoka” (みなとともか) on cart, you may be playing versus Kengo!
7. Kazuya Kitasawa
This will also be the first Worlds for Kazuya!
Kazuya earned his invite by finishing in the top 8 of Japan National, after a very stressful miracle run. He lost the very first round of Day 1 and experienced an early descent to the losers bracket. However, he persevered and got eight straight wins to secure a spot in Day 2! His fuel was certainly exhausted by then, as he lost back-to-back first versus second-place Hirata in the new winners bracket and then versus top 6 finisher Kengo in losers. Kazuya had qualified to the National with one of the last spots in the third Qualifier, and made it to the live stage with a 23rd place in the first Main Stage tournament.
Kazuya plays as “Haruto” (ハルト) in the game.
8. Ren Kotorii
Ren will play Worlds for the first time too!
Ren is that Stantler player who finished in the top 8 of Japan National. In Day 1, he got three victories in the winners bracket, descended to the losers bracket but secured a spot in Day 2 with three more wins there. With the most important task fulfilled, he lost to fourth-place Shohei in the Day 2 winners bracket and to third-place Kanade in losers. The truth is that Ren had already used Stantler, this time alongside Arboliva, to qualify to the Japan National live stage with a top 64 finish in the first Main Stage tournament!
With Ren’s unorthodox picks and no footage of his matches whatsoever, he may be at an advantage over other players! If you want to scout him, you just have to find him on ladder as “Orange” (オレンジ), as he recently ended in 7th place of the Ranked Battles Season 8 with this Regulation Set D team!
Day 1 players
Japan has 58 representatives in Day 1 of Worlds, some of which are big names in the scene. They include 2013 National Champion and Worlds finalist Ryosuke Kosuge, 2-time National Champion and 2019 Worlds finalist Hirofumi Kimura, 2019 World Champion Naoto Mizobuchi, 2021 National Champion Kohei Fujita, 2022 National Champion Kentaro Matsumoto, and 2022 Senior World Champion Yasuharu Shimizu.
The following list comprises all other players with a top 64 finish at Japan National, or who qualified through last year’s Worlds results.
- Yasuharu Shimizu (2022 World Champion, SR)
- Yuma Suzuki (2022 Worlds semifinalist, SR)
- Atsuhiro Sugiyama (Group A Top 6)
- Satoru Nishigai (Group A Top 6)
- Hikaru Okawa (Group A Top 8)
- Hirokazu Sue (Group A Top 8)
- Yusuke Tsuganezawa (Group A Top 12)
- Naoki Minagawa (Group A Top 12)
- Kai Yazawa (Group A Top 12)
- Keita Yamada (Group A Top 12)
- Hiroto Kamazawa (Group A Top 16)
- Hirofumi Kimura (Group A Top 16)
- Yuya Tada (Group A Top 16)
- Yohei Yamane (Group A Top 16)
- Hirofumi Imai (Group A Top 24)
- Hiroshi Onishi (Group A Top 24)
- Ryosuke Kosuge (Group A Top 24)
- Tomoaki Sato (Group A Top 24)
- Daiki Sudo (Group A Top 24)
- Mao Harada (Group A Top 24)
- Naoto Mizobuchi (Group A Top 24)
- Yuma Yoshida (Group A Top 24)
- Tomonori Aoi (Group A Top 32)
- Yosuke Takayanagi (Group A Top 32)
- Kohei Fujita (Group A Top 32)
- Ryota Hosoi (Group A Top 32)
- Jun Mikami (Group A Top 32)
- Yuto Mizoi (Group A Top 32)
- Katsuhiko Minami (Group A Top 32)
- Satoru Mutsuno (Group A Top 32)
- Atsushi Masubuchi (Group B Top 6)
- Yuma Miyamoto (Group B Top 6)
- Rikuto Takemoto (Group B Top 8)
- Kazunori Muranushi (Group B Top 8)
- Kotaro Okada (Group B Top 12)
- Tomoki Kawatsure (Group B Top 12)
- Yoshikazu Sawane (Group B Top 12)
- Yuta Hiroki (Group B Top 12)
- Shintaro Amemiya (Group B Top 16)
- Taka Maenishi (Group B Top 16)
- Shotaro Matsui (Group B Top 16)
- Takumi Matsuhaba (Group B Top 16)
- Toshiaki Aoki (Group B Top 24)
- Motoki Agano (Group B Top 24)
- Taro Okada (Group B Top 24)
- Akihiro Kuroda (Group B Top 24)
- Akatoki Sakamoto (Group B Top 24)
- Mizuki Sasaki (Group B Top 24)
- Takumi Soma (Group B Top 24)
- Yuta Takahashi (Group B Top 24)
- Ryoma Okamoto (Group B Top 32)
- Takumi Okuo (Group B Top 32)
- Ryota Kato (Group B Top 32)
- Hayato Suga (Group B Top 32)
- Tetta Fukuda (Group B Top 32)
- Naoyuki Matsuhashi (Group B Top 32)
- Kentaro Matsumoto (Group B Top 32)
- Kenji Yabata (Group B Top 32)
Closing words
Congratulations to all Japanese players having qualified for the World Championships! As the most successful region historically, playing for the first time on home ground, they are definitely the favourites to win this time. We wish you all the best of luck.
If you’re not attending, you can follow their battles from home. Check all info about the Pokémon World Championships here!
