2024 World Championships: Meet Team Japan!

The 2024 World Championships, which will be held on 16–18 August 2024, are hosted in Honolulu, HI, United States. This is the third time the World Championships are held in Hawaii, after the 2010 and 2012 editions; and the first time they are held in the United States since 2019. 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 Japan! Let’s meet the 8 players with a Round 1 bye at Worlds, and take a look at the other 61 invitees this region brings.

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), Naoto Mizobuchi (2019) and Shohei Kimura (2023) have repeated that feat.

The latest World Championships featured 9 Japanese players in the top cut of their first-ever home Worlds, including eventual World Champion Shohei, breakout star Mao Harada in top 4, then Japan National Champion Kaito Arii in top 16, and 2019 Worlds finalist Hirofumi Kimura in top 32.

Will Japan keep dominating the scene, even though they are underrepresented this year compared to other regions?

Requirements for a Worlds invite

As per the Japanese system, all players that have made it to the live stage of the Japan National Championships earn an invite. Additionally, the top 8 players get a Round 1 bye, with the best 4 players earning a Travel Award.

Similarly to the previous season, in-game ladder competitions (known everywhere else as Global Challenges) have acted as the Japan National Qualifiers, with top players in Japan progressing to yet another in-game ladder competition, the Main Tournament, which would filter down the 450 players to the 64 that would receive an invite to the live stage.

As usual, the Japanese circuit is quite different from all other regions. Having only played in CTS (closed teamsheet) in-game ladder tournaments and a double-elimination tournament, with the only official OTS (open teamsheet) experience being the National Top 8, Japanese players must adapt to the format of the TPCi-run World Championships. Furthermore, they won’t have access to Natures in this tournament, which is something the OTS includes in Asian environments.

With last year’s successful results at home’s Worlds, Japan has seen a slight increase from 66 invitees last year to a total of 69 this season!

Players with Round 1 bye

1. Hyuma Hara

Hyuma will play in their first World Championships!

The Japanese player, also known as Anya (アーニャ), has achieved the invite with their undefeated victory at the Japan National, to which they qualified by placing 82nd at the Japan National Qualifier #1 and which they then improved in style for a 2nd place at the Qualifier #2. They went on to place 16th in the Main Tournament to earn their spot at the live stage.

Hyuma is also a notable ladder hero, sometimes playing under the IGN “Rio” (りお). They have placed 19th in the Ranked Battles Season 14, 29th in Season 15, and 6th in Season 17, all of them played with Regulation Set F.

Hyuma has been favouring Terapagos in Regulation Set G: this original Rock Polish set gave them the National victory!

Watch Hyuma’s win at Japan National Championships!

2. Kiwamu Endo

Kiwamu will play the World Championships for the third time! Both previous times, in 2018 and 2022, he advanced from Day 1 to Day 2. His best result was achieved when he reached the top cut as the seed #1 and finished in the top 16 at the 2018 World Championships.

The veteran Kiwamu, also known as Alcana (アルカナ), earned his invite by placing 2nd at the Japan National, to which he qualified by placing 164th at the Japan National Qualifier #2, enough to be amongst the best 150 players in Japan. He went on to finish 2nd in the Main Tournament to earn their spot at the live stage, only losing to eventual champion Hyuma in both the Winners and Grand Finals.

Outside the official circuit, Kiwamu has played for Team Japan in the 2021 and 2023 World Cups. Japan reached the semifinals in the latter!

Kiwamu has been favouring Ice Rider Calyrex in Regulation Set G: this team helped him get to the National finals!

Watch Kiwamu’s victory over Naoya Osumi at the losers final of Japan National Championships!

3. Naoya Osumi

Naoya will play in his first World Championships!

The Japanese player, also known as Sumio, earned his invite by placing 3rd at the Japan National, to which he qualified by placing 128th at the Japan National Qualifier #1. He went on to place 3rd in the Main Tournament to earn a spot at the live stage, where Junya Suzuki sent him to the losers bracket and finalist Kiwamu eliminated him in the Losers Final.

In the in-game ladder, Naoya has also high scores, sometimes playing under the IGNs “Nekomaru” (ねこまる) or “Sumitaro N” (すみたろうN). Notably, he placed 7th and 14th at Ranked Battles Season 13, played with Regulation Set E, using both cartridges to finish in the higher spots.

Naoya has been favouring Kyogre in Regulation Set G: his Ice-Tera Type Kyogre set with Blizzard was a major talking point during Japan Nationals!

Watch Naoya’s victory over Keishiro Ohashi at Japan National Championships!

4. Masahiro Taoka

Masahiro will play in his first World Championships!

This Japanese player, also known as Rarara (ららら), earned his invite by placing 4th at the Japan National, to which he qualified by placing 104th at the Japan National Qualifier #1, a result he got to improve by placing 45th at Qualifier #3. He went on to place 9th in the Main Tournament to earn a spot at the live stage, where champion Hyuma sent him to the losers bracket and 3rd place Naoya eliminated him before the Losers Final.

Although not focusing as much in Ranked Battles, Masahiro enjoys teambuilding in custom formats, and is known to be a creative player, as evidenced in special one-off online competitions under the IGN “Shino” (しの): he placed 28th in the Kitakami Prologue and 18th in the Blueberry Prologue.

Masahiro has been favouring Miraidon in Regulation Set G: this team pushed him through the Japan National!

Watch Masahiro’s victory over Kiyoshiro Arai at Japan National Championships!

5. Kenya Kodera

Kenya will play in his second World Championships! He previously played in Day 1 of the 2017 World Championships, and although he qualified to the 2019 edition, he did not attend the event. 7 years later, Kenya is back and in full strength, with a very helpful Round 1 bye!

This Japanese player, also known as Uyu (ぅゅ), earned his invite by reaching Top 6 at the Japan National, to which he qualified by placing 141st at the Japan National Qualifier #2. He went on to place 37th in the Main Tournament to earn a spot at the live stage, where champion Hyuma sent him to the losers bracket and 3rd place Naoya eliminated him.

Kenya, who uses the IGN “aokbab”, may seem to keep a low profile online, but is an important figure in Japan. He was the manager of Team Japan in the 2022 World Cup, when the team got to the top 16 before being eliminated by the eventual champions Thailand; he left the spot after that season.

Kenya has been favouring Ice Rider Calyrex in Regulation Set G: he used this team at the Japan National!

Watch Kenya’s set against Hyuma Hara at the top 8 of Japan National Championships!

6. Junya Suzuki

Junya will play in his first World Championships!

This Japanese player, mononimously known as Junya (じゅんや), earned his invite by reaching Top 6 at the Japan National, to which he qualified by placing 70th at the Japan National Qualifier #2. He went on to place 60th in the Main Tournament to barely earn a spot at the live stage, where finalist Kiwamu sent him to the losers bracket and 4th place Masahiro eliminated him.

Characterized by his hard Trick Room teams, Junya placed his personal best of 17th in Ranked Battles Season 11, played in Regulation Set E.

Junya has been favouring Dawn Wings Necrozma in Regulation Set G: he used this team at the Japan National!

Watch Junya’s set against Masahiro Taoka at the top 6 of Japan National Championships!

7. Takashi Yamamoto

Takashi will play in his first World Championships! His best season had been 2020, where he reached the semifinals at the tournament held in Japan to make up for the lack of a National due to the pandemics. Unfortunately, Worlds had been cancelled and the standings of this tournament only earned him a spot at the online stage of the following year’s National.

This Japanese player, also known as Migawari (ミガワリ), earned his invite by reaching Top 8 at the Japan National, to which he qualified by placing 27th at the Japan National Qualifier #2 and 86th at the Qualifier #3. He went on to place 48th in the Main Tournament to earn a spot at the live stage, where Yasumitsu Hama sent him to the losers bracket in the very first round, making it through the lower path until 3rd place Naoya eliminated him.

Takashi found his best Ranked Battles result by preparing for the live tournament, as he finished 10th in Season 18, the first one in Regulation Set G, and which ended during the first day of the Japan National.

Takashi has been favouring Lunala in Regulation Set G: he used this team at the Japan National!

Watch Takashi’s victory over Daiju Tamura at Japan National Championships!

8. Zeng Chenyue

Chenyue will play in their first World Championships!

This Chinese player living in Japan, also known as Mitsu, earned their invite by reaching Top 8 at the Japan National, to which they qualified by placing 20th at the Japan National Qualifier #2. They went on to place 62nd in the Main Tournament to barely earn a spot at the live stage, where top 6 Kenya sent them to the losers bracket and 4th place Masahiro eliminated them.

Regarding Ranked Battles, Chenyue has been grinding matches in Regulation Set G after the National Championships. They placed 12th in Season 19 and 21st in Season 20!

Chenyue has been favouring Miraidon in Regulation Set G: they used this offensive team at the Japan National!

Watch Chenyue’s set against Kenya Kodera at Japan National Championships!

Other players

Japan has 61 other representatives in Worlds, some of which are big names in the scene. Watch out for current World Champion Shohei Kimura, current Senior World Champion Tomoya Ogawa, 2019 World Champion Naoto Mizobuchi, or 2019 Worlds finalist and 2-time National Champion Hirofumi Kimura.

The following list comprises all other players with a top 64 finish at Japan National, or who qualified through last year’s Worlds results.

2023 WCS

Japan National