| Event | Pokémon Japan Championships 2026 (PJCS2026) (ポケモンジャパンチャンピオンシップス2026) |
|---|---|
| Location |  Yokohama, Japan |
| Date | 6–7 June 2026 |
| Attendance | 124 MA + ? SR + ? JR in attendance (128 MA + 128 SR + 128 JR qualified) |
| Videogame | Pokémon Champions |
| Season | 2026 Season – Regulation Set M-A |
| Format | 7 Bo1 Swiss rounds + Bo3 single-elimination top 64 Closed team lists up to top 16 Open team lists from top 8 onwards |
| Organizer | The Pokémon Company (TPC) |
Check the organizer’s website here for further info!
Table of Contents
Teams and results
Top cut
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | OTS | Replica |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5-2 | | Hiroshi Onishi (coな) | 2026 Worlds Travel Award |       |  | 42TTH SSH9V |
| 2 | 4-3 | | Rintaro Arai (アラニン) | 2026 Worlds Travel Award |       | | G8JVK BFKXA |
| 3 | 4-3 | | Shota Hongu (ぽんたろう) | 2026 Worlds Travel Award |    | | |
| 4 | 4-3 | | Rinya Kobayashi (R) | 2026 Worlds Travel Award | | | |
| 5 | 5-2 | | Kohei Watanabe (ワタッコウ) | 2026 Worlds |     | | |
| 6 | 4-3 | | Ayumu Iwasaki (ちゃぐま) | 2026 Worlds | | | |
| 7 | 4-3 | | Ko Tsukide (ふゆばれ) | 2026 Worlds | | | |
| 8 | 3-4 | | Ryusei Yamane (くらげ) | 2026 Worlds | | | |
| 9 | 6-1 | | Kazuki Sumiya (ブルーナ) | 2026 Worlds |      | 39939 7701M | |
| 10 | 6-1 | | Aki Shibuya (しゅうか) | 2026 Worlds |   | H67CY KPSF2 | |
| 11 | 5-2 | | Takumi Soma (アカバ) | 2026 Worlds |    | ||
| 12 | 5-2 | | Kazuki Ogushi (わとり) | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 13 | 4-3 | | Yuto Kimura (キム) | 2026 Worlds |    | UXV1J RJA22 | |
| 14 | 4-3 | | Kota Kawabe (KOOTA) | 2026 Worlds |  | U3QKS 37W85 | |
| 15 | 4-3 | | Masahiro Ito (がはく) | 2026 Worlds |   | SW4HJ 4JLHC | |
| 16 | 4-3 | | Masato Ii (Uch) | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 17 | 7-0 | | Shohei Kimura (ナンス) | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 18 | 6-1 | | Tomohiro Seki (びちょ) | 2026 Worlds |    | ||
| 19 | 6-1 | | Naoto Mizobuchi (コケホドリ) | 2026 Worlds |  | ||
| 20 | 6-1 | | Yuma Kinugawa (キヌガワ) | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 21 | 5-2 | | Yuki Shimizu (yuki_rotom) | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 22 | 5-2 | | Fumiaki Suwa (ゆヌ) | 2026 Worlds | | U1R37 MX58K | |
| 23 | 5-2 | | Hidetsuna Shimizu (つな) | 2026 Worlds |  | 1X4RS Y0FM6 | |
| 24 | 5-2 | | Iruto Konno (VRアンセナ) | 2026 Worlds |  | ||
| 25 | 4-3 | | Yuya Wakasugi (ゆー) | 2026 Worlds |   | ||
| 26 | 4-3 | | Takumi Sakurai (S.REM) | 2026 Worlds |   | ||
| 27 | 4-3 | | Takeru Mizumoto (みずも) | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 28 | 4-3 | | Buntaro Komori | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 29 | 4-3 | | Hironori Seino (ぺかちう) | 2026 Worlds |  | ||
| 30 | 4-3 | | Yuya Yamamoto (メLal’C) | 2026 Worlds |   | ||
| 31 | 4-3 | | Shu Inokuchi (えにぴっぴ) | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 32 | 4-3 | | Kazuki Kobayashi (ふらあり) | 2026 Worlds | | QCHMN 0E06J | |
| 33 | 6-1 | | Hyuma Hara (あーにゃ) | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 34 | 6-1 | | Tomoki Kinoshita (トレーナー) | 2026 Worlds |   | ||
| 35 | 5-2 | | Kota Tomita (TOMKOー) | 2026 Worlds |   | ||
| 36 | 5-2 | | Sho Akiyama (メガシナモン) | 2026 Worlds |  | ||
| 37 | 5-2 | | Satoru Mutsuno (ながやはるこ) | 2026 Worlds |  | ||
| 38 | 5-2 | | Kyosuke Kishibe (mxベティx) | 2026 Worlds |   | HCQX4 DW98P | |
| 39 | 5-2 | | Akito Muratsubaki (ベルモット) | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 40 | 5-2 | | Takuma Yamazaki | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 41 | 5-2 | | Shota Nakamichi (このゆびV) | 2026 Worlds |    | YM0LR UB98P | |
| 42 | 5-2 | | Tomohisa Okuno (まふゆ) | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 43 | 5-2 | | Takuya Morii (ルート) | 2026 Worlds |  | 35B6Q NP51T | |
| 44 | 5-2 | | Eita Katagiri (YURIN) | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 45 | 5-2 | | Masato Fukuda | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 46 | 5-2 | | Takumi Miyamoto | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 47 | 4-3 | | Taisei Tsukamoto (ABてんぶら) | 2026 Worlds |   | ||
| 48 | 4-3 | | Kengo Hirata (みなとともか) | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 49 | 4-3 | | Shoma Honami (ビエラ) | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 50 | 4-3 | | Shuta Endo | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 51 | 4-3 | | Ryoma Okamoto (りょうま) | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 52 | 4-3 | | Shohei Asakura (いろっちゃん) | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 53 | 4-3 | | Shota Fukumoto | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 54 | 4-3 | | Katsumi Miyake | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 55 | 4-3 | | Sota Shimatani | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 56 | 4-3 | | Shingo Yasuda (ありえす) | 2026 Worlds |  | ||
| 57 | 4-3 | | Takuya Honma (ゆみもと) | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 58 | 4-3 | | Gakuto Akiyama (せぱる) | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 59 | 4-3 | | Yuichi Sasaki (ゆういち) | 2026 Worlds | | 3279M VLM5Q | |
| 60 | 4-3 | | Itoshi Iwadate (あざといと) | 2026 Worlds |  | KSLEC 3VMBC | |
| 61 | 4-3 | | Saiki Kawai (KØff) | 2026 Worlds |    | ||
| 62 | 4-3 | | Daiki Sudo (わいぽん) | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 63 | 3-4 | | Kaito Arii (ナーク) | 2026 Worlds | | ||
| 64 | 3-4 | | Kentaro Matsumoto (まつけん) | 2026 Worlds | | QJVKS U2Y7L |
The top 64 players at the end of the Swiss rounds advanced to the top cut!
Teams and results - Seniors & Juniors
Senior Top 2
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | OTS | Replica |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4-3 | | Ryusei O. | – | | | |
| 2 | 5-2 | | Soma K. | – | | |
Junior Top 2
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | OTS | Replica |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6-1 | | Hideo U. | – | | | |
| 2 | 5-2 | | Kazutaka H. | – | | |
Streaming
The event is broadcast live on YouTube and Niconico by TPC, in Japanese, with Motochika Nabeshima / Erumu, Shohei Taguchi, Hakushu Takeuchi and Refu as casters, and Reiko Kosugi and Nashiko Momotsuki as hosts.
| Round | Player 1 | vs | Player 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | Kento Hosoda |
vs | Shintaro Ito  |
| R1 | Yuma Kinugawa |
vs | Kaito Arii |
| R2 | Taisei Tsukamoto |
vs | Shohei Asakura |
| R2 | Yuya Wakasugi |
vs | Masahiro Ito |
| R3 | Hideyuki Taida |
vs | Hiroshi Onishi |
| R3 | Yuya Yamamoto |
vs | Sogo Nishioka   |
| R4 | Naoto Mizobuchi |
vs | Kazuki Sumiya |
| R4 | Kota Tomita |
vs | Rinya Kobayashi |
| R5 | Satoru Mutsuno |
vs | Tomohiro Seki |
| R5 | Hyuma Hara |
vs | Hidetsuna Shimizu |
| R6 | Yuki Shimizu |
vs | Kyosuke Kishibe |
| R6 | Yuto Kimura |
vs | Naoya Osumi  |
| R7 | Kohei Fujita  |
vs | Shu Inokuchi |
| R7 | Takuya Honma |
vs | Hiroki Nishimoto |
| Top 64 | Yuichi Sasaki |
vs | Aki Shibuya |
| Top 64 | Shoma Honami |
vs | Rintaro Arai |
| Round | Player 1 | vs | Player 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top 32 | Ko Tsukide |
vs | Yuma Kinugawa |
| Top 32 | Kazuki Ogushi |
vs | Naoto Mizobuchi |
| Top 16 | Kota Kawabe |
vs | Ayumu Iwasaki |
| Top 16 | Shota Hongu |
vs | Takumi Soma |
| Top 8 | Rinya Kobayashi |
vs | Kohei Watanabe |
| Top 8 | Ryusei Yamane |
vs | Shota Hongu |
| Top 4 | Shota Hongu |
vs | Rintaro Arai |
| Top 4 | Rinya Kobayashi |
vs | Hiroshi Onishi |
| Junior Finals | Kazutaka H. |
vs | Hideo U. |
| Senior Finals | Ryusei O. |
vs | Soma K. |
| Masters Finals | Rintaro Arai |
vs | Hiroshi Onishi |
Usage stats
Participating players
The 2026 Japan Championships is open only to the players that qualified through the following criteria:
- Top 128 players in the Japan Championships Qualifier
This tournament is also invite-only: players needed to qualify to it by placing top 640 amongst the players in Japan in the Global Challenge.
Venue and schedule
The tournament is held in Exhibition Halls A, B, C and D of the following location:
PACIFICO Yokohama
パシフィコ横浜
1-chōme-1-1 Minatomirai, Nishi Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 220-0012
〒220-0012 神奈川県横浜市西区みなとみらい１丁目１−１
Players must be in the venue by 6 June at 9:00 JST (00:00 UTC) for the players meeting.
Players still on the run in Day 2 must be in the venue by 7 June at 8:30 JST (21 June at 23:30 UTC) for Junior players, and at 9:00 JST (00:00 UTC) for Senior and Masters players.
The tournament structure is as follows. Players play up to 7 best-of-1 Swiss rounds with closed team lists. Then, the 64 best players advance to a best-of-3 single-elimination bracket. There will be open team lists starting on top 8.
Prizes
This event is an official tournament and is part of the 2026 official circuit in Japan.
Qualified players play for invites to the 2026 World Championships, with the highest-placed players earning Travel Awards. All participating players receive the Pokémon Champions title “PJCS2026 Challenger“.
| Placement | Prize |
|---|---|
| Champion | Invite to the 2026 World Championships + Travel Award Champion trophy + Pokémon Champions title “PJCS2026 Champion” + Pokémon HOME medal + original cap & T-shirt |
| Finalist | Invite to the 2026 World Championships + Travel Award Finalist trophy + Pokémon Champions title “PJCS2026 Finalist” + Pokémon HOME medal + original cap & T-shirt |
| Semifinalists | Invite to the 2026 World Championships + Travel Award Top 4 trophy + Pokémon Champions title “PJCS2026 Elite” + Pokémon HOME medal + original cap & T-shirt |
| 5th to 8th | Invite to the 2026 World Championships Pokémon Champions title “PJCS2026 Leader” + original cap & T-shirt |
| 9th to 32nd | Invite to the 2026 World Championships Original cap & T-shirt |
| 33rd to 64th | Invite to the 2026 World Championships |
Overview
The Pokémon Japan Championships, also known as JCS or PJCS, is the most important VGC competition for players in Japan, where TPC is responsible for the circuit, and is the only tournament through which players in Japan can earn invites to the World Championships.
It is the 16th edition of the Japan National Championships since its inception in 2009, and the 10th edition under the “Pokémon Japan Championships” name in use since 2016. It has been celebrated every year except in 2011 (due to the Fukushima disaster) and 2020 (due to the COVID-19 pandemics). See the previous editions:
- 2009, won by Takahiro Akai
- 2010, won by Ryo Tajiri
- 2012, won by Satoru Masukata
- 2013, won by Ryosuke Kosuge, eventual 2013 Worlds finalist
- 2014, won by Yosuke Isagi, eventual 2015 Worlds semifinalist
- 2015, won by Shoma Honami, eventual 2015 World Champion
- 2016, won by Hideto Kotake
- 2017, won by Ryota Otsubo, eventual 2017 World Champion
- 2018, won by Hirofumi Kimura, eventual 2019 Worlds finalist
- 2019, won by Hirofumi Kimura for the 2nd time
- 2021, won by Kohei Fujita
- 2022, won by Kentaro Matsumoto
- 2023, won by Kaito Arii
- 2024, won by Hyuma Hara
- 2025, won by Yuma Kinugawa, eventual 2026 LAIC Champion
Previous editions of the JCS have featured different formats and qualifying systems. The 2026 edition goes back to a system of best-of-1 Swiss rounds + best-of-3 single-elimination top cut, last used in 2022. Qualification is kept through two phases of in-game ladder qualifiers, similar to the last few years.
The ruleset is Regulation Set M-A, with closed team lists up until Top 8, and open team lists from Top 8 onwards.
A little bit of history
Japan has been a part of the official TPC circuit since its inception. It has hosted multiple major events, including old-era Regionals and National Championships, and is particularly successful in the online competitions. As the most successful country in VGC, Japan’s greatest trophies have been brought home by 5 World Champions (Kazuyuki Tsuji in 2009, Shoma Honami in 2015, Ryota Otsubo in 2017, Naoto Mizobuchi in 2019, and Shohei Kimura in 2023), as well as the 2008 VGS Champion (Izuru Yoshimura) and other 10 in the Senior and Junior divisions throughout the years.
The most recent tournament held in Japan was the 2025 Japan Championships (JCS), played in Yokohama in Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet with the VGC Regulation Set I in June 2025. The finals saw 2025 NAIC quarterfinalist Yuma Kinugawa defeat 2023 World Champion Shohei Kimura to win his first major title! In the following months, Yuma would go on to also win LAIC.
American James Evans, the 2018 Senior Division World Champion, defeated Brazilian Gabriel Agati in the NAIC finals.
