The 74th All Japan Kendo Championship and the 65th All Japan Women's Kendo Championship took place on November 3 at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. The men's and women's events ran at the same time, each with 64 competitors who had come through their prefectural qualifiers. To take the title, a competitor has to win six matches in a row.
The men's title went to Ryunosuke Nakata of Tokyo, in his first appearance at the championship. In the women's event, Mari Suenaga of Wakayama won for the fourth time. She is now the oldest champion in the history of the women's championship.
Men: a first-timer beats three champions
On his way to the title, Nakata beat three former winners of the championship.
In the third round he faced Tetsuhiko Murakami of Ehime, the 2022 champion. Murakami scored men first, but Nakata answered with kote and then a kote-men combination to win.
In the semifinal he met Keita Hoshiko, last year's champion and a three-time title holder. Nakata caught Hoshiko as he was finishing his own attack and struck men, helped by his height. That one point was enough.
In the other semifinal, Ryutaro Sugita of Osaka did more of the attacking, but neither fighter could score for a long time. In extra time Sugita went for morote-tsuki. Ryusuke Natsumeda of Hiroshima, the 2023 champion, deflected it and scored hiki-men.
Nakata won the final 2–0. He took both points with a leaping men.
Women: Suenaga back on top
The semifinal brought together two champions: Suenaga and Moeko Takahashi of Kanagawa, who won the title for the third time last year. Near the end of the match Suenaga scored kote and went through to the final.
There she met Mayu Yokoyama of Osaka. Yokoyama fights in jodan, with the shinai raised above her head, and beat Miu Nakatsuka of Ehime in her semifinal with gyaku-do. In the final Yokoyama tried to read Suenaga's movement and counter. Suenaga took the first point with hiki-men and the second with a well-timed men.
This is Nakatsuka's first medal at the championship.
Results
74th All Japan Kendo Championship (men)
| Place | Competitor | Prefecture |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryunosuke Nakata | Tokyo |
| 2 | Ryusuke Natsumeda | Hiroshima |
| 3 | Keita Hoshiko | Tokyo |
| 3 | Ryutaro Sugita | Osaka |
65th All Japan Women's Kendo Championship
| Place | Competitor | Prefecture |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mari Suenaga | Wakayama |
| 2 | Mayu Yokoyama | Osaka |
| 3 | Moeko Takahashi | Kanagawa |
| 3 | Miu Nakatsuka | Ehime |
Our kote guide explains how kendo gloves are built and how to look after them.