For the first time since 2018, The AJKC is being held at the Nippon Budokan. The 2019 event was moved to Osaka as the Nippon Budokan was being refurbished for the 2020 Olympics. The 2020 event was postponed until March 2021 and was held in conjunction with the women’s championships at the White Ring in Nagano. It’s good to be back!
Even though the state of emergency for COVID-19 was lifted in Japan at the end of September, infection prevention measures are still being taken very seriously. There are no spectators, except for officials and what looks like family members or assistants of the competitors. For two weeks before the championships, all competitors and officials, including press – basically anyone who is coming here – has had to log their morning and evening temperatures, their condition, and where and with whom they had breakfast, lunch and dinner with, the idea of discouraging people from eating out, which as been one of the most common routes of transmission for COVID-19. This paperwork is then submitted when entering the venue.
We will be filming from the quarterfinals onwards and uploading to YouTube. However, this might take longer than usual as we now have to have the videos checked by the AJKF before being made public.
In normal times, police officers make up the lion’s share of competitors in the AJKC, usually around 55 of the 64 entrants. However, in the 68th edition, due to COVID-19, police officers were not allowed to take part, and in fact were largely stopped from even practising. That restriction has now been lifted, but there are still not the usual number of police officers. The make up of competitors is as follows:
Police: 23
Teachers: 16
Students: 11
Company Workers: 6
Prison Officers: 6
Self-Employed: 1
Unemployed: 1
In recent years there have been two or three students qualifying for the AJKC, but in the 68th edition, due to the fact that there were no police officers, 17 qualified, with Matsuzaki Kenshiro, a University of Tsukuba student taking the title. He did not qualify this year, but 11 other students did – still a high number. When the situation regarding COVID-19 returns to normal, we can expect that the number of students will go down further and the number of police increase.
The most experienced kenshi in this AJKC is Ando Sho from Hokkaido who is in his ninth tournament. He has finished in 3rd place on two occasions, but he will be expected to go far this time as well.
Former champion Takenouchi Yuya, who won the 62nd edition when a 3rd-year student at Tsukuba is back in his 4th AJKC. Another former champion, Kunitomo Rentaro of Fukuoka is also back in his 6th AJKC, who will be hoping to add to his victory in the 67th AJKC and his two 2nd places. Katsumi Yosuke of Kanagawa won the 64th title and has also finished in 2nd place.
28 competitors are making their debut, which is slightly higher than usual, but not as much as the 68th championships in which there were 49.
We’ll try and get the videos out as soon as we can so please keep checking our Facebook and YouTube for updates!
Below are the profiles of the competitors in the 69th AJKC.
Competitor No. / Name / Age / Prefecture / Grade / Occupation / Appearance No.
Competition History
1. Tsuchitani Yuki, 29, Osaka, 5-dan, Police Officer, 3rd app.
Todofuken: 3rd place
Police Team: Winner (x4)
Police Individual: Winner, 3rd place
2. Naya Tatsuki, 26, Gunma, 4-dan, Company worker, 1st app.
3. Jishiro Mitsuhiro, 34, Hokkaido, R6-dan, Police Officer, 3rd app.
Police Team: 3rd place
4. Tomimatsu Motokuni, 34, Fukuoka, R6-dan, Police Officer, 2nd app.
Police Team: 2nd Div. Winner (x2), 2nd place, 3rd place
5. Shiraki Kojiro, 28, Tokushima, 5-dan, Teacher, 3rd app.
Student Team: 2nd place
6. Shibata Shunsuke, 31, Yamaguchi, 5-dan, Police Officer, 2nd app.
Police Team: 2nd Div. Winner
7. Sato Hirotaka, 28, Chiba, 5-dan, Police Officer, 6th app.
Police Individual: 2nd place
Student Team: Winner
Interhigh: Winner
Senbatsu Taikai: Winner
National Sports Meet: Winner
8. Kayo Munetaka, 33, Okinawa, R6-dan, Police Officer, 2nd app.
Police Team: 3rd Div. 2nd place
9. Suzuki Kenki, 22, Hyogo, 4-dan, Company Worker, 1st app.
10. Katsumi Yosuke, 35, Kanagawa, R6-dan, Police Officer, 6th app.
AJKC: Winner, 2nd place
WKC Team: Winner (x2)
Police Team: Winner
11. Shibuya Itsuki, 26, Yamagata, 5-dan, Prison Officer, 1st app.
12. Terashima Koki, 33, Toyama, R6-dan, Teacher, 4th app.
Teacher Ind.: Winner, 3rd place
Student Team: 2nd place
Student Ind.: 3rd place
13. Yano Takayuki, 25, Tokyo, 5-dan, Police Officer, 1st app.
Student Ind.: Winner
14. Ishida Takashi, 26, Hiroshima, 5-dan, Teacher, 1st app.
Student Team: Winner
15. Abe Kensei, 29, Oita, 5-dan, University Worker, 1st app.
Todofuken: 3rd place
Student Team: Winner (x2)
16. Yamada Masaya, 24, Aichi, 4-dan, Company Worker, 1st app.
Todofuken: 3rd place
Corporate Team: Winner
Student Team: 3rd place
Interhigh: 2nd place, 3rd place
17. Kurokawa Yudai, 20, Nagasaki, 4-dan, Student, 1st app.
Interhigh Team: 2nd place
Senbatsu Taikai: 2nd place
18. Abematsu Shinji, 28, Saitama, 5-dan, Police Officer, 1st app.
Police Individual: 3rd place
19. Takada Itaru, 29, Aomori, 5-dan, Prison Officer, 1st app.
20. Ko Yuji, 31, Osaka, 5-dan, Company Worker, 2nd app.
Todofuken: Winner (x2), 2nd place
Corporate Team: Winner (x2), 2nd place (x2)
21. Oike Tomoyuki, 39, Okayama, R6-dan, Prison Officer, 6th app.
Prison Officer Ind.: Winner
22. Kikuchi Ryuhei, 33, Shizuoka, 6-dan, Teacher, 1st app.
Todofuken: 3rd place
Teacher Ind.: 3rd place
23. Hayashida Kyohei, 27, Fukui, 5-dan, Teacher, 4th app.
AJKC: 3rd place (x2)
Student Team: Winner (x2)
Student Ind.: Winner
Teacher Ind.: Winner (x2)
National Sports Meet: 3rd place
24. Shiratori Yuya, 23, Chiba, 4-dan, Teacher, 2nd app.
Student Team: 2nd place
Student Ind.: 3rd place
25. Hatakenaka Kosuke, 34, Tokyo, R7-dan, Police Officer, 7th app.
AJKC: 3rd place
Todofuken: Winner
Police Team: Winner
Police Ind.: Winner
26. Makishima Rintaro, 25, Fukuoka, 4-dan, Police Officer, 1st app.
Student Team: Winner
Student Ind.: 3rd place
National Sports Meet: Winner
27. Koya Ryu, 29, Kyoto, 5-dan, Police Officer, 2nd app.
Police Team: 2nd Div. Winner
National Sports Meet: 3rd place
28. Sugita Ryutaro, 22, Gifu, 4-dan, Student, 2nd app.
Senbatsu Taikai: 2nd place
29. Kanno Ryusuke, 29, Iwate, 5-dan, Teacher, 6th app.
Teacher Ind.: 3rd place (x2)
National Sports Meet: Winner
30. Nakamura Fumiya, 22, Ishikawa, 4-dan, Self-Employed, 1st app.
Todofuken: Winner
31. Sasaki Yoichiro, 26, Ibaraki, 5-dan, Teacher, 1st app.
Todofuken: Winner
Student Team: Winner
National Sports Meet: Winner
32. Murakami Tetsuhiko, 29, Aichi, Police Officer, 1st app.
National Sports Meet: Winner
33. Kunitomo Rentaro, 31, Fukuoka, 5-dan, Police Officer, 6th app.
AJKC: Winner, 2nd place (x2)
34. Murayama Hitoshi, 32, Kanagawa, R6-dan, Police Officer, 2nd app.
35. Yoshida Masayoshi, 36, Wakayama, R6-dan, Company Worker, 2nd app.
Todofuken: Winner
Corporate Team: 3rd place (x2)
Student Team: Winner
36. Nishihara Chihiro, 22, Koichi, 3-dan, Student, 1st app.
37. Kanamori Yasutaka, 38, Akita, R6-dan, Teacher, 1st app.
Teacher Ind.: 3rd place
National Sports Meet: Winner
38. Osada Yuki, 22, Shizuoka, 3-dan, Student, 2nd app.
39. Miyamoto Keita, 26, Tokyo, 5-dan, Police Officer, 4th app.
AJKC: 3rd place
40. Nakamoto Takanori, 34, Nara, R6-dan, Teacher, 1st app.
Teacher Ind.: 2nd place
41. Yaguchi Fumiya, 40, Ibaraki, R6-dan, Prison Officer, 1st app.
Todofuken: 2nd place (x2)
Civil Servant Team: Winner (x2)
Civil Servant Ind.: Winner
Prison Officer Team: Winner (x2)
Prison Officer Ind.: Winner
42. Aoki Taisei, 25, Shimane, 5-dan, Teacher, 1st app.
43. Ohira Shoshi, 20, Tochigi, 3-dan, Student, 2nd app.
Student Team: 3rd place
Student Ind.: Winner, 2nd place
44. Mita Daisuke, 35, Fukushima, R6-dan, Teacher, 2nd app
Teacher Team: 3rd place
Teacher Ind.: Winner
45. Nagayama Takahiro, 31, Saga, 6-dan, Prison Officer, 1st app.
Student Team: 3rd place
46. Yano Hiroyuki, 26, Nagano, 5-dan, Teacher, 2nd app.
47. Izumi Eita, 22, Saitama, 4-dan, Student, 1st app.
Interhigh Team: 3rd place
48. Kusano Ryujiro, 26, Osaka, 5-dan, Police Officer, 1st app.
Police Team: Winner
49. Kato Ryusei, 21, Tottori, 3-dan, Student, 1st app.
50. Hoshiko Keita, 23, Kagoshima, 4-dan, Unemployed, 2nd app.
AJKC: 3rd place
WKC Team: Winner
Student Team: Winner
Student Ind.: Winner
Interhigh Team: Winner
Interhigh Ind.: Winner
51. Yamamoto Daiki, 30, Chiba, 5-dan, Police Officer, 3rd app.
Student Ind.: 3rd place
52. Kudamatsu Yuichiro, 26, Aichi, 4-dan, Police Officer, 2nd app.
Todofuken: 2nd place
53. Takenouchi Yuya, 28, Tokyo, 5-dan, Police Officer, 4th app.
AJKC: Winner
WKC Team: Winner (x2)
WKC Ind.: 2nd place, 3rd place
54. Abe Soki, 20, Hyogo, 4-dan, Student, 1st app.
Interhigh: 2nd place
55. Imamura Yusuke, 28, Kumamoto, 5-dan, Prison Officer, 2nd app.
Prison Officer Ind.: Winner
56. Takeda Naohiro, 30, Miyagi, 6-dan, Teacher, 5th app.
Teacher Team: 3rd place
Teacher Ind.: 3rd place
57. Mikumo Yusuke, 32, Saga, 6-dan, Company Worker, 5th app.
Todofuken: Winner
Student Team: 3rd place
Interhigh Team: Winner
National Sports Meet: 2nd place
58. Matsumoto Kazuaki, 35, Kagawa, R6-dan, Police Officer, 3rd app.
Police Team: 3rd place, 2nd Div. 2nd place
National Sports Meet: 3rd place
59. Adachi Ryuji, 30, Saitama, 5-dan, Police Officer, 5th app.
Todofuken: Winner
60. Ando Sho, 31, Hokkaido, 5-dan, Police Officer, 9th app.
AJKC: 3rd place (x2)
Todofuken: Winner
Police Team: 3rd place
Police Ind.: Winner
National Sports Meet: 3rd place
61. Yoshida Shin, 28, Niigata, 5-dan, Teacher, 1st app.
62. Kijima Tsubasa, 21, Miyazaki, 3-dan, Student, 1st app.
National Sports Meet: 2nd place
63. Wada Yuto, 22, Mie, 3-dan, Student, 2nd app.
64. Hirako Yuya, 22, Yamanashi, 4-dan, Student, 1st app.