History in the Making: Saitama Prefecture Takes Top Honors in Japan’s Inaugural High School Mixed Team Judo Tournament
“Japan’s first mixed-gender team” (organizer) was held in the high school category. From September 14th to 16th, the newly established “2024 Shiga National Sports Memorial High School Judo Tournament” (organizers: Shiga Prefectural High School Athletic Federation Judo Division, Wata-SHIGA Shining National Sports/Nagahama City Para-Sports Executive Committee, Shiga Prefectural Judo Federation, cooperation: Kinki High School Athletic Federation Judo Division) was held at Nagahama Ika Twin Arena (Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture).
The tournament was held in two categories: “Men’s” and “Mixed.” The “Mixed” category had its own unique regulations, consisting of seven players, four men and three women, which differed from the IJF’s mixed team competition.
The boys’ category was won by Saitama Sakae High School, and the highlight category, “Mixed,” was won by Saitama Prefecture, which was made up of the boys’ and girls’ judo clubs of the same school. After the huge tournament was over, Shiga Prefectural High School Athletics Federation Judo Specialist Division Chairman Masaki Hayashi said, “The sight of boys and girls coming together as a team to support each other and compete was very refreshing and moving,” and he seemed to have a good feeling about future events.
The results of each category and details of the first division final match are below.
*Photos and materials provided by: Shiga Prefectural High School Athletics Federation Judo Division
Part 1 Men
(32 teams entered)
Saitama Sakae High School, winner of the Boys Division 1Top performers
Winner: Saitama Sakae High School (Saitama)
Runner-up: Taisei High School (Aichi)
Third place: Shudo High School (Tokyo), Tenri High School (Nara)
Final Tournament 1st Round
Hieizan High School (Shiga) 3-0 Jogyo High School (Osaka)
Shudo High School (Tokyo) 3-2 Shinko Gakuen High School (Hyogo)
Saitama Sakae High School (Saitama) 4-0 Nabari High School (Mie)
Kato Gakuen High School (Shizuoka) 3-1 Kyoto University of Science and Technology High School (Kyoto)
Tenri High School (Nara) 5-0 Ikuei High School (Hyogo)
Omi High School A (Shiga) 2-0 Tsubata High School (Ishikawa)
Shizuoka Gakuen High School (Shizuoka) 1-0 Tokai University Ohse High School (Osaka)
Taisei High School (Aichi) 5-0 Minoshima High School (Wakayama)
Quarterfinals
Shudo High School 2-1 Hiei High School
Saitama Sakae High School 2-1 Kato Gakuen High School
Tenri High School 2-1 Omi High School A
Taisei High School 3-1 Shizuoka Gakuen High School
Semi-finals
Saitama Sakae High School 2-1 Shudo High School
Taisei High School 2-0 Tenri High School
final
Saitama Sakae High School 3-1 Taisei High School
(First) Raoping Mingxiang Tai〇Advantages[技あり・大内刈]△ Hidetoyo Tanuchi
(Next) Mutsuki Igeta 〇 Sumioto △ Toma Fujita
(Center) Aoi Arai △ Kasagata 〇 Kahito Tokita
(Assistant) Sori Watanabe 〇 Yokoshiho-gatame △ Seiya Yoshida
(Large) Sakaguchi Hayato × Draw × Suido Hiroto
Part 2 Men
(Assigned to Division 1 based on the results of the preliminary round)
Winner: Omi High School B
Runner-up: Konko Toin High School (Osaka)
Third place: Kindai University High School (Osaka), Kosugi High School (Toyama)
[Semi-finals]
Omi High School B 3-2 Kindai High School
Konko Toin High School 2-1 Kosugi High School (Toyama)
【final】
Omi High School B 2-1 Konkofujiin High School
Part 1: Mixed genders
Saitama Prefecture Team(16 entries)
Winner: Saitama Prefecture
Runner-up: Aichi Prefecture
3rd place: Kyoto Prefecture, Gifu Prefecture
First round of the final tournament (quarterfinals)
Kyoto Prefecture ①-1 Shiga Prefecture
Saitama Prefecture 2-1 Tokyo
Gifu Prefecture ②-2 Osaka Prefecture
Aichi Prefecture 4-2 Hyogo Prefecture
Semi-finals
Saitama Prefecture 2-0 Kyoto Prefecture
Aichi Prefecture 2-0 Gifu Prefecture
final
Saitama Prefecture 2-1 Aichi Prefecture
(First) Ebe Souma × Draw × Inagaki Yuji
(Time) Ono Kyoi × Hibifune × Yamashita Yuna
(5) Kazuhisa Iida △ Combination technique[小内刈・袖釣込腰]〇Kubota Koki
(Center) Ida Miku × Draw × Matsui Kanami
(3) Mutsumi Igeta 〇 Okoshi △ Reo Fujimura
(Sub) Naoaki Fukuda×Yinfen×Yuzu Mikami
(Large) Watanabe Sori 〇 Harai-koshi △ Kasuga Rui
※Pioneer men’s 60kg class, second-forward women’s 52kg class, fifth general men’s 73kg class, backbone women’s 63kg class, third general men’s 90kg class, deputy general women have no distinction, senior men have no distinction
Runner-up: Aichi Prefecture
3rd place: Kyoto Prefecture
3rd place: Gifu PrefecturePart 2: Mixed genders
Mie Prefecture Team(Assigned to Division 1 based on the results of the preliminary round)
Winner: Mie Prefecture
Runner-up: Shiga Prefecture B
3rd place: Wakayama Prefecture, Ishikawa Prefecture
[Semi-finals]
Shiga Prefecture B 3-1 Wakayama Prefecture
Mie Prefecture 3-2 Ishikawa Prefecture
【final】
Mie Prefecture 2-1 Shiga Prefecture B