YOKOHAMA, Japan — In a stunning display of composure and technical mastery, Seiko Watanabe of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department captured the open-weight title at the 41st All-Japan Women’s Judo Championships on Saturday, defeating defending champion Miharu Yonekawa of Komatsu Ltd. In the final to claim her first national crown in her tournament debut.
The victory, secured at Yokohama Buntaikan before a packed crowd of judo enthusiasts, marks Watanabe’s emergence as a new force in Japan’s deep women’s judo landscape. Competing in the weightless division — where athletes of all sizes face off under modified rules — Watanabe overwhelmed Yonekawa with a combination of precise footwork, relentless grip fighting, and a decisive ippon scored via uchi mata in the closing minute of the match.
“I didn’t expect to win my first time here,” Watanabe said in her post-match interview, her voice steady despite the magnitude of the achievement. “I focused on each match, one at a time. Miharu is an incredible athlete — she’s been at the top for years — so to beat her in the final… it means everything.”
Watanabe’s path to the title was anything but effortless. In the quarterfinals, she defeated 2023 World Championships bronze medalist Saki Niizoe of Toyota Industries Corp. With a waza-ari hold-down after neutralizing Niizoe’s powerful left-hand grip. In the semifinals, she faced rising star Wakaba Tomita of Japan Airlines Co., surviving a late surge by scoring a counter uchi mata with seconds remaining to advance 10-0 in penalties.
Yonekawa, a two-time All-Japan champion and 2022 World Championships silver medalist, had looked dominant earlier in the day, defeating 2020 Olympic bronze medalist Akira Sone of ALSOK in the quarterfinals with a swift seoi nage and then overwhelming 2021 World Championships medalist Miku Tashiro of Nippon Sport Science University in the semifinals with a combination attack that earned two waza-ari scores.
Yet in the final, Watanabe disrupted Yonekawa’s rhythm early, refusing to yield ground in the grip battle and using her long frame to control distance. With the score tied at zero and less than 90 seconds remaining, Watanabe snapped in a left uchi mata as Yonekawa stepped forward to attack, earning the full point and sending the Yokohama crowd into a roar.
The win makes Watanabe the first police officer to claim the All-Japan women’s open-weight title since Kana Abe in 2013 and only the sixth debutant to win the championship in the tournament’s 41-year history. It also breaks a three-year streak of victories by corporate-sponsored athletes, highlighting the continued strength of Japan’s public-sector judo programs.
According to the All-Japan Judo Federation, Watanabe’s victory was secured with a tournament-best average of 4.2 seconds per scoring technique, the fastest among all finalists. She recorded three ippon victories and one waza-ari decision across her five matches, committing only two shido penalties — the lowest among medalists.
“Seiko showed incredible mental toughness today,” said her coach, Keiji Suzuki, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and former All-Japan champion himself. “She didn’t panic when things got tight. She trusted her training. That’s what separates champions from contenders.”
The All-Japan Women’s Championships serve as a critical selection event for Japan’s national team, particularly ahead of the 2025 World Championships in Budapest and the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya-Nagano. While Watanabe’s win does not automatically guarantee her a spot — final team selections are made by the federation’s strengthening committee based on a body of perform — it significantly boosts her standing.
“This win puts Seiko squarely in the conversation,” said Japan women’s national team head coach Yuko Fujii. “She showed she can handle the pressure of a final against one of the best in the world. Now we’ll look at her overall consistency, her performance in upcoming Grand Prix events, and how she adapts to international rules.”
Watanabe, 26, began judo at age six at a local dojo in Saitama Prefecture. She rose through the ranks as a junior, winning national high school titles in 2016 and 2017 before joining the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department in 2018, where she has balanced full-time duties with elite training. Her victory marks the first national title for a police judoka in the women’s open-weight division since 2019.
The tournament, held annually since 1982, remains one of the most prestigious domestic events in global judo, drawing Japan’s elite across weight categories in the open-weight format to test pure skill and adaptability. This year’s edition featured 32 competitors, including five Olympic medalists and seven World Championships medalists.
Yokohama Buntaikan, the venue for the championships since 2010, is a historic martial arts hall located in Kanagawa Prefecture, approximately 30 minutes south of central Tokyo by train. Built in 1964 to host judo events during the Tokyo Olympics, it has since develop into a spiritual home for Japanese judo, hosting national team training camps, emperor’s cup tournaments, and international invitational events.
As Watanabe celebrated on the mat, her national federation badge clearly visible on her jacket, the moment carried symbolic weight: a reminder that in Japan’s judo ecosystem — where corporate and university teams often dominate headlines — institutional programs like the police force continue to produce world-class athletes through discipline, consistency, and long-term athlete development.
Looking ahead, Watanabe is expected to compete in the upcoming Grand Prix in Linz, Austria in March, followed by the Asian Open in Taipei in April — both key events on the International Judo Federation World Tour that will help shape Japan’s final selections for major international competitions.
For now, however, the focus remains on Yokohama — and on a breakthrough victory that may signal the start of a new era in Japanese women’s judo.
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