Shunsho Kumagai of Kanai Junior High School in Yamagata City captured the men’s 81-kilogram division title at the All-Japan Junior High School Judo Championship held in Okayama Prefecture, marking the first time a male judoka from Yamagata Prefecture has won an individual national championship in the sport, according to local reporting.
Standing at 183 centimeters and 78 kilograms
Kumagai serves as the judo team captain at Kanai Junior High School, where the club maintains a roster of 10 athletes spanning the first through third years. He lists his primary technique as an inner thigh sweep built off foot-techniques. Teammates describe his training intensity by noting that his resistance is impossible to withstand during randori sessions, adding that partners are thrown almost immediately upon engagement.
Advancing through the Okayama national bracket
The Okayama tournament gathered 48 prefectural representatives all vying for the national crown. Kumagai entered the competition as the Tohoku champion and received a bye into the second round. He secured ippon victories through combinations of waza-ari scores across his first three matches to reach the quarterfinals.
In the semifinal bout, Kumagai faced a Kanagawa Prefecture representative recognized as a tournament favorite and a previous Most Valuable Player award winner at a separate national competition. Kumagai noted that his opponent possessed superior gripping and technique skills, which initially prevented him from establishing his preferred grips and led to an early yuko score against him. Remaining calm, Kumagai worked through his gripping strategy, secured a waza-ari to overturn the deficit, won on a superior-position decision, and carried that momentum through the final round.
Yamagata Prefecture claims a historic individual title
Following the final match, Kumagai stated that the result felt like the moment all of his accumulated hard work finally paid off. Kanai Junior High School judo coach Shigekichi Akui praised Kumagai as an athlete defined by relentless practice, noting that his disciplined habit of bowing respectfully even after securing the championship match demonstrated exemplary character.
Teammates shared observations of the national champion away from the tatami mats, describing him as a competitor who maintains a composed expression regardless of match outcomes, possesses an intense drive to win, and balances a rigorous practice regimen with a personal fondness for Disney merchandise at home. At school, peers view him as an approachable and kind student.
Training sessions across local dojos and prison facilities
Beyond school club hours, Kumagai continues his preparation at Takahashi Dojo in Yamagata City, a facility he has attended since the second grade. Takahashi Dojo has operated for 43 years, training elementary and junior high school students under the supervision of master instructor Kikuho Takahashi, who has coached approximately 1,000 athletes over the decades. While Takahashi has produced competitors reaching third place at national tournaments and winning Tohoku titles, Kumagai represents the dojo’s first national champion.
Kumagai also supplements his training inside the dojo located within the Yamagata Prison walls, where he practices alongside corrections officers twice a week under a routine that began during his first year of junior high school. These adult training partners include competitors with national corrections championships and veterans of the All-Japan Championships. Kumagai noted that experiencing the physical power of adult practitioners provides valuable resistance training that differs from facing middle school opponents.
Shunji Kumagai, the judo champion’s father and a corrections officer at the Yamagata Prison, observed that his son surpassed his own ability by the time the boy reached the second year of junior high school, reducing the father’s role in practice to a warm-up partner.
Aiming for the Olympic stage
Kumagai turns his focus toward international competition, stating his ultimate athletic ambition is to reach the Olympic Games and win a gold medal.
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