Japan Championship Returns for First Time in Seven Years

Japan Championship 2026 is scheduled for July 18-19 in Daito, Osaka, bringing Japan’s national championship back for the first time since 2019.

The World Cube Association has officially announced Japan Championship 2026 is scheduled to take place on July 18-19 in Daito, Osaka.

The competition will determine Japan’s 2026 national champions and is scheduled to include every WCA event except Fewest Moves, which will be held separately at Japan FMC Championship 2026. The event has a 350-competitor limit and will take place at Daito Citizens Hall.

At the last Japan Championship, held in 2019, Matty Hiroto Inaba won 3x3 with a 7.80 average, while also taking 4x4 and 5x5.

The 2026 event will be the first Japan Championship in seven years, giving the country its first full national championship cycle since before the pandemic-era gap in the competition calendar.

Competitors interested in registering should still read the competition page carefully. Registration will be qualification-based, and the competition page notes that announcements, proceedings, and judge interactions will be conducted exclusively in Japanese. Foreign competitors should also be aware that final rounds will follow WCA Regulation 9p2b, meaning at least half of finalists in each event must represent Japan.

For Japan’s speedcubing scene, the return of the national championship gives competitors a long-awaited chance to claim national titles again across nearly the full WCA event list.