Othello news
Road to Helsinki, WOC 2026 — Japan
3 May 2026Written by World Othello Federation
World Othello Championships, Helsinki, 25–28 November 2026
In this series of articles we will be exploring the qualifying processes of different countries for the World Othello Championships (WOC).
What better way to start than with Japan — the home country of Othello and the hardest country to qualify from by far. In Japan you are often competing against former world champions and other legendary Othello players.
Japan's qualification consists of three major tournaments and a youth tournament, many of which also have their own sub-qualifiers: 1. All-Japan, 2. Meijin-sen (名人戦 — Master), 3. Ouza-sen (王座戦 — Grand Master), and 4. All-Japan Youth Championships. All events are organised annually by the Japan Othello Association (日本オセロ連盟).
When it comes to team competition, Japan has been undefeated since 2004, when the USA won the team championships — a streak that now stands at 19 consecutive team titles.
Two of the Japanese qualifying tournaments have already taken place.
All-Japan: The first player to qualify was Tetsu Satani, who won the 51st All-Japan Championship held in early November 2025. Tetsu is ranked 9th in the world and has previously represented Japan at WOC in 2019 and 2023.
liveothello.com — All-Japan games ↗
Meijin-sen: Akihiro Takahashi — 2019 World Champion, two-time Youth World Champion, and the youngest-ever player to reach 9-dan (at age 16) — claimed Japan's second spot by winning the 46th Meijin Open Division, defeating five-time world champion Yusuke Takanashi in the final. Takahashi is currently ranked 2nd in the world with a rating of 2608.
liveothello.com — Meijin games ↗
Ouza-sen is the final and decisive qualifying event. Its winner claims Japan's third WOC spot. The women's seat is also decided at Ouza-sen, where All-Japan Female Champion Aya Saito and Female Meijin Miu Hisamatsu will compete for the right to represent Japan.
Rounding out Japan's qualifying process is the All-Japan Youth Championships, held every August. The tournament has a remarkable track record of producing world-class talent — both Akihiro Takahashi and Keisuke Fukuchi earned their WOC spots through it. Takahashi finished second in the youth event in 2017, while Fukuchi made history in 2018 by becoming the youngest World Champion ever, at just 11 years old.
All Japanese qualifying games can be followed live on LiveOthello:
liveothello.com/livegames ↗
Player profiles
Tetsu Satani: worldothello.org ↗
Akihiro Takahashi: worldothello.org ↗
Miu Hisamatsu: worldothello.org ↗
Aya Saito: worldothello.org ↗
In addition to the national qualifiers, all countries in the Asia-Pacific region will be competing for one additional WOC spot through APOC, the Asia Pacific Othello Championships, held in Shanghai, China, on 25–26 July.
worldothello.org — APOC ↗
The official WOC 2026 webpage will be launched no later than 1 June.
worldothello.org — WOC 2026 ↗