Hashimoto vs Oka: Domestic Supremacy at All-Japan Championships
The stage is set again. Same arena, same stakes, same two men at the heart of it all.
Hashimoto Daiki and Oka Shinnosuke are ready to renew their rivalry at the All-Japan All-Around Championships 2026 in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, where the battle is about far more than medals. It is about ownership of Japanese men’s gymnastics at a time when the country sits at the very top of the world.
From Friday (17 April), Takasaki Arena becomes the centre of the sport. The reigning world and Olympic champion, Hashimoto, will walk in as the standard-bearer, the man everyone is chasing. Oka, once again, is the closest shadow.
These All-Japans, together with next month’s NHK Trophy, will do more than crown national champions. They will shape the team that heads to the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands, where Japan will defend its stature on the global stage. Every routine in Takasaki carries selection weight. Every landing matters.
Hashimoto’s pursuit of history
Hashimoto arrives as a five-time defending champion, a remarkable streak that now brushes up against the mythology of Uchimura Kohei. Ten consecutive titles. That is the number Uchimura set, the number that defines domestic dominance in this sport. Hashimoto is halfway there, and each All-Japan win nudges him closer to a record many thought would stand untouched.
But there is a complication.
A left-shoulder injury he picked up in March hangs over his campaign. How much will it limit him? Will it alter his difficulty, his risk, his usual attacking style on the apparatus? Those questions will follow him from warm-up to final salute.
What is not in question is his pedigree. In Jakarta last October, at the world championships, Hashimoto once again separated himself from the field, beating Oka and joining Uchimura as the only men to win three straight world all-around titles. It was a statement of longevity as much as brilliance.
Now he must prove he can do it again under domestic pressure, with his body not quite at 100 percent and with a rival desperate to seize his moment.
Oka’s shot at redemption
Oka knows exactly where the bar is set. He saw it in Jakarta.
There, on the biggest stage, he faltered when it mattered most. A floor routine he will want to forget dragged him down to fifth in the all-around, a harsh outcome for a gymnast of his quality. That single performance has lingered in the background of every conversation about him since.
This week offers him a clean slate.
Word around the camp is that Oka is in sharp form heading into Takasaki. He will not be content with simply pushing Hashimoto; he wants to dethrone him and claim his first All-Japan all-around crown. For a gymnast of his ambition, “promising rival” is no longer an acceptable label. He needs a major domestic title to match his potential.
If he can hit six routines under the glare of a home crowd and the scrutiny of selectors, the balance of power in Japanese men’s gymnastics could finally tilt.
Sugihara leads a new chapter on the women’s side
While the men’s rivalry commands the headlines, the women’s competition in Takasaki carries its own compelling storylines.
At 26, Sugihara Aiko stands as the veteran presence in a field that keeps getting younger and deeper. Her gold on floor in Jakarta reminded everyone that she still has the artistry and difficulty to win on the world stage, not just survive it.
Last year, she finished runner-up to Kishi Rina at the All-Japans, then responded with authority by winning the NHK Trophy after a decade away from that podium. That comeback alone says plenty about her resilience.
Now she returns to the domestic stage determined not just to hang on, but to drive the standard. For Sugihara, this is about extending a career that has already seen its share of highs and interruptions, and proving she remains central to Japan’s plans for Rotterdam.
Takasaki will not decide everything, but it will reveal plenty: whether Hashimoto’s march toward Uchimura’s record can continue under strain, whether Oka is ready to turn frustration into a breakthrough, and whether a seasoned campaigner like Sugihara can keep setting the pace in a sport that rarely waits for anyone.
