The city of Kumatori near Osaka, Japan, hosted the 18th Japanese Age Group Championship on May 18-20, 2007. 

The competition was held in a format similar to the World Age Group Competition (WAGC) with one only optional in the preliminaries and one optional in the final where the scores were reste to zero.  One significant difference is that the top 10 athletes qualified for the final.  In addition, the top Japanese athletes competed in the 17+ age group.

A significant switch in tactical approach seems to have been witnessed at this competition among the top Japanese trampolinists.  Japanese trampolinists, with a few exceptions, generally rely extensively on neat execution while performing moderate degrees of difficulty (often between 15.10 pts and 15.50 pts).  The tendency seems to have somewhat changed this year, first witnessed by 2006 World Cup Final winner Yasuhiro Ueyama (Osaka) performing a 16.20 pt tariff in international competitions in 2007 rather than his traditional 15.50 pt tariff.  Ueyama's path was followed by many athletes at this 18th Japanese Age Group Championship as many athletes (Tetsuya Sotomura, Hideyasu Ishikawa, Manabu Yamaguchi, and Masaki Ito) established their personal bests in difficulty, often above 16.00+ pts.

In the men's 17+ competition, Shunsuke Nagasaki, who won the bronze medals at the 2007 Lake Placid and Kunshan World Cups, prevailed.  Nagasaki, who continues to establish himself as a very strong contender for a spot on the Japanese team for the Olympics, had the lead with 40.70 pts (15.50 pt tariff) in the preliminaries, barely edging Yasuhiro Ueyama (40.70 pts with a 15.50 pt tariff too, the same total of the five execution marks, but a lower top mark).  In the final, Nagasaki produced another brilliant performance, winning the gold medal with 40.40 pts (15.50 pt tariff again), mastering any potential traveling. 

The silver medal in Komutori went to 2005 World bronze medalist and 2006 World Cup Final bronze medalist Tetsuya Sotomura (pictured on the right).  Sotomura was in 4th place after the preliminaries with 39.90 pts (15.60 pt tariff).  In the final, Sotomura stepped up his game, and showed he had fully recovered from last year's lost skills as he beat his personal best in difficulty.  Sotomura clinched the silver medal with 39.90 pts thanks to a brand new 16.10 pt tariff.  The bronze medal of this Japanese Age Group Championship went to the very talented Masaki Ito with 39.40 pts.  Ito also beat his own personal record in difficulty by competing a 15.60 pt tariff.  In the preliminaries, Ito was already in 3rd place with 39.90 pts (15.10 pt tariff).

Audacity paid off in this final as Hideyasu Ishikawa took the 4th place of the final after also beating his own personal record in difficulty with a brand new 16.00 pt tariff.  Thanks to this performance, Ishikawa moved up 3 spots in the final, finishing with 38.20 pts.  The experienced Takayuki Kawanishi, who was the first Japanese trampolinist in history to win a World Cup medal in individual, took the 5th place of the competition with 37.70 pts (15.10 pt tariff).  Kawanishi was already in 5th place after the preliminaries with 39.10 pts.  Veteran Olympian Daisuke Nakata came in 6th despite struggling a little in the final (35.80 pts with a 15.00 pt tariff).  Nakata had obtained 38.30 pts in the preliminaries (15.10 pt tariff).  Manabu Yamaguchi also beat his personal record in difficulty with 16.20 pts, but lacked stability and had to settle for the 7th place with 35.60 pts. 

The main upset of the final was the struggle from 2005 World silver medalist Yasuhiro Ueyama, who finished with 35.10 pts in 9th place.  Takashi Sakamoto, who competed a 17.00 pt tariff a couple of years ago, could not complete his very difficult routine in the final and finished 9th.  Sakamoto was in 8th place before the final with 38.00 pts (15.60 pt tariff).  Takeshi Imai took the last qualifying spot for the final with a 37.20 pt routine in the preliminaries, but crashed early in his routine in the final.  Kozuma Takahashi (11th with 36.60 pts and a 14.60 pt tariff), 2006 Indo Pacific Champion Tomoyuki Baba (12th with 36.50 pts and a 14.40 pt tariff), Ryota Fujike (13th - 35.80 pts), and Yuta Yoshimura (14th - 34.20 pts) missed the final.  Japanese international Masaki Hitomi apparently did not compete.

In synchronized trampoline, Masaki Ito (pictured on the left)-Shunsuke Nagasaki managed to overcome favorites Yasuhiro Ueyama-Tetsuya Sotomura, who have been regular gold medalists at World Cups.  Ito's and Nagasaki's performance was truly top notch, winning with an impressive total of 50.70 pts (15.10 pt tariff).  They had also obtained 50.40 pts in the preliminaries, also good for the lead.  Ueyama-Sotomura had to settle for the silver medal with 48.40 pts, competing a record 15.60 pt tariff.  Ueyama-Sotomura had obtained 50.00 pts in the preliminaries.  Tatsuo Asano-Katsufumi Tasaki were distant 3rds with 45.90 pts. 

The women's 17+ age group competition was not of a level as competitive as in the men's, but the final proved to be very suspenseful nonetheless.  In the absence of 6-time Japanese Champion Haruka Hirota, and after a crash of Yoko Seto in the preliminaries, the path was open for Hiromi Hanmoto (pictured on the right) to capture the gold medal.  Hanmoto obtained 34.60 pts in the final (11.70 pt tariff) for an optional of good quality, despite not being as good as in the preliminaries (35.20 pts).  The silver medal went to Kazuyo Minato (34.20 pts with a 10.00 pt tariff), who was already in 2nd place after the preliminaries.  Haruna Yamashita secured the bronze medal with 33.50 pts (10.30 pts), barely edging Naoko Nishida (4th with 33.50 pts and a 10.30 pt tariff) under the tie-breaking rules, Hiroi Tokuma (5th with 33.40 pts and the highest difficulty of the competition - 12.10 pts), Mika Futagi (6th - 33.20 pts), Naomi Nishioka (7th - 33.00 pts), and Mina Terada (8th with 32.80 pts).  1996, 1998, and 1999 WAGC winner Midori Kobata came in 9th place with 31.20 pts. 

In synchronized trampoline, Yoko Seto-Hiromi Hanmoto prevailed with 45.90 pts (9.70 pt tariff).  Naoko Nishida-Naomi Nishioka (44.60 pts), and Kazyuo Minato-Mika Futagi (44.00 pts) took the silver and bronze medals.

The 15-16 age group competition offered a glimpse at some of the best Japanese junior athletes.  The very promising Subaru Shintani, born in 1992, took the gold medal with 36.90 pts (12.70 pts).  Shintani already had the lead after the preliminaries with a 38.00 pt optional.  Ryota Shimada took the silver medal with 36.60 pts (12.70 pt DD), followed by Katsufumi Tasaki, who scored 36.00 pts (12.70 pt tariff).  Tasaki was in 2nd place after the preliminaries with 36.20 pts.  Hiroki Sakuramoto came in 4th with 35.80 pts (12.90 pt tariff), followed by Kentarou Tsuji (35.50 pts with a 12.70 pt tariff).  Shintani, Tasaki, and Sakuramoto were finalists at the 2005 WAGCs.  In the women's 15-16 age group, Ayano Kishi took the gold medal with 33.90 pts (9.70 pt tariff), overcoming Yukako Seki (32.70 pts with a 9.60 pt tariff), and Ayana Yamada (32.50 pts with a 10.00 pt tariff). 

In the 13-14 age group, 2005 WAGC finalist Takahiko Kato prevailed with 33.20 pts (10.40 pt tariff).  Strong performances were also produced by Fumija Yoshimura (2nd with 32.60 pts and an 11.00 pt tariff), Jun Ishii (3rd with 32.30 pts - 10.00 pt tariff), and Daiki Kishi (32.20 pts with a 10.00 pt tariff).  The top 3 in the women's 13-14 age group was made of Yuko Kuriki (32.30 pts - 9.40 pt tariff), Miyu Yoshimura (31.90 pts - 9.30 pt tariff), and Chisato Doihata (31.80 pts - 9.00 pt tariff).

The winners in the 11-12 age group were 2006 Indo Pacific Champion Toshiharu Kiguchi (32.80 pts with a 10.50 pt tariff) in the men's, and Megu Uyama (30.40 pts) in the women's. 

Link to the detailed results