is the premier annual badminton tournament in Japan. Organized by the Badminton Association of Japan, it is held in December and serves as the primary selection event for the Japanese national team for the upcoming season. The tournament is open to Japan's top-ranked professionals, university students, and high school athletes who qualify through regional or category-specific preliminaries.
The All Japan Badminton Championships was established shortly after the creation of the Nippon Badminton Association (NBA) in 1946. The inaugural All Japan Championship was held on 8âÂÂ9 May 1948, at the Second Normal School Women's Department Gymnasium in Tokyo. The first champions were Junichi Oka (Kanagawa) in men's singles and Taki Nakamura (Kanagawa) in women's singles. Mixed doubles was included as a discipline from the very first tournament, with the pair of Hiroko Oka and Isamu Mori (Kanagawa) taking the title.
The tournament is traditionally held annually. However, the official edition numbering contains an anomaly dating back to 1962. To adjust the tournament schedule to align with the fiscal year, the association held two championships in a single calendar year: the 15th edition (for the 1961 fiscal year) and the 16th edition (for the 1962 fiscal year).
Athletes who meet any of the following criteria are eligible to participate:
The tournament confers prestigious government awards upon its winners: