is a Japanese badminton player who competes in men's singles. A member of the Japanese national team, he plays for the team. Okimoto won a team gold medal and a boys' singles silver medal at the 2023 Asian Junior Championships. His first senior international title came at the 2024 Finnish International. On the World Tour, he reached the final of the 2025 Korea Masters, a Super 300 tournament. As of March 2026, Okimoto's highest world ranking is 37.
Okimoto was born and raised in Hiroshima, Japan. He began playing badminton at the age of six, influenced by his older brother. He initially played both badminton and baseball, competing as a third baseman in a youth baseball league while training at the Hara Junior Club for badminton. He began playing badminton at age six and spent weekends practising badminton on Saturday mornings and playing baseball in the afternoons.
After winning the All-Japan Elementary School Championships for three consecutive years beginning in 2015, Okimoto chose to focus exclusively on badminton.
Okimoto attended Saitama Sakae Junior and Senior High School in Saitama Prefecture.
On the European junior circuit in 2023, Okimoto won consecutive titles at the and the . At the 2023 Asian Junior Championships in Yogyakarta, he was part of the Japanese team that won the mixed team gold medal, Japan's first in 11 years.He also reached the boys' singles final, where he lost to Hu Zhe'an. Okimoto concluded his junior career with a quarterfinal finish at the World Junior Championships.
During his final year of high school in 2023, Okimoto won the team, boys' singles, and boys' doubles titles at the . He subsequently won the boys' singles and doubles titles at the .
Okimoto was selected for the Japanese national B team in 2023, initially partnering with Daigo Tanioka in men's doubles. In their World Tour debut at the Indonesia Masters Super 100 I, the pair defeated former world No. 1 Tan Wee Kiong and his partner Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub.
In April, Okimoto joined the Badminton Team and shifted his focus to men's singles. He won his first senior title at the Finnish International in April, followed by a victory at the Mauritius International in July. He finished as runner-up at the Réunion Open.
In 2025, Okimoto reached consecutive finals in the Northern Mariana Islands, winning the Northern Marianas Open and finishing as runner-up at the Saipan International. He later reached his first World Tour final at the Malaysia Super 100, finishing as runner-up. He subsequently finished runner-up at his first Super 300 final at the Korea Masters. Okimoto entered the world top 50 for the first time, reaching a career-high ranking of world No. 42 on 16 December 2025.
Okimoto was part of the Japanese team that won Japan's first men's team title at the Asia Team Championships. On the World Tour, he competed at the Orléans Masters, advancing to the semi-finals before being defeated by the eventual champion, Alex Lanier of France.
Okimoto is known for a defensive, high-tenacity playing style that he describes using the term . Standing at 165 cm, he consciously developed this style during high school to compensate for his smaller stature compared to international opponents. His game relies on extreme physical endurance and the determination to retrieve every shuttle, forcing opponents into long rallies.
He has cited his baseball background as a contributing factor to his defensive positioning and shoulder strength in badminton, describing his court movement as reminiscent of a baseball infielder's.
Okimoto is a fan of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp baseball team. As a child, he played third base in a youth baseball league and aspired to become a professional baseball player. He has cited Carp infielder Tetsuya Kokubo as a childhood idol and later Shohei Ohtani as the athlete he most admires. Within the BIPROGY team, he maintains a close mentorship with senior player Koki Watanabe, whom he cites as his technical role model for net-play and lobbing techniques. To manage the mental demands of professional competition, Okimoto enjoys sea fishing with teammates as a way to refresh and disconnect from the sport.
Boys' singles
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.
Men's singles
Men's singles
Boys' singles
Record against Year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 10 November 2025.