JAPAN NATIONAL YO-YO CONTEST 2026 (JN26)

Japan National Yo-Yo Contest 2026 (JN26) will be on June 6-7.

This year, we are going to have International Open Freestyle at JN26.

If you are planning to visit JN from outside of Japan, please let us know ASAP.

  • The IOF will be on Saturday (June 6)
  • 2-min Final (with your choice of music)
  • 1-min Prelim
  • 1-min music must be from JYYF Library

Contest Divisions

  • 1A Division
  • 2A Division
  • 3A Division
  • 4A Division
  • 5A Division
  • Over-40 Freestyle Master Class
  • Over-40 Freestyle Open Class
  • Women’s Freestyle
  • Under-12 Freestyle
  • ATX Performance (AP, Team, Xtreme)
  • International Open Freestyle

Contest Structure

  • JYYF runs five Regionals and one National Contest in 2026.
  • Contestant can compete in ONLY one Regional, but wherever they want (per division).
  • The top 10 of Regionals within a certain score, the finalists of 2025JN and top 5 of 2024JN can compete in the JN26 Semi-Final. There will be a WildCard Round for everyone else to compete.
  • The five regional champions and last year’s champion of each division will be seeded to the JN26 Final round. (If the regional champion is last year’s National Champion, the seed goes to the player in 2nd place.)

Freestyle Rules (Summary)

  • Final: 3 minute freestyle
  • Semi-Final: 90 second freestyle
  • Wild-Card: 30 second freestyle
  • Music stops between 3:00 to 3:01
  • No yo-yoing on stage before the music starts. No throw-downs, no adjustments. No starts with sleeping or mounting position allowed.
  • Catch yo-yo(s) immediately after the music ends. If the player cannot catch, deductions happen until the player leaves the stage.
  • No getting off the stage during the performance, even for getting yo-yos the player lost from the stage. If the player steps off from the stage, the performance ends there.
  • No sitting on the edge of the stage. No standing on the edge. Can be DQed.
  • No props allowed. Only yo-yos, strings, counter-weights, gloves, and tray (contest provided).
  • No bags, yo-yo cases, clothes, jackets, tables on the stage. For the purpose of supervising one’s belongings, a bag, wallet, or cell phone will be allowed to be placed at the far edge of the stage.

Freestyle Scoring

Same as IYYF rules (WYYC2023-2025)

JYYF Supports Flights for Winners

Since 2012, JYYF has been supporting all five JN winners’ travel fees to WYYC. In 2017, there was an important change pertaining to sponsorship and yo-yos used by players. Since we are able to provide this benefit thanks to the generous support of all of our sponsors, JYYF has decided to support flights only for champions who use yo-yos from JN sponsors (and will also use yo-yos from JN sponsors at WYYC). If the champion is not qualified, the runner-up will receive the benefit. If the runner-up is not qualified, the contestant in third place will receive it. 4th place or lower do not qualify. We made this change in hopes that it will help to promote sponsors who support our activities regularly.

About The Organization: JYYF

  • Name: Japan Yo-Yo Federation (JYYF)
  • Legal Entity: General Incorporated Association (Since 2010)
  • Holding National Contest: Since 1999

(Last Update: 2026.4.29)