Hashimoto vs Oka: All-Japan All-Around Championships 2026

The men’s all-around title in Japanese gymnastics has had one permanent address for half a decade. To change that, someone will have to go through Hashimoto Daiki. Again.

This week in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, the reigning world and Olympic champion walks back into the spotlight at Takasaki Arena for the All-Japan All-Around Championships 2026, starting Friday (17 April). He arrives as the five-time defending champion, the standard-bearer of the sport, and the man chasing a number that once felt untouchable: 10 consecutive national crowns, the mark set by Uchimura Kohei.

The pursuit of that record is already a storyline. Now add a damaged shoulder.

Hashimoto picked up a left-shoulder injury in March, a rare hint of vulnerability for an athlete who has made consistency his trademark. How much it will bite into his difficulty or execution this week remains the great unknown. For his rivals, it is the sliver of daylight they have been waiting for.

Standing first in line is a familiar figure. Oka Shinnosuke has watched Hashimoto dominate the biggest stages and, at times, has stood right beside him. At last year’s world championships in Jakarta, the two went head-to-head for global supremacy. Hashimoto emerged with a third straight all-around world title, joining Uchimura as the only men ever to complete such a treble. Oka left with a bitter taste.

Jakarta was not Oka at his best. A flat, forgettable floor routine dragged him down to fifth place overall, a single mistake turning a potential breakthrough into a missed opportunity. That kind of failure lingers with an athlete, especially one with ambitions of leading the next generation.

Now he comes to Takasaki with reports of sharp form and a clear mission: dethrone the champion, claim his first All-Japan title, and force his name into every team conversation for the rest of the Olympic cycle. If Hashimoto is even slightly compromised, Oka cannot afford to blink.

The stakes stretch beyond domestic bragging rights. The All-Japan All-Around, together with next month’s NHK Trophy, will shape the selection for the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Every routine in Takasaki carries weight. Every landing will be judged with Rotterdam in mind.

Hashimoto knows this terrain. He has worn the pressure of being the man to beat since his teenage years, and he has turned that expectation into a habit of winning. A sixth straight title would not only move him closer to Uchimura’s mythical 10 in a row, it would send a clear message that even with a sore shoulder, the hierarchy remains unchanged.

Oka, though, represents the restless push from below. He has seen the champion at close range, felt the gap, and now arrives with the chance to close it on home soil. One clean floor exercise this time, one more solid rotation, and the story could swing his way.

While the men’s duel takes centre stage, the women’s competition brings its own compelling thread.

At 26, Sugihara Aiko is no longer the wide-eyed teenager but the seasoned veteran who refuses to fade quietly. She captured the floor title in Jakarta, proof that her gymnastics still carries bite on the international stage. At last year’s All-Japan All-Around, she finished runner-up to Kishi Rina, then answered with authority by winning the NHK Trophy after a 10-year absence from that podium.

Sugihara returns to Takasaki determined to stretch her career at the top for as long as her body and mind allow. She knows the rhythm of a long domestic season, the grind of selection battles, the thin line between a place on the world team and watching Rotterdam from home. That experience could be decisive as younger challengers try to push her aside.

So the stage is set. Hashimoto chasing history through pain. Oka chasing Hashimoto. Sugihara clinging not just to relevance, but to leadership in a shifting women’s field.

By the time the lights dim in Takasaki Arena, Japan’s pecking order will look a little clearer—and the road to Rotterdam will either belong to the old guard, or to those finally ready to unseat them.