The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Japan Player Rankings released on Jan. 14 at Red Bull, ranking the top 30 players in the country. Its ranking period spanned from July 8, 2019 to Dec. 27, 2019.
Japan is considered one of the best regions in the world (if not the best) for Smash Ultimate. Unsurprisingly, many of the players on this list will appear (or have already appeared) on the Fall 2019 PGRU.
The Japan Player Rankings are as follows:
- Sota “Zackray” Okada
- Takuto “Kameme” Ono
- Kengo “KEN” Suzuki
- Shuto “Shuton” Moriya
- Takuma “Tea” Hirooka
- Shintaro “Kuro” Kakihara
- Yuta “Abadango” Kawamura
- Ishiguro “Raito” Tetsuya
- Seisuke “Kome” Komeda
- “ProtoBanham”
- Isami “T” Ikeda
- Eita “HIKARU” Hoshi
- Toshimasa “Choco” Hayakawa
- Yuta “Nietono” Uejima
- “Lea”
- Tomoki “kept” Ikeda
- Shimizu “Umeki” Masaki
- Haoka “shky” Toshiki
- Yuki “Etsuji” Kajihara
- Kentaro “Brood” Asari
- “Somé”
- Kaito “Shogun” Kawasaki
- “Sigma”
- Gakuto “Gackt” Ito
- “DIO”
- “Ron”
- “Nishiya”
- Towa “Atelier” Kuriyama
- Noriyuki Kirihara
- Seima “Eim” Tomonoh
Breaking down the Japan Player Rankings
Zackray climbed the ranks to No. 1 in Japan, as the former No. 1, Shuton, dropped down to No. 4. Considering his fantastic performances at home and abroad, Zackray’s placement is hardly surprising. He boasts international wins against the likes of Samuel “Dabuz” Buzby, Nairoby “Nairo” Quezada, and Gavin “Tweek” Dempsey.
Many Japanese Smash Bros. players made huge climbs up the ranks this season. KEN and Kome both rose 19 places from their spots on Japan’s summer rankings. In addition, Kuro, who was not on the previous rankings at all, debuted at No. 6 in Japan.
Some people on the lower portion of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Japanese Player Rankings have already claimed their spots on the PGRU. HIKARU, Ron, and Kirihara are already confirmed to be top 50 in the world, with Eim barely missing the cut. Certainly, not everyone ranked in Japan will appear on the PGRU, largely due to a lack of international performances. Even so, the fact that Kirihara is No. 29 in Japan and No. 48 in the world is telling as to the strength of Japan on the whole.
