The Pickleball Japan Federation will hold "ZIPAIR & KENEDIX present the 3rd PJ Pickleball Championships 2026 in Japan" over five days from December 7 to 11, 2026 at Ariake Tennis no Mori Park in Tokyo. Prize money and prizes total more than 15 million yen, 60 courts will be in use, and about 2,000 players are expected. The centerpiece is the first Japanese staging of PPA Asia 125, the pro category where Asia's top players compete for world ranking points. It will be a winter in which Japanese players can watch the pro proving ground up close without leaving the country.
Sixty courts and over 15 million yen in prizes go up at Ariake in December
The venue, Ariake Tennis no Mori Park, sits in Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo. The court layout combines 24 indoor and 36 outdoor hard courts for a total of 60, making it one of the largest pickleball tournaments held in Japan. It runs across five weekdays from Monday, December 7 to Friday, December 11. Age categories are 18U, 19+, 35+, 50+ and 60+, so players from their teens to their sixties and above compete at the same site. Spectating is free in every area, and results feed into DUPR ratings.
Japan's national team reached the world's final four at the World Cup held in Da Nang this autumn (US take the team title, Japan finish in the world's top four — the Da Nang World Cup closes). A full-scale pro tournament is arriving at home just as results on the international stage start to come.
The first step toward the pros that PPA Asia 125 puts in Japan
PPA Asia 125 is a tournament series that opens the road to the pro ranks for Asia's top players and for anyone aiming at the world stage. Points in the PPA Rankings are awarded by result, with 125 points going to the winner. That "125" indicates the tier of the series: the more points on offer, the more it lifts a world ranking. One step of the PPA Tour staircase that runs through North America has been placed in Japan for Asia.
On the PPA's main circuit, player movement is heavy, with the top pairings wholesale reshuffled heading into the new season (Shimabukuro pairs with JW Johnson as the PPA's new season reshuffles the top duos). Japanese players being able to take on that first step at home is a big advance once you factor in travel costs and the language barrier.
The day Ben Johns and Yuta Funamizu play as a pair
The pro entries expected include Ben Johns, the men's world No. 1 with 185 career titles, and Anna Bright, world No. 2 in women's doubles. Yuta Funamizu, the first Japanese player in Major League Pickleball, is also set to partner Ben Johns in men's doubles. Seeing the best player in the world and Japan's best standing on the same side of the same court is a rare chance at home.
Funamizu has also lifted the sport's profile through publicity, going undercover in disguise on a hidden-camera TV show (Can Jun Mizutani spot him? Yuta Funamizu goes undercover on Monitoring). Funamizu playing alongside the world No. 1 is a magnet that pulls people who first heard of pickleball on TV into the venue.
Entry fees, deadlines and what it costs to play
Entry opens at different times by category. The PPA Asia 125 pro draw has been taking entries on a first come first served basis since Monday, September 14, and the general PJ Championships since Thursday, August 20. Registration costs 12,000 yen (T-shirt included), with a fee per bracket entered on top. Open is 16,000 yen per pair and Skill 6,000 yen per pair.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Run | December 7-11, 2026 (Ariake Tennis no Mori Park) |
| Scale | 60 courts (24 indoor, 36 outdoor) / about 2,000 players |
| Prize money and prizes | More than 15 million yen in total |
| Registration fee | 12,000 yen (T-shirt included) |
| Brackets | Open 16,000 yen per pair, Skill 6,000 yen per pair |
| Entries open | PPA Asia 125 from September 14, general entries from August 20 |
What a 2,000-player tournament changes for the sport in Japan
A 60-court, 2,000-player scale matters for the operational know-how it builds. Running that many courts over five days demands an organization that ties together referees, court setup, rating processing and spectator flow. The federation staging it with ZIPAIR and Kenedix as title sponsors is itself groundwork for holding pro tournaments in Japan year after year.
It matters for players too. With a place to earn PPA points at home, chasing a world ranking no longer means flying to North America every time. Young players can build match experience domestically and, if they are good enough, stack up points. For recreational players it becomes a place to learn, watching the world's best up close and stealing technique. Free admission pushes that reach wider.
What to know before you watch or enter
If you are aiming to play, brackets fill first come first served, so register early. Work out whether Open or Skill matches your level and line up a partner before you apply, and the process is straightforward. Watching needs no booking, and because it runs on weekdays you can build a visit around the trip home from work. Check the federation's announcements for when the pro matches are scheduled and you are less likely to miss the player you came for.
This winter: enter as a player or go as a spectator
The Skill bracket is within reach even for someone who has just started, while players chasing the world stage get the hard benefit of PPA points. Decide which side of Ariake in December you belong on, then lock in a partner and dates if you are entering, or the day of the match you want if you are watching. Being there in the first year a pro proving ground starts running in Japan is itself a reason to keep playing.
