The Bouldering Japan Cup 2025 was held on February 1–2, 2025, at Komazawa Olympic Park General Sports Ground Indoor Ball Sports Arena. In the women’s competition, Miho Nonaka claimed her second title and first in six years, while Sorato Anraku captured his first-ever championship in the men’s division.

This event also marked the first competition to implement the new rules. To make scoring easier for spectators to follow, a point-based system was introduced to visually display scores. In addition, with increased point allocation for zone holds, success was no longer determined solely by the number of tops, making all-around consistency across a variety of problems more important than ever.

Men’s Semifinals

In the men’s semifinals, Sorato Anraku advanced to the final in first place with 99.9 points. Displaying remarkable consistency, Anraku topped all four problems.

Close behind in second was Kento Yamaguchi with 99.8 points, followed by Yusuke Sugimoto in third with 99.6 points. All three climbers completed every semifinal problem, with only 0.3 points separating them in an exceptionally tight contest.

Daiki Sano, who had qualified in 18th place during the preliminary round, topped three problems to secure fourth and advance to the final. Meanwhile, Tomoa Narasaki, who had already secured his place on Japan’s Boulder World Cup national team, advanced in fifth with 69.5 points.

Women’s Semifinals

Anon Matsufuji topped the women’s semifinals with 84.8 points, completing every problem except the opening one.

Close behind in second was Futaba Ito with 84.6 points, followed by Ai Mori in third with 84.4 points, and Miho Nonaka in fourth with 74.7 points. All four climbers advanced to the final after topping three problems each.

The semifinal round proved especially decisive on the final two problems, with success or failure on those later challenges having a major impact on the standings.

Women’s Final

In the women’s final, Miho Nonaka, the Tokyo Olympic medalist, claimed her second title at the Bouldering Japan Cup 2025 and her first championship in six years.

Nonaka topped three of the four problems to score 84.8 points. Melody Sekikawa finished second with 84.6 points, while defending champion Mao Nakamura placed third with 84.5 points.

The women’s final saw many climbers successfully top the problems, making efficiency and minimizing attempts the decisive factor. Nonaka completed three of the four problems—all except the final one—and flashed two of them on her first attempt. Her total of 84.8 points secured the title by an incredibly narrow margin of just 0.2 points over second place.

Aine Sekikawa, who finished second, delivered a strong performance that highlighted her strengths, topping three problems to score 84.6 points.

Third-place finisher Mao Nakamura also showed impressive consistency, securing the zone on the fourth problem while topping all of the others in a composed and steady performance.

Men’s Final

The men’s final unfolded as a highly demanding round, with the difficulty of the problems making tops hard to come by. Success required not only the ability to capitalize on each climber’s strengths to secure tops, but also the adaptability to at least claim zone points on less favorable problems.

Amid the pressure, Sorato Anraku delivered a remarkable performance, flashing three problems to score 84 points.

Heading into the final problem, Anraku faced a must-top situation to secure the championship. Rising to the occasion, he completed it on his very first attempt to claim his first-ever Bouldering Japan Cup 2025 title.

With the victory, Anraku also set a new record as the youngest men’s champion in event history at 18 years, 2 months, and 19 days old.

Yuji Fujiwaki, who finished second, scored points on every problem and demonstrated consistent climbing throughout the final to earn 69.1 points.

Third-place finisher Rei Sugimoto had announced beforehand that this would be his final appearance at the Bouldering Japan Cup 2025. His emotionally charged performance energized the crowd and created one of the most memorable moments of the event.

Sugimoto finished with 59.9 points after topping two problems.

Comment from Miho Nonaka

“I’m really happy to have won. There were a few things I needed to adjust from the qualification round onward, but I think it was good that I was able to make those corrections by the time I reached the final round.

This year, I want to continue building on what I’ve been working on, while also improving my ability to finish within the time limit—especially on problems like the final one here that I wasn’t able to complete.

We also have the World Championships coming up this season, so I want to keep building my form and make sure I’m in peak condition for that as well,” said Miho Nonaka.

Comment from Sorato Anraku

“I’m really happy to have won. There have been many times in the past when I wasn’t able to finish the job and come out on top against a field like this, so it means a lot to finally take first place.

During the offseason, I worked hard on my mental game—things like my mindset, decision-making, and staying calm after falling. I think I was able to put all of that into practice in the final, which is why I was able to flash multiple problems.

This year, I’ve also been making adjustments to my lead climbing style and working to strengthen that side of my climbing, including the mental aspect. My goal is to become a climber who is strong across every discipline,” said Sorato Anraku.

Event Overview

Event Name: Bouldering Japan Cup 2025 (BJC2025)
Organizer: Japan Mountaineering and Sport Climbing Association
Supported by: Japan Sports Agency / Japan Sport Association / Japanese Olympic Committee / Kozuki Foundation
Supervised by: Tokyo Mountaineering Federation
Planning and Operations: BJC2025 Organizing Committee

Sponsors:
Mitsui Fudosan / Sumitomo Corporation / DMG Mori / Oriental Bio / Cow Brand Soap Kyoshinsha / Nisshin Fire & Marine Insurance / Tosho Associate / Nishio Rent All

Official Marketing Partner:
Hakuhodo DY Media Partners

Dates:
February 1 (Sat) – February 2 (Sun), 2025

Venue:
Komazawa Olympic Park General Sports Ground Indoor Ball Sports Arena