[September 2026] Japan Pickleball News Roundup | Yuta Funemizu Finishes Runner-Up at a U.S. PPA Event, Two Venues Open in Toyosu, and Ben Johns Is Set for Ariake in December

In September, at the PPA Tour's Arizona event in the U.S., Yuta Funemizu beat a pair that included top seed Ben Johns and went on to finish runner-up in men's doubles. Johns himself is set to team up with Funemizu at Ariake in Tokyo in December. At the World Cup in Vietnam, Team Japan made it to the semifinals of the team competition, and in Japan, an APP international tournament was held in Sendai. The two venues in Toyosu, Tokyo, whose opening dates we shared in our August roundup, are now open for business, too.

I'm Coach Yoshi. This time, I've rounded up Japan's pickleball news from September 2026. Plans for October and beyond are based on announcements as of September, so they may have changed since.

1. Japanese Players | Yuta Funemizu Finishes Runner-Up on the PPA Tour in the U.S., and Two Semifinal Runs in Kuala Lumpur

In September, Japanese players finished near the top at a PPA Tour event in the U.S. and at a PPA Tour Asia event in Malaysia.

Yuta Funemizu teamed up with Nico Acevedo at the tournament in Mesa, Arizona, and reached the men's doubles final despite being seeded only 15th. According to an announcement from AAS Management, along the way they beat top seeds Ben Johns and Federico Staksrud in straight games, 11-4, 11-5, and won the deciding game 12-10 in both the quarterfinals and the semifinals. The final against Andrei Daescu and Christian Alshon went the distance, and although Funemizu and Acevedo held championship point, one point from the title, again and again, they lost 7-11, 11-7, 13-15.

The PPA Tour Asia stop in Kuala Lumpur is a "PPA Asia 1000" event with total prize money of up to US$300,000. In the women's singles quarterfinals, Rika Fujiwara avenged her loss in the August final in Shenzhen to Chao Yi Wang, winning 11-7, 3-11, 11-9. She lost in the semifinals to Brooke Buckner, 7-11, 5-11. In men's doubles, Funemizu partnered with 15-year-old American Tama Shimabukuro. They beat Kenta Miyoshi's team 11-3, 11-8 in the quarterfinals, then lost in the semifinals to Augustus Ge and Len Yang, 11-9, 4-11, 5-11. Neither event held a third-place match, and the tournament records list them as "canceled." In men's singles, Nasa Hatakeyama reached the quarterfinals. For the full results of both tournaments, see the world edition for the same month.

Sources: PPA Tour (Arizona event page), AAS Management (PR TIMES, September 21), The Dink Pickleball (September 21), PPA Tour Asia (Kuala Lumpur: event page, September 11, September 13). Placings were confirmed in the records on the event pages (the Arizona scores are from AAS Management's announcement, and the seeding and the championship points in the final are from The Dink Pickleball)

World Cup 2026 | Team Japan Reaches the Semifinals of the Team Competition

At World Cup 2026, held August 30–September 6 in Da Nang, Vietnam, Team Japan reached the semifinals of the team competition between countries and regions (Open division). In the September 5 semifinal, Japan lost 0-4 to host Vietnam (according to VOV, Vietnam's state-run media outlet). According to a contributed article in Forbes in the U.S., Japan then lost the third-place match to Hong Kong, and the bronze medal went to Hong Kong. The medal table for the team competition between countries and regions in the event's results system (Sporttora) also shows no medal for Japan. The U.S. won, and Vietnam finished runner-up.

Sources: VOV (September 5), Forbes (via Yahoo Sports, September 9), the event's results system Sporttora (medal table for the team competition between countries and regions), PJ Team Japan players

2. Tournaments in Japan | Yuta Yoshida Wins Two Titles at the APP International Event in Sendai

THE SUPER SPORTS XEBIO APP ASIA Qualifier Series SENDAI 2026, which we introduced in our August roundup, was held September 18–20 at Motoyama Seisakusho Aoba Arena in Sendai. According to the records in the tournament system of Pickleball Japan (PJ), the results of the three pro events were as follows.

Player names are based on the names registered in the tournament system and are written with the given name first.

Yuta Yoshida won two of the three pro events: men's doubles and mixed doubles. All four players in the mixed doubles final, including their opponents Reiri Noguchi and Takumi Matsuda, are named on PJ's World Cup roster for Team Japan. I've summarized the brands that Japan's top players, including Yoshida, are signed with in What Paddles Do Japan's Pros Use? On September 29, PJ announced that it had finished uploading the tournament's match results to DUPR.

Sources: PJ (tournament results, notice on the DUPR upload, September 29)

3. Courts and Companies | Two Venues Open in Toyosu, and Ikebukuro Will Expand to 11 Courts

• PICKLEBALL PARK TOYOSU (4 outdoor courts): Opened September 9. To mark the opening, the 1st All Japan Student Pickleball Championships were also held there
• PICKLR TOKYO TOYOSU (7 indoor courts): Grand opening on September 25. From October 1, visitors who aren't members can also play
• Sansan Pickleball Court Ikebukuro: On September 30, announced it will add three full-size indoor courts and one half court on the third floor (the plan covered in our July roundup called for two indoor courts and two mini practice courts). The new courts are scheduled to open November 15, bringing the total to 11 courts after the expansion
• Pickle K Wakabadai (Inagi, Tokyo): A dedicated facility with 4 indoor courts opened September 1 inside the Frespo Wakabadai shopping center
• ASICS PICKLEBALL CONNECT: On September 18–27, ASICS opened a single court at Fukutoku no Mori in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, where people could try the sport for free

In corporate news, on September 2, Nippon Sigmax, which owns the ZAMST brand of supports and braces, announced a yearlong sponsorship of the PPA Tour in the U.S. The company says it will also exhibit in the retail areas at the venues. On September 22, the TV Aichi special Machikado Player Hakkutsu! Minna de Pickleball (roughly, Discovering Street Players! Pickleball for Everyone), which we covered in our August roundup, aired nationwide on the TV Tokyo network.

Sources: Mynavi News (September 11), Japan Pickleball Holdings (PR TIMES, October 2), Sansan (September 30), AKIKA (September 1), ASICS Japan (September 15), Nippon Sigmax (September 2), TV Aichi program page

4. Upcoming Events Announced in September | PPA Asia 125 at Ariake in December, With Ben Johns Set to Play

Ariake | PPA Asia 125 Alongside PJ's Tournament (December 7–9)

On September 14, PJ announced that alongside the 3rd PJ Pickleball Championships, to be held December 7–11 at Ariake Tennis Forest Park, it will hold PPA Asia 125 PJ TOKYO Challenger 2026, a lower-tier PPA Tour Asia event, at Ariake Coliseum (December 7–9). PJ says this is the first time a PPA Asia 125 event has been held in Japan. The invited players are Ben Johns, described in PJ's September 14 announcement as the "men's world No. 1," and Anna Bright, who won women's doubles and mixed doubles at Nationals in the U.S., which ran through September 6. In men's doubles, Johns, one half of the pair Funemizu beat in Arizona in September, is set to team up with Funemizu. According to PJ's blog, the categories Johns and Bright will play are scheduled for December 8 and 9, and admission is free for spectators.

Other Plans Announced in September

• PX LEAGUE (Sansan, announced September 18): A special edition will be held on October 14 on the indoor courts at Ariake Tennis Forest Park as part of the Burger King Cup, and league play is scheduled to begin November 22 at Sansan Pickleball Court Ikebukuro. The draft was held September 17 (July's announcement had it set for September 12)
• Hong Kong Slam (October 19–25): On September 25, PPA Tour Asia announced that Funemizu will play with Alshon, whom he faced in the Arizona final (we'll cover the results in our October roundup)
• Osaka Open 2026 (October 22–25, Esaka Tennis Center, Suita, Osaka): On September 27, PJ announced the event as a tournament it endorses. It will be played on 36 courts (14 indoor courts in case of rain) and includes a pro division
• Pickleball EXPO 2026 (November 13–15, Yokohama International Swimming Pool): Announced September 28 by the Chiba Prefecture Pickleball Association. It will feature try-it sessions, tournaments and corporate exhibits
• PJ Numazu Open 2026 (December 5–6, Numazu, Shizuoka): On September 17, PJ announced that the event, originally planned as an APP international tournament, will instead be a PJ-hosted tournament
• Pickle Parks Cup 2026, a corporate team competition: In September, Rond announced an event in Otemachi (October 19 and 21) and a Kansai event co-hosted with Mizuno (November 3, Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium)
• MLP Asia (first matches scheduled for November 13 in Japan): After September's draft, Funemizu is captain of the Tokyo team (per Pickleball.com's roster). Details in the world edition

Sources: PJ (PR TIMES, September 14), PJ blog (September 26), PPA Tour (Nationals event page), Sansan (September 18), PPA Tour Asia (September 25), Osaka Open 2026 official site, Chiba Prefecture Pickleball Association (September 28), PJ (Numazu, September 17), Rond (September 7, September 30), Pickleball.com (MLP Asia draft, September 14)

Summary | Japan's Pickleball News, September 2026

• Japanese players: Yuta Funemizu was runner-up at the PPA Tour's Arizona event in the U.S. In Kuala Lumpur, Rika Fujiwara and Funemizu reached the semifinals. Team Japan reached the semifinals of the World Cup team competition
• Tournaments in Japan: At the APP international event in Sendai, Yuta Yoshida won men's doubles and mixed doubles
• Courts: 4 outdoor courts and 7 indoor courts opened in Toyosu. Ikebukuro is set to grow to 11 courts in November
• December plans: PPA Asia 125 at Ariake. Ben Johns is set to team up with Funemizu

The Sendai tournament and the two Toyosu venues previewed in our August roundup all got started on schedule. At Ariake in December, the categories Johns will play are scheduled for the 8th and 9th (Tuesday and Wednesday), and admission is free. They're weekdays, but it's a tournament where you're scheduled to be able to see Funemizu and Johns play as a pair in Japan. If you can make it, why not go watch in person? I've put together how to watch the streams and the time differences in our Pickleball Spectator's Guide.

If you're unsure about preparing for your first tournament or rethinking your shoes or paddle, talk to me (Coach Yoshi) on LINE. You can add us as a friend through Pickleball Lab's official LINE account.

Related articles

• [August 2026] Japan Pickleball News Roundup — The previous month's roundup (opening dates for the two Toyosu venues, details on the Sendai tournament)
• [September 2026] World Pickleball News Roundup — The world edition for the same month (the big picture of the tournaments)
• [July 2026] Japan Pickleball News Roundup — The PPA Tokyo event and the launch of PX LEAGUE
• What Are MLP and the PPA Tour?
• What Paddles Do Japan's Pros Use?
• How to Enter Your First Pickleball Tournament
• What Is DUPR?
• Using DUPR in Japan
• The Complete Guide to Choosing Pickleball Shoes
• How to Find and Book a Pickleball Court

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References

1. PPA Tour — Veolia Arizona Open (September 14–20, 2026, Mesa, U.S.) event page (champions and runners-up in each event)
2. PR TIMES (AAS Management, "Yuta Funemizu Finishes Runner-Up on the U.S. Pro Tour," September 21, 2026) (Japanese)
3. The Dink Pickleball — PPA Arizona Open Recap (2026-09-21; seeds and championship points in the final)
4. PPA Tour Asia — Leapmotor Kuala Lumpur Cup 2026 (PPA Asia 1000, September 9–13) event page (podiums and match results)
5. PPA Tour Asia — DENNEHY DÉJÀ VU: AUSSIE BACK IN THREE SEMIS (2026-09-11; Kuala Lumpur quarterfinals)
6. PPA Tour Asia — PARTNERS IN GOLD: IRVINE AND TARDIO CLEAN UP IN KL (2026-09-13; Kuala Lumpur finals)
7. VOV (Voice of Vietnam) — World Cup 2026 Team Competition Semifinal: Vietnam 4-0 Japan (September 5, 2026) (Vietnamese)
8. Yahoo Sports (republished from Forbes) — Team USA Repeats As Team Champions in Vietnam At 2026 Pickleball World Cup (September 9, 2026)
9. Sporttora (results system used to run World Cup 2026) — Medal table for the team competition between countries and regions
10. Pickleball Japan (PJ) — Team Japan Players for the Pickleball World Cup 2026 (Japanese)
11. Pickleball Japan (PJ) tournament system — THE SUPER SPORTS XEBIO APP ASIA Qualifier Series SENDAI 2026 (tournament results)
12. Pickleball Japan (PJ) — Notice That Match Results From the Same Tournament Have Been Uploaded to DUPR (September 29, 2026) (Japanese)
13. Mynavi News — PICKLEBALL PARK TOYOSU Opens (September 11, 2026) (Japanese)
14. PR TIMES (Japan Pickleball Holdings, event report on the opening of "PICKLR TOKYO TOYOSU," October 2, 2026) (Japanese)
15. PR TIMES (Sansan, expanded opening of "Sansan Pickleball Court Ikebukuro," September 30, 2026) (Japanese)
16. PR TIMES (AKIKA, "Pickle K" opens at Frespo Wakabadai, September 1, 2026) (Japanese)
17. PR TIMES (ASICS Japan, limited-time opening of "ASICS PICKLEBALL CONNECT," September 15, 2026) (Japanese)
18. PR TIMES (Nippon Sigmax, "ZAMST Signs On as Annual Sponsor of the PPA Tour," September 2, 2026) (Japanese)
19. PR TIMES (PJ, "3rd PJ Pickleball Championships 2026 in Japan" to be held alongside "PPA Asia 125," September 14, 2026) (Japanese)
20. Pickleball Japan (PJ) blog — Rika's Court Side (September 26, 2026) (Japanese)
21. PR TIMES (Sansan, all "PX LEAGUE" players confirmed, September 18, 2026) (Japanese)
22. PPA Tour — Veolia Pickleball National Championships (August 31–September 6, 2026) event page (champions and runners-up in each event)
23. Pickleball.com — Shimabukuro, Wang headline inaugural MLP Asia draft class (2026-09-14; Tokyo team roster and schedule for the first matches)
24. PPA Tour Asia — Six for Six: Stars Stack Up at Kai Tak (2026-09-25; Hong Kong Slam players)
25. OSAKA OPEN 2026 official site (October 22–25, Esaka Tennis Center; the destination of PJ's September 27 notice about the endorsed tournament) (Japanese)
26. PR TIMES (Chiba Prefecture Pickleball Association, "Pickleball EXPO 2026," September 28, 2026) (Japanese)
27. Pickleball Japan (PJ) — PJ Numazu Open 2026: Change to Event Overview and Release of Provisional Guidelines (September 17, 2026) (Japanese)
28. PR TIMES (Rond and Mizuno, "Kansai Corporate Pickleball Competition Pickle Parks Cup 2026," September 7, 2026) (Japanese)
29. PR TIMES (Rond, "Otemachi Corporate Pickleball Tournament Pickle Parks Cup 2026," September 30, 2026) (Japanese)
30. TV Aichi — Program page for the special Machikado Player Hakkutsu! Minna de Pickleball (aired September 22) (Japanese)