Jeremy Bloom of the United States overwhelmed the field, while Japan's Osamu Ueno pulled off the first podium finish of his career with a third-place showing at a World Cup moguls event on Saturday.
World Cup leader Bloom claimed his third victory of the season on 25.32 points with solid turns and a classy performance in the air at the Listel Park piste in Inawashiro, holding off Australian Dale Begg-Smith by 0.89.
Ueno, the only Japanese to advance to the 16-man final, went far better than the previous personal best on the freestyle World Cup circuit he achieved with a 10th-place finish in the duel moguls at Fernie, Canada, on Jan. 22.
"Everything went smoothly and naturally once I started running in the final and it surprised me," Ueno said. "People often say I'm chicken-hearted but this result is truly a confidence boost."
In the women's moguls, American skier Jillian Vogtli earned 23.47 points for her first title this winter, finishing 0.45 clear of runnerup Margarita Marbler of Austria. Hannah Kearney of the United States was third on 22.91.
Japan's Tae Satoya, who won the gold at the 1998 Nagano Olympics and bronze at the Salt Lake City Games in 2002, finished a season-high fifth with 22.37.