Reigning world champions Funa Tonaki and Soichi Hashimoto were among the four Japanese who won their respective weight divisions at the World Judo Masters in St. Petersburg on Saturday.
In the women's competition, world No. 4 Tonaki won the 48-kg category after taking down sixth-ranked local favorite Irina Dolgova in the final. Miku Tashiro defeated Japanese compatriot Nami Nabekura in the 63-kg category to claim her third World Masters title.
Among Japanese male judoka, Hashimoto beat Rio Olympic bronze medalist Lasha Shavdatuashvili of Georgia in the men's 73-kg final. Ryuju Nagayama won gold in the men's 60 kg.
Tsukasa Yoshida lost to Mongolia's reigning world champion Sumiya Dorjsuren, and finished runner-up in the women's 57 kg. Natsumi Tsunoda, who was fighting in the women's 52-kg category finished seventh.
The top-16 ranked judoka in each weight division are invited to compete in the two-day event.