Junshiro Kobayashi set himself up for a potential second World Cup win this season, when he took second place Friday in a qualifier.
Kobayashi jumped 133.0 meters and totaled 142.1 points, finishing behind Germany's Richard Freitag. Kobayashi is looking for his second World Cup victory after a November win in Wisla, Poland.
"Since it's been a while since my last jump, I thought I could fly well," Kobayashi said. "I wonder if it was a good jump?"
Ryoyu Kobayashi, Noriaki Kasai and Taku Takeuchi also qualified for Saturday's main event.