Ok, it’s official. Karate pilgrimages are back on the cards, and visa-free travel is expected to resume from October. Flights may be pricey, but the yen is cheap, so I’m hoping to see more adventurers visit Japan in the coming months.

With this in mind, I wanted to put out some useful info to help any travelers who want more budo in their Nippon trip.

So, for starters, here are all the major tournaments currently scheduled on the Japan Karate Federation calendar.

If you’re a karateka coming to Japan, I’m betting you’re interested in what karate events you can attend on your trip. Now, I can’t promise these will be open to spectators – that depends on the state of the pandemic at the time. But I do suggest you check the list below, and ask your host or travel agent for more details if anything fits your schedule.

JKF Comps September–December 2022

Some of the locations are a little remote, so I’ve marked events in Tokyo, Osaka, and Okinawa in bold.

Dates	Event	Location
Sep 2–4	Kansai Student Karate-do Open Tournament	Kindai University Gymnasium, Osaka
Sep 11	All-Japan Corporate Karate-do Championships	Baycom Gymnasium, Amagasaki
Sep 23–25	Japan Sports Masters Karate-do Competition	Iwate Prefectural Budokan, Morioka
Oct 2–4	National Sports Festival Karate-do Competition	Tochigi South Prefectural Gymnasium, Oyama
Oct 10	Kanto Region University Karate-do Championships	Nippon Budokan, Tokyo
Oct 16	All-Kansai Region University Karate-do Championships	Kindai University Gymnasium, Osaka
Oct 30	Kanto Region Weight-Category Student Championships	Hino Fureai Hall, West Tokyo
Nov 20	All-Japan University Championships	Nippon Budokan, Tokyo
Dec 10	All-Japan Karate-do Championships (Team Events)	Tokyo Budokan, Tokyo
Dec 11	All-Japan Karate-do Championships (Individual Events)	Nippon Budokan, Tokyo
Dec 17	Karate Family Embukai	Hoshinoya Okinawa, Okinawa Main Island
Dec 25–27	National High-School Karate-do Championship	Miyagino Gymnasium, Sendai

JKF Competitions in 2023

Dates	Event	Location
Jan 4–6	National High-School Karate-do Training Tournament	Momotaro Arena, Okayama
Feb 17–19	All-Japan Boys and Girls Karate-do Invitational Tournament	Yotsuba Arena Tokachi, Obihiro
Feb, TBD	All-Self-Defense Force Karate-do Championships	Iruma Base East Gymnasium, Sayama
March 23–25	National High-School Karate-do Invitational Tournament (JOC Junior Olympic Cup)	Fukuoka City General Gymnasium, Fukuoka
March, TBD	National Middle-School Karate-do Invitational Tournament (JOC Junior Olympic Cup)	TDB, Kyoto Prefecture
April 29	Kansai Region Student Karate-do Individual Championships	Hyogo Prefectural Gymnasium
May 5	East Japan University Karate-do Championships	Nippon Budokan, Tokyo
May 14	All-Japan Corporate Karate-do Federation West Japan Tournament	Baycom Gymnasium, Amagasaki
May 21	West Japan University Karate-do Championships	Zip Arena Okayama, Okayama
May 28	Kanto Region Student Karate Championship Tournament	Keio University, Yokohama
June 9–11	Premier League Fukuoka	Fukuoka International Center
July 2	All-Japan Student Karate Championships	Himeji City Central Gymnasium
July 2	All-Japan Corporate Karate-do Federation East Japan Tournament	Tokyo Budokan
July 21–23	“Fire National Flag” National High-School Karate Championship Tournament	Mashiki Town Gymnasium, Kumamoto
Jul 26–29	National High-School Karate-do Championships	Eniwa City Gymnasium
July 29	All-Japan Boys and Girls Martial Arts (Karate) Training Tournament	Nippon Budokan, Tokyo
August 3	National Junior High-School Karate Championships	Tokyo Budokan
August 5	All-Japan Para Karate Competition	Tokyo Budokan
August 5–6	All-Japan Karate-do Weight Class Championships	Tokyo Budokan
August 7–9	All-Japan Boys and Girls Karate-do Championships	Tokyo Budokan
Sep 2–4	Japan Sports Masters Karate-do Competition	Fukui Prefectural Gymnasium
Sep 17	All-Japan Corporate Karate-do Championships	Nippon Budokan, Tokyo
Oct 8–10	National Athletic Meet Karate-do Championships	Sun Arena Sendai, Kagoshima
Oct 9	Kanto Region University Karate-do Championships	Nippon Budokan, Tokyo
Oct 29	Kanto Region Student Weight-Category Karate-do Championships	TBD
Nov 19	All-Japan University Karate-do Championships	Nippon Budokan, Tokyo
Dec 9	All-Japan Karate-do Championships (Team Events)	Tokyo Budokan
Dec 10	All-Japan Karate-do Championships (Individual Events)	Nippon Budokan, Tokyo
Dec 17	Karate Family Embukai	Japan Karate-do Kaikan
Dec 25–27	National High-School Karate-do Championship	Miyagino Gymnasium, Sendai

When the Japan Karate Federation sets the calendar for 2024, you can find regional events here and the national calendar here (both in Japanese).