Haruka Kaju proving unstoppable with streak of 31 contests

Japan’s Haruka Kaju continues to look almost unstoppable. With her victory at the 2026 Tbilisi Grand Slam, the U63kg world ranking leader extended an astonishing record: since her international breakthrough in late 2024, she has not lost a single contest on the IJF World Tour.

Kaju first shocked the judo world when she captured gold at the Tokyo Grand Slam in 2024 as a relative unknown. What looked like a surprise quickly turned into a statement. She followed it with victories at the 2025 Paris Grand Slam, the Asian Championships, the World Championships, the Guadalajara Grand Prix and again in Tokyo. Tbilisi was her first appearance of 2026 and she immediately showed she had lost none of her momentum.

Her opening match against Sara Golden (USA) ended in familiar fashion, with Kaju applying her now feared osaekomi turnover. It is a technique everyone studies, yet few can stop. The Japanese judoka has built much of her success around this devastating groundwork.

Against Laura Vazquez Fernandez (ESP), she showed another side of her game, scoring a clean ippon with a strong osoto-gari. In the semi-final she demonstrated her tactical awareness against Mongolia’s Enkhriilen Lkhagvatogoo, first scoring with a rear takedown and later sealing victory with a perfectly timed ouchi-gari.

The final against former world champion Joanne Van Lieshout (NED) was more tactical. With no score on the board, Kaju secured victory through penalties, proving she can also win tough strategic battles.

Groundwork specialist, thrower and smart competitor, Haruka Kaju is showing she has all the tools to stay unbeaten for some time yet.

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