is a Japanese badminton player from Okayama Prefecture who competes in men's and mixed doubles. A member of the Japanese national team, he plays for the NTT East team and has reached career-high world rankings of No. 13 in mixed doubles and No. 17 in men's doubles. Yamashita won a bronze medal in mixed doubles at the 2021 World Championships and two Super 300 titles: his maiden BWF World Tour title at the 2026 U.S. Open and the 2026 Canada Open. He has represented Japan in team competitions, winning bronze medals at the 2022 Asian Games and the Sudirman Cup in 2023 and 2025.
Early career In 2016, Yamashita competed at junior international level, partnering Naoki Yamazawa in boys' doubles. The pair finished as runners-up at the Dutch Junior before winning the German Junior; they faced Hiroki Okamura and Masayuki Onodera in both finals. That year, Yamashita also represented Japan at the Asian Junior Championships in Bangkok, where the team won a bronze medal.
Career 2019–2021: World Championship bronze Yamashita formed a mixed doubles partnership with Naru Shinoya on the BWF World Tour. In 2019, they reached the final of the Akita Masters (Super 100), losing to South Korea's Ko Sung-hyun and Eom Hye-won. That same year, he won the Malaysia International men's doubles title alongside Hiroki Midorikawa.
In 2021, Yamashita and Shinoya made their Super 750 debut at the Indonesia Masters, where they were eliminated in the first round. They subsequently competed in their first Super 1000 tournament at the Indonesia Open, advancing to the second round. Unseeded and ranked world No. 52 at the World Championships in Huelva, Yamashita and Shinoya defeated sixth seeds Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith in the second round and Robin Tabeling and Selena Piek in the third round. In the quarterfinals, they defeated reigning European champions Rodion Alimov and Alina Davletova, winning five consecutive points after trailing 16–19 in the deciding game to secure a bronze medal. Their run ended in the semifinals with a loss to compatriots Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino.
2022–2023: World top 15 and team medals Yamashita and Shinoya reached a career-high mixed doubles world ranking of 13 in December 2022. Their 2022 season was highlighted by quarterfinal appearances at the Denmark Open and the Australian Open. At the All Japan Championships in December, they finished as runners-up in mixed doubles after losing to Yuki Kaneko and Misaki Matsutomo.
In 2023, Yamashita and Shinoya reached the semifinals of the German Open and the Canada Open, as well as the quarterfinals of the All England Open. Representing Japan at the 2023 Sudirman Cup, Yamashita and Shinoya won all three of their mixed doubles matches, including victories over the world No. 3 pair of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai in the quarterfinals and Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping in the semifinals, helping Japan earn a bronze medal. Yamashita also won a bronze medal in the men's team event at the 2022 Asian Games. In men's doubles, he won the Osaka International with Midorikawa. At the end of the year, Yamashita and Shinoya won their first national mixed doubles title at the All Japan Championships, defeating defending champions Kaneko and Matsutomo.
2024–2025: World top 30 and first Super 500 final
Yamashita and Shinoya began the year pursuing qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics in mixed doubles. The pair did not qualify, and their partnership ended in April when Shinoya retired from the national team. Yamashita then resumed his men's doubles partnership with Midorikawa. They won consecutive titles at the Sydney International and the North Harbour International. Domestically, the duo won three major titles that year: the Japan Ranking Circuit, the All Japan Members Championships, and the All Japan Championships.
In 2025, Yamashita and Midorikawa reached the semifinals of the Swiss Open, having defeated the world No. 2 pair Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin in the first round, and also advanced to the semifinals at the Taipei Open. Yamashita also won another bronze medal with the Japanese team at the Sudirman Cup. The pair reached a career-high men's doubles ranking of 25 in September 2025 and finished the season as runners-up at the Super 500 Japan Masters, losing the final to South Korea's Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae. In December, they retained their All Japan Championships men's doubles title.
2026: Maiden World Tour titles
In January, Yamashita and Midorikawa reached their first Super 750 final at the India Open, defeating the world No. 3 pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in the second round and the world No. 2 pair of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the semifinals before finishing as runners-up to Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang. Yamashita and Midorikawa played their final tournament together at the Indonesia Masters, where they were eliminated in the second round. They subsequently declined selection to Japan's 2026 national team. Yamashita and Midorikawa reached a career-high world ranking of No. 17 on 10 March.
Yamashita then formed a new partnership with Hiroki Okamura, a former junior rival. In their second tournament together, they finished as runners-up at the Super 300 Orléans Masters in March. In June, Yamashita secured his maiden BWF World Tour title by winning the Super 300 U.S. Open, defeating Chen Zhi-ray and Lin Yu-chieh in the final. In July, Yamashita and Okamura won a second consecutive Super 300 title at the Canada Open, defeating Christian Faust Kjær and Rasmus Kjær in the final.
Achievements World Championships Mixed doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2021 Palacio de los Deportes Carolina Marín,Huelva, Spain Naru Shinoya Yuta Watanabe Arisa Higashino 13–21, 8–21 Bronze
BWF World Tour (2 titles, 4 runners-up) The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.
Men's doubles Year Tournament Level Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2025 Japan Masters Super 500 Hiroki Midorikawa Kim Won-ho Seo Seung-jae 22–20, 11–21, 16–21 Runner-up 2026 India Open Super 750 Hiroki Midorikawa Liang Weikeng Wang Chang 21–17, 23–25, 16–21 Runner-up 2026 Orléans Masters Super 300 Hiroki Okamura Hu Keyuan Lin Xiangyi 19–21, 14–21 Runner-up 2026 U.S. Open Super 300 Hiroki Okamura Chen Zhi-ray Lin Yu-chieh 21–18, 16–21, 21–16 Winner 2026 Canada Open Super 300 Hiroki Okamura Christian Faust Kjær Rasmus Kjær 13–21, 21–10, 21–17 Winner
Mixed doubles Year Tournament Level Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2019 Akita Masters Super 100 Naru Shinoya Ko Sung-hyun Eom Hye-won 10–21, 17–21 Runner-up
BWF International Challenge/Series (4 titles) Men's doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2019 Malaysia International Hiroki Midorikawa Liang Weikeng Shang Yichen 18–21, 21–10, 21–16 Winner 2023 Osaka International Hiroki Midorikawa Wei Chun-wei Wu Guan-xun 21–14, 21–14 Winner 2024 Sydney International Hiroki Midorikawa Lai Po-yu Tsai Fu-cheng 21–14, 21–16 Winner 2024 North Harbour International Hiroki Midorikawa Lai Po-yu Tsai Fu-cheng 16–21, 21–14, 21–14 Winner BWF International Challenge tournament
BWF Junior International (1 title, 1 runner-up) Boys' doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2016 Dutch Junior Naoki Yamazawa Hiroki Okamura Masayuki Onodera 21–17, 11–21, 20–22 Runner-up 2016 German Junior Naoki Yamazawa Hiroki Okamura Masayuki Onodera 21–14, 21–19 Winner BWF Junior International Grand Prix tournament
Performance timeline
National team Junior level Team events 2016 Ref Asian Junior Championships B
Senior level Team events 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Ref Asian Games B NH A Sudirman Cup NH B NH B NH
Individual competitions Senior level Men's doubles Tournament BWF World Tour Best Ref 2018 2019 2023 2024 2025 2026Malaysia OpenA 2R 2R ('26) India OpenA F F ('26) Indonesia MastersA QF 2R QF ('25) Swiss Open A SF 2R SF ('25) Orléans Masters A 2R F F ('26) Thailand OpenA 2R 1R 2R ('25) Baoji China Masters N/A QFA QF ('24) Malaysia MastersA 2R A 2R ('25) Singapore OpenA 1R A 1R ('25) Indonesia OpenA 1R A 1R ('25) Australian OpenA 1R A 1R ('25) U.S. Open A W W ('26) Canada Open A W W ('26) Japan Open A 2R A 2R ('25) Taipei OpenA SF SF SF ('25, '26) China Masters A 1R 1R 1R ('25, '26) Arctic OpenN/AA Q ('26) Denmark OpenA 1R Q 1R ('25) French OpenA 1R Q 1R ('25) Korea OpenA 2R Q 2R ('25)Japan MastersN/AA F Q F ('25) Hong Kong Open A 1R 1R ('25) Syed Modi International A 1R A 1R ('23) Indonesia Masters Super 100 A 1RA 1R ('19) Akita Masters QF A N/A QF ('18) Year-end ranking 265 214 211 131 26 26 Tournament 2018 2019 2023 2024 2025 2026 Best Ref
Mixed doubles Event 2021 2022 2023 2024 Ref Asian Championships NH QF 1R 1R Asian Games NH 1R NH World Championships B 3R 2R NH Tournament BWF World Tour Best Ref 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Malaysia Open A NH 1R 1R 2R 2R ('24) India Open A NH A QF 1R QF ('23) Indonesia Masters A 1R A 2R 2R 2R ('23,'24) Thailand Masters A 2R NH A QF QF ('24) German Open A NH 1R SF A SF ('23) French Open A NH A 2R 2R 1R 2R ('22,'23) All England Open A 1R QF 1R QF ('23) Swiss Open A NH A 1R 2R A 2R ('23) Thailand Open A NH QF A QF ('22) Malaysia Masters A NH 1R QF A QF ('23) Singapore Open A NH A 1R A 1R ('23) Indonesia Open A 2R 1R 1R A 2R ('21) Australian Open A NH QF QF A QF ('22,'23) Canada Open A NH A SF A SF ('23) Japan Open A NH 1R 1R A 1R ('22,'23) Korea Open A NH A 1R A 1R ('23) Hong Kong Open A NH 1R A 1R ('23) Vietnam Open 2R NH A 2R ('19) China Open A NH 2R A 2R ('23) Denmark Open A QF 1R A QF ('22) Japan Masters N/A QF A QF ('23) China Masters A NH 2R A 2R ('23) Syed Modi International A NH A QF A QF ('23) Indonesia Masters Super 100 1R NH A 1R ('19) Akita Masters F NH N/A F ('19) Year-end ranking 73 73 42 13 17 60 13 Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Best Ref
Record against selected opponents Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 23 August 2026.
Naru Shinoya
Players Feng Yanzhe & Huang Dongping 5 1 4 –3 Jiang Zhenbang & Wei Yaxin 2 0 2 –2 Zheng Siwei & Huang Yaqiong 2 0 2 –2 Marcus Ellis & Lauren Smith 3 3 0 +3 Thom Gicquel & Delphine Delrue 1 0 1 –1 Mark Lamsfuß & Isabel Lohau 3 3 0 +3 Tang Chun Man & Tse Ying Suet 3 1 2 –1
Players Praveen Jordan & Melati Daeva Oktavianti 2 0 2 –2 Yuta Watanabe & Arisa Higashino 3 0 3 –3 Chen Tang Jie & Toh Ee Wei 1 0 1 –1 Kim Won-ho & Jeong Na-eun 8 1 7 –6 Seo Seung-jae & Chae Yoo-jung 2 0 2 –2 Dechapol Puavaranukroh & Sapsiree Taerattanachai 3 1 2 –1
Hiroki Midorikawa
Players Chen Boyang & Liu Yi 2 0 2 –2 Liang Weikeng & Wang Chang 1 0 1 –1 Lee Jhe-huei & Yang Po-hsuan 1 0 1 –1 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty 1 1 0 +1
Players Aaron Chia & Soh Wooi Yik 2 1 1 0 Goh Sze Fei & Nur Izzuddin 3 2 1 +1 Ong Yew Sin & Teo Ee Yi 1 1 0 +1 Kim Won-ho & Seo Seung-jae 3 0 3 –3
Hiroki Okamura Players Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty 1 0 1 –1 Goh Sze Fei & Nur Izzuddin 1 0 1 –1
References
External links
Kyohei Yamashita at Badminton Association of Japan Kyohei Yamashita at NTT East