The second weekend of action on the 2026 Steel Tour Japan kicked off on Saturday, with the nation’s elite travelling to Osaka for the next block of four events.
Motomu Sakai led the Order of Merit after the first block of events, despite only picking up the one title, having the final in all four events. He led Keita Ono in second and Yutaka Sunakawa in third, with last years winner Mitsuhiko Tatsunami sat in fourth.
With the Tour play-offs scrapped this year, it meant the winner of the Order of Merit qualifies for the World Championships, rather then the top 16 battling it out for a spot on the final day.
2026 Steel (Darts) Tour Japan
Event 5
The first event of the weekend began on Saturday morning in Osaka, with potentially the four best Japanese players all reaching the Semi-Finals – Arihara, Azemoto, Sakai and Okano.
Motomu Sakai lost his Semi-Final to Arihara 5-1, despite having averaged 93.07, marking the first time in 2026 the Ally Pally cult-hero hadn’t reached the final of an event!
Ryuta Arihara managed to go all the way to claim his first Steel Tour Japan Title of the year, adding it to his three consecutive Asian Tour Titles from two weeks ago!
He has now won Event 5 of the season for the last three consecutive years.
Quarter-Finals
Motomu Sakai (83.7) 4-2 Masahiro Masutani (69.3)
Ryuta Arihara (87.9) 4-2 Hiroki Kaneko (88.6)
Sho Okano (84.3) 4-3 Ryu Fukuda (86.8)
Ryusei Azemoto (69.9) 4-0 Shogo Ikeda (66.2)
Semi-Finals
Ryuta Arihara (97.4) 5-1 Motomu Sakai (93.1)
Ryusei Azemoto (88.3) 5-2 Sho Okano (81.4)
Final
Ryuta Arihara (95.2) 5-2 Ryusei Azemoto (89.3)
Event 6
The second event of the weekend followed on Saturday afternoon, with normal service resumed from the perspective of Motomu Sakai.
With the morning’s winner Ryuta Arihara losing in the first round to Ryunosuke Iwai, Sakai managed to secure his spot in the final to the loss of just four legs, where he took on Joji Kanuma.
It was a very first final on the Japan Tour for Kanuma, having competed on the circuit for two and a half years, previously losing all three of his Semi-Final appearances.
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Sakai managed to get the win over the line, competing a dominant display in Osaka to claim a second title of the season, extending his lead in the race to the World Championships.
Quarter-Finals
Motomu Sakai (97.0) 4-0 Shunta Takayama (74.3)
Ryusei Azemoto (79.3) 4-1 Tomoya Maruyama (74.6)
Joji Kanuma (87.7) 4-1 Mitsuhiko Tatsunami (90.1)
Shogo Ikeda (78.9) 4-2 Ryu Fukuda (81.4)
Semi-Finals
Motomu Sakai (96.8) 5-3 Ryusei Azemoto (92.5)
Joji Kanuma (76.6) 5-4 Shogo Ikeda (73.5)
Final
Motomu Sakai (84.1) 5-2 Joji Kanuma (81.0)
Event 7
The action continued into Sunday, where the two best players Japan have to offer did battle in the Semi-Finals for a second time in two days.
This time Motomu Sakai managed to inflict his revenge, getting the better of Ryuta Arihara 5-2 to reach a sixth final in seven events!
Sakai met underdog Tatsuya Uekusa in the Final, who had previously never been last the Last 16 in a Japan Tour event!
The Japanese star had managed to claim a second consecutive title, but it was a very positive event for Uekusa.
In the Last 32, Yutaka Sunakawa put in the performance of the weekend, getting the better of Naoya Sato 4-0 with an average of 101.90.
Quarter-Finals
Motomu Sakai (89.5) 4-1 Akito Yamagata (82.3)
Ryuta Arihara (92.5) 4-0 Akimune Matsuyoshi (76.8)
Tatsuya Uekusa (70.4) 4-1 Shunta Takayama (68.6)
Youhi Watanabe (81.8) 4-2 Mitsuhiko Tatsunami (83.7)
Semi-Finals
Motomu Sakai (93.7) 5-2 Ryuta Arihara (71.8)
Tatsuya Uekusa (71.3) 5-3 Youhi Watanabe (75.9)
Final
Motomu Sakai (83.4) 5-2 Tatsuya Uekusa (76.6)
Event 8
The weekend was rounded off on Sunday afternoon in Osaka, with some familiar faces in the later rounds. For the second time in three events, Motomu Sakai took on Joji Kanuma in the Final, with the result going the same way once again.
This marked a third consecutive title on the Steel Tour Japan, a feat that see’s Sakai reach an almost unassailable position at the top of the Order of Merit.
Ryuta Arihara produced the second 100+ average of the weekend in the Last 16, beating Shoichi Yanase 4-1 with an average of 100.17.
Quarter-Finals
Motomu Sakai (82.7) 4-3 Akito Yamagata (78.8)
Shunta Takayama (88.8) 4-2 Akimune Matsuyoshi (87.1)
Yuta Hamabe (86.0) 4-1 Ryuta Arihara (75.3)
Joji Kanuma (88.5) 4-2 Yuta Hayashi (83.0)
Semi-Finals
Motomu Sakai (84.9) 5-2 Shunta Takayama (79.2)
Joji Kanuma (74.2) 5-4 Yuta Hamabe (68.6)
Final
Motomu Sakai (88.2) 5-2 Joji Kanuma (76.9)
2026 Steel Tour Japan Order of Merit
Having reached the Final in seven of the eight events in 2026, winning four of them, Motomu Sakai leads the Steel Tour Japan Order of Merit by a considerable margin.
While he hasn’t yet confirmed his spot at Alexandra Palace, it would take a miracle to see him overtaken.
Not only would either Keita Ono, Joji Kanuma, Akimune Matsuyoshi or Mitsuhiko Tatsunanmi have to win all four remaining titles, but Sakai would have to pick up next to no wins over the entire weekend.
A single run to the Quarter-Finals, or two to the Last 32, would see Sakai return to Alexandra Palace.
The Steel Tour Japan will return for it’s final weekend in Kanagawa at the end of September, where they will crown their 2026 Tour Champion.
Images: PDC
