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Sunday, October 18.
JR Toyama Station, before the Shinkansen ticket gates.
Yesterday, two hundred eighty-two players took their shots in eleven pool halls across Toyama and Ishikawa.
Qualifiers in which a single loss did not yet mean the end.
Today, twenty-four step up to the tables before the gates.
Sixteen men. Eight women.
From here on, one loss, and it ends there.
The men: sixteen
Koki Sugiyama and Norio Ogawa.
Satoshi Kawabata and Tomoya Iima.
Hayato Hijikata and Yoshioka.
Kihara and Akagariyama.
Sugawara and Kamihashi.
Nozaki and Yoshihiro Kitatani.
Lo Li-wen and Takenaka.
Inagawa and Yamakawa.
Yoshihiro Kitatani won this tournament last year.
His second title here, twelve years after his first.
His opponent in that final was Lo Li-wen.
A week ago, Norio Ogawa took his first tour title, at the fifth leg of the Grand Prix East.
Inagawa won the fifth leg of the Grand Prix West at the start of October.
The women: eight
Chie Aoki and Samia Konishi.
Muramatsu and Chihiro Kawahara.
Tamami Okuda and Kyoko Sone.
Yukawa and Yuki Hiraguchi.
Two years ago, Samia Konishi won her first title in Hokuriku, at this tournament.
This autumn, Chihiro Kawahara reached the final four at the Women’s World 9-Ball Championship in Bali.
Before the gates, the night before
On the night of the 17th, setup before the gates went on until late.
Around a table, someone bends low, hands at work.
On the cloth, a mark for where the rack will go.
Inside the tent, laptops and a printer, and monitor after monitor.
On the desk, a card that reads “TIME OUT.”
Underfoot, bags of streaming gear are piled up.
The banner in front reads “The 37th Hokuriku Open Billiards Tournament.”
Above it hangs “TOYAMA CITY,” with a painting of the Tateyama mountains.
The cloth on the tables is gray.
At the mouth of a side pocket, the 1 and the 2.
Two balls, and the pocket is closed.
The corner pockets, too: two balls, and they are closed.
The tables the twenty-four will play on today were made ready like this, the night before.
So that the players can face nothing but the next shot.
Across thirty-seven Hokuriku Opens, there must have been a night like this, every year.
Past the gates
Sunday’s matches are scheduled to stream on the JPBA’s YouTube channel.
Even if you cannot make it to Toyama, you can watch the same shots from the other side of a screen.
At the venue, there will also be a session where parents and children can try billiards together.
Some of you have known the morning of a final, at a house tournament.
Nothing is on the table yet.
Only the sound of a rack being set reaches you first.
People step off the Shinkansen and pass through the gates.
Just beyond, the first rack is set.
A dry crack echoes through the concourse.
The sound of the break.
Someone pulling a suitcase stops.
They probably do not know the rules.
Even so, their eyes follow the balls as they scatter, to see where each one goes.
Before they know it, they are waiting for the next shot.
Sources
- The 37th Hokuriku Open official website (in Japanese) https://hokuriku-open-billiards.com/
- 2026 Hokuriku Open [official] bracket (final stage, special venue at JR Toyama Station) https://billi-walker.jp/jpba/hokurikuopen/2026/draws
- On the hill!, “2026 Hokuriku Open: Oct. 17-18 (Sat-Sun) [draw posted]” (in Japanese) https://www.onthehill.jp/archives/107794
- On the hill!, “2025 Hokuriku Open: Miyuki Kuribayashi, third win in 10 years! Yoshihiro Kitatani, second win in 12 years!” (in Japanese) https://www.onthehill.jp/archives/95048
- On the hill!, “2026 Grand Prix East, Leg 5: Norio Ogawa, first Grand Prix title!” (in Japanese) https://www.onthehill.jp/archives/108105
- On the hill!, “2026 Grand Prix West, Leg 5: Inagawa takes the title!” (in Japanese) https://www.onthehill.jp/archives/107904
- On the hill!, “2026 Women’s World 9-Ball Championship: Chou Chieh-yu wins her second title!” (in Japanese) https://www.onthehill.jp/archives/108721
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