Full Name: Harimoto Tomokazu
Date of Birth: 27 June 2003
Place of Birth: Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
Nationality: Japanese (naturalized in 2014)
Height: 172cm
Team Affiliation: Japan National Men’s Table Tennis Team, Ryukyu Asteeda (T-League)
Playing Style: Right-handed shakehand grip, two-wing topspin attacker, close-table fast-tempo player.
Career Timeline
Harimoto started table tennis at age 2. A child prodigy in world table tennis, he holds multiple ITTF records for youngest title winners in senior and junior events.
2016: Became the youngest Men’s Singles champion in the history of the World Junior Table Tennis Championships.
2017: Claimed the Men’s Singles title at the ITTF Czech Open, setting the record for the youngest senior champion in ITTF World Tour history; awarded ITTF Breakthrough Star of the Year.
2018: Won Men’s Singles titles at the All-Japan Championships and ITTF World Tour Grand Finals, becoming the youngest Grand Finals champion aged 15.
2020: Earned Men’s Singles bronze at the ITTF World Cup.
2021: Men’s Team bronze at Tokyo Olympics; Mixed Doubles silver at Houston WTTC.
2022: Secured the Asian Cup Men’s Singles gold, ending Japan’s 33-year title drought; claimed WTT Champions Budapest title; reached career-high world No.2.
2023: Mixed Doubles silver and Men’s Singles semi-final finish at Durban WTTC; Men’s Singles bronze at Hangzhou Asian Games.
2024: Paris 2024 Olympic Games: Men’s Singles quarter-finalist (officially ranked 5th by JOC), Men’s Team 4th place. Won Asian Table Tennis Championships and All-Japan Men’s Singles titles; finished runner-up at WTT Finals.
2025: WTT Yokohama Champions Men’s Singles champion; quarter-finalist at Doha WTTC.
2026: Men’s Team silver medalist at London WTTC; Men’s Singles runner-up at WTT US Smash.WTT Yokohama Champions Men’s Singles Champion (August 9) – Successfully defended his title on home court, defeating South Korea’s Oh Junsung 4-1. Made history by winning on the same day as his sister Harimoto Miwa, becoming the first sibling pair to capture both men’s and women’s singles titles at the same WTT premier event;WTT Sweden Grand Smash Men’s Singles Runner-up (August) – Came back from behind to defeat world No. 3 Matsushima Sora 4-3 in the semifinals (recovering from 0-7 down in the sixth game to win eight consecutive points), but lost to France’s Félix Lebrun in the final;WTT Europe Grand Smash Men’s Singles Runner-up (August 17) – Lost 1-4 to France’s Félix Lebrun in the final.
Major ITTF Premier Titles
Olympic Games
Tokyo 2020: Men’s Team Bronze
Paris 2024: Men’s Singles Quarter-final (5th place, JOC official), Men’s Team 4th
World Table Tennis Championships
2021 Houston: Mixed Doubles Silver
2022 Chengdu: Men’s Team Silver
2023 Durban: Mixed Doubles Silver, Men’s Singles Semi-final
2026 London: Men’s Team Silver
ITTF World Cup
2019: Men’s Singles Silver
2020: Men’s Singles Bronze
ITTF Standard Playing Characteristics
Harimoto Tomokazu is a dominant close-table two-wing topspin attacker. He executes early rising-phase strokes with extremely fast and compact movements, creating high tempo pressure to limit opponents’ reaction time. His backhand serves as his primary offensive weapon, featuring powerful flicks, counter topspins and stable close-table blocking. His forehand is solid and forceful, with seamless cross-court transitions and continuous offensive capability. He utilizes varied serves and aggressive third-ball attacks, owning outstanding first-strike advantages in short-table rallies. Mentally competitive and high-intensity on court, he uses vocal cues to stabilize his rhythm and disrupt opponents. His major weakness lies in mid-and-far-table rallies; his offensive power and consistency drop significantly when pushed back from the table, resulting in unstable performance in long-distance extended rallies.
