 The holder is Cho Chikun, and the challenger is Keigo Yamashita for the second time in-a-row.Hideki Komatsu, Norimoto Yoda, Kimio Yamada, Hideo Otake, Koichi Kobayashi, Kim Shushun, Naoki Hane, and Takeshi Sakai qualified through preliminary tournaments.The rest of the players were given spots automatically.