At 15 years of age, the youngest competitor of the E-Pro Japan just claimed a national title after a two-week battle amongst the archipelago’s top professional surfers and wildcard threats. In the final heat draw held September 27th, 2020, Kanagawa’s Tenshi Iwami defeated 16-year-old phenom Shohey Kato , hailing from Chiba, in a battle of the young-guns. The fourth stop on the Surf Web Series (SWS)—the online surfing world championship—showcased a plethora of talent with competitors ranging from 15-48 years old, motivating Iwami to step up to the plate. “Thank you, I am so stoked!” Tenshi Iwami exclaimed during the LIVE awards presentation held on the @ surfwebseries Instagram page last night. The humble athlete thanked his support team during his acceptance speech as the first ever E-Pro Japan champion, quite an impressive achievement at only 15. If you missed the LIVE awards show last night, click to watch it now! The official results were revealed during last night’s E-Pro Japan awards ceremony , in which hosts Shannon Reporting and Tsuyoshi Nakajima introduced the top performers and discussed with event director, Ian Simpson, and professional judge C yril Nel . The exciting competition utilized the SWS platform well to further establish Japan as a surf destination, displaying a diverse selection of waves from all corners of the island chain. The level of high-performance surfing impressed our team of professional judges and, of course, the fans who took part in voting for their favorite surfers helping them get to push through each round through to the final heat.  Congrats to all the finalists: Te nshi Iwami (1st), Shohey Kato (2nd), Y ukio Ogawa (3rd), K aito Kurokawa (4th) , and great job to all the competitors and wildcards putting on an impressive show and representing the high performance level of Japan’s surfers.  The top four finishers of the event will be invited to the Surf Web Series world final in 2021, gathering the best of each country in order to crown the first-ever SWS world champion.  Big thanks to all of our legendary judges, and thanks to all the fans for voting! WATCH THE FINAL HEAT OF E-PRO JAPAN Following Japan’s final day of action, the Surf Web Series heads down to South America to prepare for the much-anticipated 51 Ice E-Pro Brasil , inviting the “Brazilian Storm” to submit their best clips in hopes of claiming the first ever national title in one of the globe’s biggest surfing nations. With the likes of Samuel Pupo, Weslley Dantas, Mateus Herdy, former CT surfer Willian Cardoso, Ian Gouveia, Lucas Silveira, and Thiago Camarão already confirmed on the roster, you don’t want to miss it.  The 51 Ice E-Pro Brasil kicks off Round 1 on October 26, 2020 , and will crown its first-ever national champion on November 8th during a LIVE awards ceremony. The E-Pro Japan is made possible thanks to support from our sponsors: YUKIBRAND —born in Japan and raised between the Asian islands, sharing with the world the experience of riding in a 100% Japanese custom-made wetsuit.  CORE N’ CODE —a company that manages all the necessary elements required in the training of athletes, connecting you directly to high performance. CUCULE —fitness initialized, Cucule provides a space where you can reset your mind and body as well as activities to help people with physical pain and distress.  WAVAL —the official media sponsor of the E-Pro Japan. Waval.net spreads the charm of nature and surf culture, providing media for surfing and nature lovers. SURF OPEN LEAGUE —a global platform promoting surf and the coast of México through a series of professional surfing championship events and festivals.