TOKYO, Japan — April 14, 2026 — Keyro Pun, an international competitor originally from Macao and based in Taiwan, was named Grand Prix winner at the seventh Japan National Championship of Magic, held last weekend — April 11 and 12 — at Theater Daikanyama in Tokyo’s Shibuya district. The award carries a prize of ¥1,000,000 (approximately $6,800 USD) and the title of Japan’s top competitive magician for 2026.
Pun, who competes internationally as Macao’s sole FISM representative and holds credentials including third place at the FISM Asian Championship of Magic and a Grand Champion title at the TMA Unicorn Magic Competition, shared first place in the Stage Division with Masaya Hashimoto — a dead tie that made the Grand Prix selection a particularly consequential decision by the judging panel. In the end, the panel elevated Pun to the overall title.
Full Results
Close-up Division
1st: Fūki
2nd: SANTA
3rd (tie): Tomo and Gotaishi
Stage Division
1st (tie): Keyro Pun and Masaya Hashimoto
2nd: Masataka Jimbo
3rd: No award presented
Audience Choice
Close-up: SANTA
Stage: Masaya Hashimoto
The absence of a third-place award in the Stage Division is consistent with JNCM’s judging standards, which require finalists to clear a defined scoring threshold to receive recognition — a policy that reinforces the competition’s reputation for rigor.
Masaya Hashimoto, the JNCM2022 champion and TMA Magic Convention 2025 Grand Prix winner, took the Audience Choice award alongside his share of first — a result that suggested the theater crowd saw the Stage Division’s top as genuinely contested. In the Close-up Division, SANTA claimed the Audience Choice award.
Close-up Division first-place finisher Fūki is a 2026 COIN-CON participant; division third-place finishers Tomo and Gotaishi both represented Japan at the 2025 FISM World Championship of Magic in Turin, Italy.
The competition’s judging panel included Chief Judge Junichiro Sejima, FISM close-up judge Shinpei Katsuragawa, Shoot Ogawa, Yuki Iwane, Ponta the Smith, and Dr. Leon.
The results carry particular resonance given Magic Academy of Tokyo’s formal acceptance this year as a member organization of FISM, the Fédération internationale des sociétés magiques, the international governing body of competitive magic. Placement at JNCM now serves as a direct credential toward FISM continental and world championship eligibility. That pathway produced a historic result last year: Ibuki, who won at JNCM2025, went on to win the Grand Prix at the 2025 FISM World Championship in Turin — the first Japanese magician ever to claim that title. The next FISM World Championship of Magic is scheduled for Busan, South Korea, in 2028.
The Stage day also featured the Magic Academy Award 2025 ceremony. Ibuki was named Magician of the Year. The Hall of Fame honor went to Lance Burton — recognized for a career that M.A.T. cited as a sustained embodiment of the beauty and class of classic magic.
A special performance showcase followed, featuring Ibuki, KiLa, Takumi Takahashi, and Tempei.
Japan has long been a quiet powerhouse in technical magic, particularly in close-up and manipulation disciplines. Events like JNCM often serve as early indicators of performers who later emerge on the international stage. JNCM2023 Close Up Champion Ibuki going on to win the FISM 2025 World Championship of Magic Close Up Grand Prix proves that.
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