The first ever World Wrap Masters Japan competition took place from 22nd – 24th November 2019 alongside the Nagoya Motor Show 2019 at the Nagoya City International Exhibition Center. Hiroki Kawakami snatched the trophy and will go on to compete at the World Wrap Masters Finals 2020 in Madrid from 26th – 27th March 2020.
Caption: Judge Jim Miller inspecting the quality of the competitors wrapping vinyls on large Coco Cola bottles. Image Credit: Tim Evans Photography / Wrapper Mapper.
Day 1 featured competitors wrap a front door of a Toyota Yaris car and in the creative round competitors wrapped helmets in their own designs. Day 2 competitors wrapped both the front fender and front door of a Toyota Yaris car and wrapped large bottles in their own design. Day 3 competitors wrapped UFOs and featured the semi-final and final rounds. Visiting children also had the opportunity to try wrapping vinyl on the cars themselves.
Caption: Top 4 winners after the final round of the World Wrap Masters Japan 2019. Image Credit: Tim Evans Photography / Wrapper Mapper.
During the final round it was a tense round, but Hiroki Kawakami triumphed and won. Hiroki is 29 years old and works for Yamax.inc in Kanagawa, Japan. 37-year-old Masato Takenaka came second, Masato works for Tomei co.ltd. 32-year-old Charlie Trujillo came third place and works for LE Wraps/LETTERING Express and 31-year-old Kousuke Mine came fourth, Kousuke works for Decorative System.
Caption: Winner, Hiroki Kawakami with the judges of the World Wrap Masters Japan 2019 including, Jim Miller, Tadashi Kariya, Koji Yamaguchi and Fuhito Kurihara. Image Credit: Tim Evans Photography / Wrapper Mapper.
Hiroki has over 4 years experience wrapping car vinyls and usually focuses on commercial wrapping and wraps race cars. Hiroki says: “I have been working in this industry for 4 and a half years now and winning this competition gives me confidence and pushes me to continue to improve my skillset. The World Wrap Masters Japan is a very unique type of competition and I hope having the presence of this competition will help grow this industry in this country and throughout the world.”
Caption: Children have a go at wrapping vinyls on cars at the World Wrap Masters Japan 2019. Image Credit: Tim Evans Photography / Wrapper Mapper.
When asked about his fellow competitors, Hiroki commented “I think my fellow competitors were very skilled and experienced and it was great that I could compete with someone from the USA also!”
Hiroki will join the other winners from the regional and international World Wrap Masters series competitions in the World Wrap Masters Final 2020 World Wrap Masters Final 2020 that will take place at the Global Print Expo 2020 from 22nd – 24th March 2020 at the IFEMA Exhibition Centre.
Hiroki comments “I am really excited for the World Wrap Masters Final 2020 in Madrid and I will try my very best to win and bring the trophy home to Japan!”
Image credit: Tim Evans Photography / Wrapper Mapper