About Yuki Nishisako
Yuki Nishisako is a Japanese competitive yo-yo player and 1A specialist who first came to attention in early 2016 when Axis YoYos — introduced to him by Yoshihiro Matsubara of Japan Looping Solutions — identified him as the next standout competitor from Japan. Within months, Nishisako was performing at events like the 44Festival and had joined the newly launched Unparalleled (UNPRLD) team as its inaugural signature player, becoming the face of the brand from its very first release.
His breakthrough year was 2017: he won the 1A division at the Bay Area Classic in San Jose, California and followed that with a 5th-place finish at the World Yo-Yo Contest in Reykjavík, Iceland — all while using the Flash, a bi-metal signature model UNPRLD built specifically around his playing preferences. At WYYC 2018 in Shanghai, Nishisako debuted his second signature model, the Flashback — a 7075 aluminum design that required three failed prototypes and a trip to the United States before it was finalized — and placed 3rd. He matched that result at WYYC 2019 in Cleveland, establishing back-to-back World bronze finishes and cementing his position among the top 1A competitors globally.
Nishisako’s playing style is defined by its range: he combines blurringly fast technical passages with deliberate highlight moments and exceptional control in horizontal (sideways) play. The Flashback was purpose-built to support this — a bump at the bottom for maximum sideways control and a flared rim for a wide catch zone. Community observers consistently note that his routines appear effortless, with strong musical synchronization and fluent slack trick sequences, leading fans to describe his approach as having an “art flow” quality more commonly associated with artistic divisions than standard 1A competition. Off the stage, he runs yoyonews.jp, the leading Japanese-language yo-yo news site, and is known for his pet rabbit, Usami, and snake, Isami.
