About Shinji Saito
Shinji Saito, born June 29, 1989 in Fukushima, Japan, began practicing yo-yo in March 1998 during Japan’s Hyper Yo-Yo boom. Within weeks he earned a BANDAI Pro Spinner certification — the top designation in the Hyper-level skills framework — and joined Team High Performance Japan, the domestic arm of BANDAI’s competition program. His first World Yo-Yo Contest title came in 2002 in the 2A (two-handed looping) division. He would go on to win that division six consecutive times from 2002 through 2007, establishing a standard of technical looping that redefined what was achievable in the format.
At the 2005 World Yo-Yo Contest, Saito became the first competitor in the event’s history to score a perfect 100 points in 2A, a benchmark that underscored his mechanical consistency. From 2006 through 2009 he simultaneously won the Combined (CB) Division — a multi-style exhibition format — all four years it was held, remaining the sole competitor ever to win that division across all its editions. His only defeat at a WYYC 2A final came in 2008, when Takuma Yamamoto edged him 94.12 to 92.79. He rebounded to win in 2009, 2011, and 2015, bringing his 2A total to nine titles and his overall WYYC total to thirteen — the most of any competitor in the contest’s history.
Saito’s playing is characterized by precision, density of content, and the development of arm-wrap sequences that became foundational to modern 2A. The community nickname “The Machine” reflects both his scoring consistency and the systematic completeness of his routines. Around 2013 he expanded his competitive focus to include 1A string tricks, and his collaboration with Turning Point’s Kentaro Kimura produced the Paranoid, a solo signature 1A throw developed through extensive prototyping. His later titanium signature, the Diaspora (2017), and its Grade 5 titanium evolution (2026) reflect a sustained partnership with Turning Point as his primary manufacturer.
Beyond his WYYC record, Saito won four Asia-Pacific 2A titles (2010, 2011, 2014, 2015) and is a multiple-time Japan National 2A champion. He has been described by YoYoNews as “the single most dominant yo-yo player of all time” and as having “a strong argument for the greatest yo-yoer of all time.” As of 2026, he remains an active competitor and Turning Point team member, his thirteen world titles standing as the all-time record in organized competitive yo-yo.
