 | |
| Founded | 1917 |
|---|---|
| Region |  Japan |
| Number of teams | 48 |
| Current champions | Aomori Yamada (2023) (4th title) |
| Most successful club(s) | Mikage Shihan (11 titles) |
| Television broadcasters | NTV and affiliates |
| Website | JFA |
 2023 All Japan High School Soccer Tournament | |
The All Japan High School Soccer Tournament (全国高等学校サッカー選手権大会, Zenkoku kōtō gakkō sakkā senshuken taikai, 全国高校サッカー選手権大会, Zenkoku kō kō sakkā senshuken taikai) of Japan, commonly known as "Winter Kokuritsu" (冬の国立 Fuyu no Kokuritsu), is an annual nationwide high school association football tournament. It is the oldest and largest scale amateur sporting event in Japan, widely popular throughout the nation. For third graders of the participating teams, the tournament is the last time the students can play in an official competition with their school peers, as they graduate from High School. It ends up enhancing the motivation of the players in each match of the tournament, as it can be their last wearing his High School team shirt in the competition.
Henceforth, the tournament, organized by the Japan Football Association, All Japan High School Athletic Federation and the Nippon Television, as a highly competitive tournament, it's organized in an all-knockout stage format. The prefectural preliminary rounds uses the same method, with the best-ranked teams according to the U-18 league division it plays earning byes from the early stages. The main tournament is held during the winter school vacation period, culminating in a two-week final tournament stage with 48 teams from late December to early January at the National Capital Region side.[1]