Twenty-five-year-old Aono triumphed in the second event of the four-leg season in Mammoth Mountain in January and was in excellent form on his home course.

The 2009 world champion brought home his third consecutive podium result with a frontside 1440 to cab double cork 1080, with a frontside 900 and a backside 1260 to finish things off.

That earned him the victory in a tight final with 94.25 points, edging Markus Malin of Finland who managed 93.75 and compatriot Raibu Katayama who totalled 92.00.

“I'm very proud of my season having had very good results at every World Cup stop,” he said.

“I was able to perform the way that I wanted today, even though I wasn't going as big as I wanted.

"That's for sure something for the future: to be even more constant on the amplitude and to win more competitions.”

Both competitions were held after tricky weather conditions had forced qualifying forward by a day earlier in the week.

Cai, the 22-year-old reigning world champion and the halfpipe World Cup winner from 2010, 2011 and 2012, scored 91.50 for her run which consisted of a backside 540 to frontside 540, backside air and back-to-back 720s.

"I'm very happy to finish first and to win my fourth Crystal Globe," she said.

"I felt well today, the weather conditions didn't affect my riding at all.

"I had enough speed to perform my tricks.

"I enjoyed Japan."

The victory was Cai's second of the season after she won the opening event in Cardrona in New Zealand, and she came home ahead of her team-mate Jiayu Liu who managed 87.00.

Bronze went to France's Clemence Grimal who scored 84.00.

Both champions have also claimed the overall International Ski Federation Snowboarding World Cup leads, with the next leg of the season a slopestyle competition in Pyeongchang in South Korea between February 19 and 21, an event which will serve as a tester for the 2018 Winter Olympics.