The competition, taking place at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, represents the last major judo event of the year.

Italy's Fabio Basile will look to continue the stunning form he showed winning a shock Olympic title in Rio when the under-66 kilograms competition takes place tomorrow.

The 22-year-old, who won four of five contests in Brazil by ippon, will resume his rivalry with South Korean world champion An Baul.

An was beaten by Basile in the final in Rio.

Other contenders include Tyumen Grand Slam winner Hifumi Abe, who will lead the Japanese charge in the hope of repeating his 2014 win, and Russia's double world silver medallist Mikhail Puliaev.  

Slovenia's Tina Trstenjak will be the other reigning Rio 2016 Olympic champion in action when she competes in the under-63 kilograms division.

The world champion currently holds every major honour in the sport and will be the clear favourite for an event in which Abu Dhabi Grand Slam silver medallist Kathrin Unterwurzacher of Austria and France's Almaty Grand Prix winner Margaux Pinot will be other leading contenders.

Rio 2016 silver medallist Jeong Bo-Kyeong will seek to improve upon her three Tokyo Grand Slam bronze medals secured in 2011, 2012 and 2014 in the under-48kg event.

The 25-year-old world bronze medallist will take on a field including both third-placed finishers at the Olympic Games in Japan's Ami Kondo and Kazakhstan's Otgontsetseg Galbadrakh.

Tyumen Grand Slam winner Ai Shishime will seek home victory in the under-52kg division to complete a year in which she has so far been unbeaten on the international stage. 

Abu Dhabi Grand Slam winner Astride Gneto of France and Belgium's London 2012 bronze medallist Charline van Snick will also compete.

Rio silver medallist Sumiya Dorjsuren of Mongolia, who has had a biopic released since becoming her country’s first female Olympic medallist, will be favourite to secure a first Grand Slam victory at under-57kg.

But, even without many of their Olympic stars, Japan will have medal favourites in virtually every event.

Other female contenders will be Tyumen Grand Slam winner Chizuru Arai, at under-70kg, and under-78kg Qingdao Grand Prix winner Rika Takayama.

Olympic bronze medallist Kanae Yamabe is the top seed in the over-78kg category. 

In the other men's event, Rio bronze medallist Naohisa Takato will return to action in front of a home crowd in a bid to repeat his 2015 under-60kg title. 

Mongolia's former world silver medallist Amurtuvshin Dashfavaa and Brazil's Felipe Kitadai will also compete.

In the absence of injured Olympic champion Shohei Ono, the home charge will be led by World Judo Masters winner and top seed Soichi Hashimoto in the under-73kg event.

Rio bronze medallist Dirk van Tichelt of Belgium will be another leading contender.

More Japanese success should follow in the under-81kg division, where Olympic bronze medallist Takanori Nagase will start as favourite, and in the over-100kg heavyweight category courtesy of Ryu Shichinohe.

Another two Rio bronze medallists in South Korea's Gwak Donghan and France's Cyrille Maret will start as top seeds in their respective under-90kg event and under-100kg events.

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