Japan secured their place at the top of the medal table at the 2016 Karate World Championships ©WKF

Japan secured their place at the top of the medal table at the 2016 Karate World Championships after claiming both the men’s and women’s team kata titles on the final day of action here. 

The men’s team, featuring Arata Kinjo, Takuya Uemura and individual kata world champion Ryo Kiyuna, regained their global crown by beating France 5-0 in the final.

Having failed to win a medal at the 2014 World Championships in Bremen, Japan recovered to win all their bouts throughout the competition by unanimous decision - an ominous sign for the rest of the world as the sport prepares to make its debut in the Olympics at Tokyo 2020. 

"I feel extremely happy for this gold, even happier than with my victory in individual kata," said Kiyuna.

"We prepared for this moment for many years, and for us it is a dream come true."

Uemura added: "This gold medal is the conclusion of a very intense preparation and a long-time training in Okinawa.

"[Our coach] Sakamoto Sensei trained us very well and I would like to thank him for this success."

Japan beat France 5-0 in the men's team kata final ©WKF
Japan beat France 5-0 in the men's team kata final ©WKF

Equally dominant were the women’s team as Miku Morioka, Hikaru Ono and Kyosuke Yamashita took Japan’s gold medal tally to six with victory over Spain.

The triumph banished the memories of defeat to hosts Germany in the last World Championship final two years ago.

It also ensured a Japanese clean sweep of the kata titles here, with Kiyou Shimizu reaching the top of the women's individual kata podium yesterday. 

Japan would have ended the five-day event with seven gold medals had it not been for a heroic performance from defending champions Iran in the men’s team kumite final.

The Iranian line-up - composed of men’s over 84 kilograms individual kumite gold medallist Sajad Ganjzadeh, Saeid Ahmadikaryani, Bahman Asgari Ghoncheh, Ali Fadakar, Mahdi Khodabakhshi, Zabiollah Poorshab and Ima Sanchooli - prevented Japan from winning top honours in all today’s finals.

Gold medals were also awarded in the wheelchair categories, with Slovenia’s Skender Tosic winning the men’s title at the expense of home favourite Markus Mendy and Ukraine’s Knarik Airapetian claiming the women’s equivalent over compatriot Uliana Pcholkina.

For a full run-down of results from today's action and the final medals table see our Live Blog here.