Japan International Bilfish Tournament(JIBT)

1 About JIBT
2 46th JIBT 2024
3 Charter Boats
4 Entry fee

July 25, 2024 (Thursday) – July 28, 2024 (Sunday)

About JIBT

The JIBT International Billfish Tournament is held in Shimoda City, Shizuoka Prefecture, and is one of the world’s leading big game tournaments where over 100 teams compete in skills annually. From the 1st tournament in 1979 to the 6th tournament, it was held on Miyake Island in Tokyo, and from the 7th tournament onward, the venue was shifted to Shimoda City. From the 1st tournament, IGFA rules, which are international standards for sport fishing, were adopted. The 4th tournament held in 1982 saw the participation of an American team led by Fisheries Officer Iverson, who was stationed at the US Embassy, marking it as the first international billfish tournament conducted under IGFA rules. In recent years, with many billfish migrating on the Kuroshio Current, not only has the scale of the tournament grown, but it has also become internationally known as one of the billfish tournaments where you can encounter the most black marlin in the world.

46th JIBT 2024

Event Period: July 25, 2024 (Thursday) – July 28, 2024 (Sunday)
Venue: Nearshore based at Izu Shimoda Port in Shizuoka Prefecture and Wakago Port in Niijima Village, Tokyo Prefecture
Target Fish: Only billfish species (Black Marlin, White Marlin, Swordfish, Atlantic Blue Marlin, Shortbill Spearfish, Longbill Spearfish)
Rules: IGFA rules are applied, and any violations will result in disqualification.

Charter Boats

In Japan, trolling by anglers of foreign nationality was not permitted. However, due to the efforts of the JGFA, the organizing body of JIBT, with the Shizuoka Prefecture and the Fisheries Agency, charter boats are now allowed to have teams of foreign nationality on board. Therefore, teams of foreign nationality are allowed to participate in the JIBT only if they compete on charter boats. Nonetheless, the skilled charter boats, well-acquainted with Japanese seas, have been yielding impressive results at the JIBT every year.

Representative charter boat”Banjyo Takamiya Maru”