is a former Japanese

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

player from

Saitama Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (January 1, 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 Square kilometre, km2 ( ...

. She was a member of the Japan national team and affiliated with ACT Saikyo. Sato won two Super 100 titles: the Vietnam Open and the

Kaohsiung Masters The Kaohsiung Masters () is an annual badminton tournament holds in Taiwan. The tournament is a part of the BWF World Tour tournaments and is leveled in BWF Tour Super 100. The inaugural edition held in 2023 at the Kaohsiung Arena in Kaohsiung, T ...

Early career

Akari Sato began her badminton training at Hatokaya Wings, a junior club in Kawaguchi,

. She attended Kasukabe Municipal Takesato Junior High School and Eimei High School before enrolling at

Ryukoku University is a private university in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded as a school for Buddhist priests of the Nishi Hongan-ji denomination in 1639, and became a secularized university in 1876. The university's professors and students founded the literary m ...

in April 2019. During her time at university, she partnered with Rio Uemura to win the All Japan Intercollegiate Championships in women's doubles in consecutive years, 2021 and 2022. In 2022, she also teamed up with university teammate

Hiroki Nishi is a Japanese badminton player from Kyoto prefecture. He is currently a student at Ryukoku University. Since 2023, Nishi has joined the Japan national badminton team (Team B) in the mixed doubles sector. Career 2023 In her first year on the ...

, who was two years her junior, securing third place in the mixed doubles at the All Japan Badminton Championships. This performance led to their selection for the 2023 Japan National Team (B Team), coached by

Lee Wan Wah Lee Wan Wah (, born 24 November 1975) is a former badminton player from Malaysia. He is currently the Japan junior team coach. Career overview Lee made his debut in Olympic Games in 2000 Sydney. Partnered with Choong Tan Fook, they adva ...

. This selection marked the first time a student-athlete from the Ryukoku University Badminton Club was chosen for the national team.

Career

2023

Following her graduation from Ryukoku University in March, Sato initially joined the

Resonac {{Nihongo, Resonac, レゾナック株式会社, Rezonakku Kabushiki-gaisha}, formerly {{Nihongo, Showa Denko K. K., 昭和電工株式会社, Shōwa Denkō Kabushiki-gaisha, abbreviated as SDK, is a Japanese chemical company producing chemical pr ...

badminton team in April, before transferring to the ACT Saikyo team in July of the same year. In her first year on the national team, Sato and Nishi won three mixed doubles titles. They secured their first World Tour title at the Vietnam Open, defeating Thailand's

Ruttanapak Oupthong Ruttanapak Oupthong (; born 12 April 2000) is a Thai badminton player. Achievements BWF World Tour (1 title, 4 runners-up) The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tour ...

and

Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat (, ; born Kwanchanok Sudjaipraparat (); 18 February 1999) is a Thai badminton player. Achievements World University Games ''Women's doubles'' BWF World Tour (1 title, 2 runners-up) The BWF World Tour, which was a ...

. They then went on to win the

, overcoming the top-seeded Indonesian duo of

Dejan Ferdinansyah Dejan Ferdinansyah (born 21 January 2000) is an Indonesian badminton player who is affiliated with the Djarum club. Career Ferdinansyah has been affiliated with the PB Djarum club since 2019. In that same year, he partnered with Serena Kani a ...

and

Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (born 28 December 1993) is an Indonesian badminton player affiliated with PB Djarum since 2007. She was the 2011 Indonesia National and World Junior Champions in the mixed doubles event. For her achievements, Widjaja w ...

, and triumphed at the

Indonesia International The Indonesia International is an international badminton tournament, which is held annually in Indonesia since 1997. It is organized by the Badminton Association of Indonesia. Since 2007, it is graded as the International Challenge, which are lev ...

. The pair also finished second in the

Indonesia Masters Super 100 The Indonesia Masters Super 100 is an annual badminton tournament held in Indonesia. This tournament is a part of the BWF World Tour tournaments and is leveled in BWF Tour Super 100. This tournament offers prize money of US$100,000. Starting fro ...

2024

In 2024, Sato and Nishi won their sole mixed doubles title at the Saipan International, defeating compatriots Yuichi Shimogami and Sayaka Hobara in the final. They also reached the final of the All Japan Badminton Championships, where a foot injury to Sato forced their withdrawal, resulting in a runner-up finish. Partnering with

Maya Taguchi Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a po ...

in women's doubles, Sato reached the semifinals of the

Luxembourg Open The Luxembourg Open, last sponsored by BGL, was a women's tennis tournament held in Kockelscheuer, Luxembourg. Held since 1991, the tournament was an exhibition event (winners including Novotná, Navratilova and Appelmans) until 1995. After ...

and the Saipan International. On the World Tour, Sato and Taguchi were defeated in the first round of the Macau Open by India's

Treesa Jolly Treesa Jolly (born 27 May 2003) is an Indian badminton player. She is a part of the national team and is the nation's number one WD pair with Gayatri Gopichand. She won the bronze at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. She helped win the 2024 Asia ...

and Gayatri Gopichand.

2025

Sato was selected for the 2025 Japan National Team in mixed doubles with Nishi. She represented Japan at the Asia Mixed Team Championships in February, where the team earned a bronze medal. Sato also made her debut at the

Asian Championships An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics and wate ...

with Nishi, reached the first round after winning their initial round-robin matches. In May, Sato and Nishi secured their first national title together, winning the mixed doubles event at the Japan Ranking Circuit by defeating Olympic medalist

Yuta Watanabe is a Japanese professional basketball player for the Chiba Jets Funabashi of the B.League. He played college basketball in the United States for the George Washington Colonials (now Revolutionaries), becoming the first Japanese-born studen ...

and

Misaki Matsutomo is a Japanese badminton player who is a doubles specialist. She won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympic women's doubles alongside Ayaka Takahashi. Despite playing doubles, she was also a finalist in girls' singles at the 2010 BWF World ...

in the final. In the women’s doubles, Sato reunited with Hina Osawa, and together they won three titles: the

Sri Lanka International The Sri Lanka International in is an international badminton tournament held in Sri Lanka. Previous winners Sri Lanka International Challenge Sri Lanka International Series Performances by nation Sri Lanka International Challenge ...

Series, the Sri Lanka International Challenge, and the

Vietnam International The Vietnam International Challenge, formerly Vietnam Satellite and Hanoi International, is an international badminton tournament held in Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edg ...

. However, on 1 July 2025, ACT Saikyo announced Sato's retirement from professional badminton. Concurrently, the

Nippon Badminton Association Nippon Badminton Association (NBA, 日本バドミントン協会; ''Nippon Badominton Kyōkai'') is the national sport governing body, governing body for the sport of badminton in Japan. History Badminton competition in Japan started as early a ...

announced her resignation from the 2025 Japan national team.

Achievements

BWF World Tour (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the

Badminton World Federation The Badminton World Federation, aka BWF, is the international governing body for the sport of badminton approved by the International Olympic Committee. It was founded on 5 July 1934 as the International Badminton Federation with nine member ...

(BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100. ''Mixed doubles''

BWF International Challenge/Series (5 titles)

''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles'' :

BWF International Challenge The BWF International Challenge is a grade 3 and level 1 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Series (level 2) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament :

BWF International Series The BWF International Series is a grade 3 and level 2 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament

References

External links

*
Akari Sato
at BWFWorldTour.BWFBadminton.com

at

Akari Sato
at ACT Saikyo (archived)
Akari Sato
at

J Sports J Sports is a group of four sports satellite TV channels in Japan produced and broadcast by Jupiter Sports. They are owned by Coverage Football Soccer * FIFA ** National teams *** Men's: **** FIFA U-17 World Cup *** Women's : **** ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sato, Akari 2001 births Living people Japanese female badminton players 21st-century Japanese sportswomen Sportspeople from Saitama (city) Ryukoku University alumni