13 Junior and Senior High School Students from Takatsuki City Report to Mayor on Advancing to Double Dutch World Championships

On Wednesday, July 8, 2026, 11 junior high school students and 2 high school students residing in Takatsuki City, who belong to a double dutch school in the city, visited Takatsuki City Hall. The 13 students, belonging to two teams, "Astra" and "VorTex," reported to Mayor Takeshi Hamada that they will be participating in the world competition "Double Dutch Contest World Invitational 2026" to be held in Hong Kong on Sunday, July 19.

Double dutch is a jump rope competition using two ropes. Jumpers, called "jumpers," perform dances and acrobatics while jumping through two ropes spun by two people called "turners," competing on speed, technique, and other factors. The 13 students belong to a double dutch school in the city and have formed teams "Astra" (8 members) and "VorTex" (5 members), practicing diligently every day.

Both teams participated in the Japanese competition "Double Dutch Contest Japan 2026," held in Tokyo in March 2026. They competed in the "Performance" category, judged on the beauty of dances and steps performed while jumping to music, and the "Speed" category, where one jumper competes to achieve the most jumps in 30 seconds. "Astra" placed 4th out of 30 teams in the junior division "Performance," and "VorTex" placed 5th out of 100 teams in the senior division "Performance" and 5th out of 21 teams in "Speed," securing their spots in the world championships.

On this day, the 13 students visited City Hall to report their advancement to the world championships. Representing their respective teams, Miyu Sato (3rd year junior high) and Aoto Adachi (1st year high school) expressed their determination for the competition, stating, "We will do our best to win at the world championships" and "We want to fully demonstrate our abilities." Mayor Hamada encouraged the athletes, saying, "Please do your best so that each team can perform to its fullest."