Kawasaki, Japan–Two researchers at Toshiba Corporation, Yasuhiro Ohkawa and Tomoki Uchiyama, have been certified as “Kaggle Competition Grandmasters” in Kaggle *1, the largest- competition platform in the field of AI worldwide. Kaggle Competition Grandmaster is the highest title given to individuals who consistently obtain superior results in the Kaggle Competition. To date, this title has been awarded to only 395 out of roughly 200,000 participants, representing the extremely limited top tier of competitors *2. Ohkawa and Uchiyama participated in the Kaggle Competition individually, focusing mainly on the fields of image recognition and image analysis, and have continually achieved high rankings. Both were recognized as Kaggle Competition Grandmasters after receiving their fifth gold medal each. Furthermore, Ohkawa ranked 11th (highest ranking 9th) and Uchiyama ranked 8th in the overall Kaggle Competition standings from among the roughly 200,000 participants *3.
- Yasuhiro Ohkawa (Image Recognition Technology Group, Automation and Image Applied Systems R&D Department, Infrastructure Systems R&D Center, Corporate Laboratory, Toshiba Corporation)
Mr. Ohkawa demonstrated outstanding technical and analytical capabilities through solo participation in the Kaggle Competition, mainly in the fields of deep learning and image recognition, and has continually received the top awards. He received solo gold medals in four previous Kaggle Competitions. In the “NFL Big Data Bowl 2026 – Prediction” competition held through January 2026, his final rank was number 1 and he acquired his fifth solo gold medal in total, earning him the highest title of “Kaggle Competition Grandmaster.”
- Tomoki Uchiyama (Analytics AI R&D Department, AI Digital R&D Center, Corporate Laboratory, Toshiba Corporation)
Mr. Uchiyama participated in the Kaggle Competition, focusing mainly on the field of image analysis, and utilized his high level of expertise to continually receive the top awards. In the “RSNA Intracranial Aneurysm Detection” competition held through October 2025, he ranked first among solo participants and received his fourth gold medal. Furthermore, he was also awarded a solo gold medal in the “PhysioNet – Digitization of ECG Images” competition held through January 2026, and was awarded the title of “Kaggle Competition Grandmaster” for receiving his fifth gold medal in total.
- Kaggle is a competition platform in which competitors from around the world can compete online in the fields of data science and machine learning. Competitions involve, for example, prediction accuracy for problems provided by companies and research institutions, and gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded based on the results. Titles are awarded based on the number of medals received and actual achievements. KAGGLE is a registered trademark of Google LLC.
- As of April 14, 2026
- As of March 11, 2026