Seigo Asada clinched back-to-back titles on the opening weekend of the inaugural Japan Tour, to boost his hopes of an Alexandra Palace return later this year.
The newly introduced Japan Tour - which will see a place in the 2024/25 Paddy Power World Darts Championship on offer - will feature ten events and a Play-Off featuring the top 32 players at the end of the season.
Asada took centre stage on an entertaining opening weekend, dominating Saturday's double-header to secure top spot on the embryonic Japan Tour Order of Merit.
The former World Cup of Darts semi-finalist denied Yoshihisa Baba in a last-leg shoot-out to triumph in Event One, having posted a ton-plus average in his semi-final whitewash of Shingo Enomata.
Asada also dumped out Tomoya Goto in round two, before winning through deciding-leg affairs against Toyokazu Shibata and Ryuta Arihara, reeling off legs of 12, 12 and 14 darts to topple Arihara from 3-1 behind.
The three-time World Championship qualifier later extended his winning run to 14 matches with Event Two success, sealed with a convincing 4-1 win over Yuichiro Ogawa.
Earlier in the campaign, Asada produced a 12-darter to edge out Baba in a repeat of the Event One decider, before overturning 3-2 and 3-1 deficits to defeat Hiroyuki Yoshino and Goto in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively.
However, Asada's monopoly was broken by Keita Ono in Sunday's Event Three, as Mitsuhiko Tatsunami stormed to victory with a whitewash win against Taiyo Nishimata.
The 50-year-old conceded just two legs in his opening four matches, and he produced his best performance in his quarter-final win over Arihara, averaging almost 95 on his way to glory.
Jun Matsuda - who represented Japan at last year's World Cup of Darts - rounded off the weekend in style, reeling off four consecutive legs to demolish Shogo Fuse in the Event Four showpiece.
Matsuda also ran out an emphatic 4-1 winner against Asada in the last eight, and he produced a 12-darter to complete an impressive 4-2 victory against Arihara in the semi-finals.
Sunday's Event Four also featured a nine-dart finish, as Yuya Higuchi achieved perfection during his second round clash against Takayuki Masatsu.
The Japan Tour will be played across two further weekends in July and September, with five double-header days followed by the top 32 playing off for a World Championship place.
The second weekend will take place on July 13-14, followed by the final weekend of action on September 7-8, with streaming coverage available on PDCTV.
Following Event 10, the top 32 players from the final Japan Tour Order of Merit will compete for the place in darts' biggest event at Alexandra Palace later this year.
2024 Japan Tour
Saturday April 27, Japan
Event One
Semi-Finals
Yoshihisa Baba 4-2 Shunpei Noge
Seigo Asada 4-0 Shingo Enomata
Final
Seigo Asada 4-3 Yoshihisa Baba
Event Two
Semi-Finals
Seigo Asada 4-3 Tomoya Goto
Yuichiro Ogawa 4-0 Takumi Hirono
Final
Seigo Asada 4-1 Yuichiro Ogawa
Sunday April 28
Event Three
Semi-Finals
Mitsuhiko Tatsunami 4-2 Masumi Chino
Taiyo Nishimata 4-2 Junya Sasaki
Final
Mitsuhiko Tatsunami 4-0 Taiyo Nishimata
Event Four
Semi-Finals
Jun Matsuda 4-2 Ryuta Arihara
Shogo Fuse 4-1 Sho Okano
Final
Jun Matsuda 4-1 Shogo Fuse