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People → Japan → Kazue Kobayashi (小林和惠)

People · Japan

Kazue Kobayashi (小林和惠)

4×4 · top 5.2% of 85,040 all-time · competing since September 2017 · 2017KOBA02

Kazue Kobayashi (小林和惠) has been competing for 9 years. Her best event is the 4×4: a personal-best single of 33.27, set at Kansai Parity Party 2025, puts her in the top 5.2% of the 85,040 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 64th in Japan. Until November 2010, no official 4×4 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 32 competitions since September 2017, she has put 329 official solves on the record across five events. Solve to solve, her 3×3 times vary about 12% around a typical one, steadier than 79% of the 36,406 competitors with ten or more counted rounds. Her 3×3 best has come down from 14.25 in September 2017 to 10.20, a 28% improvement. Kazue has entered 32 competitions, more competitions than 98% of everyone who has ever competed.

4×4
best event — top 5.2% of 85,040 all-time
33.27
signature single · Kansai Parity Party 2025
329
official solves on the record
12%
solve-to-solve spread · steadier than 79% of the field

Standing, event by event

vs everyone ever ranked
EventPB singlePB averageAll-time standingJapan
4×433.2738.75
top 5.2%64 / 679
3×310.2012.19
top 8.1%356 / 3,360
5×51:07.261:15.18
top 9.9%65 / 426
6×62:09.092:15.52
top 15.1%47 / 209
7×73:30.613:33.78
top 20.0%52 / 188

Percentile against all competitors ever ranked in each event, a fairer measure than raw rank, because the pools differ by a factor of ten.

The line so far

Kansai Fall 2017: 14.25Kansai Big Cube 2017: 18.77Kobe Open 2018: 13.10Kansai Open 2019: 12.10Reiwa Anniversary 2019: 15.68Kyoto Open 2019: 12.34Kanazawa Open 2020: 13.26Tokai Winter PM 2021: 13.09Yoga Summer B 2022: 10.68Go x Go Kyoto 2023: 12.29Kanazawa Challenge Spring PM 2023: 11.95Rubik's WCA World Championship 2023: 11.74Katano Milky Way 2024: 11.61Luzon Multi-Mega Madness 2025: 13.25Tokyo Summer 2025: 11.24Kanto Summer PM 2025: 12.07Katano Spring 2026: 10.27Japan Championship 2026: 11.03Korea Open 2026: 12.96Kanto Summer 2026: 10.20Tokai Autumn 2026: 11.4210.2018.7724 Sep 201711 Oct 2026

Best single per competition, 3×3. Faster is higher — the axis is the right way up.

The story so far

Competitions

Reading this page: a single is one solve's time · an average is the middle three of five solves, best and worst discarded · a PB is a personal best · a DNF (did not finish) is an attempt with no valid result: a popped piece, an unsolved face, an over-limit memorisation · top X% compares against everyone ever ranked in that event, which is fairer than raw rank because event pools differ tenfold.

The circuit

The people whose scorecards keep turning up next to her.

Next targets

  • A sub-30 4×4 single — 2,465 people have one; it is 3.27 away.
  • A sub-10 3×3 single — 21,606 people have one; it is 0.20 away.

Targets move as she improves.