is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese professional three-cushion billiards

Three-cushion billiards

Three-cushion billiards is a form of carom billiards, and one of the most popular and challenging cue sports in the world.The object of the game is to the off both and contact the at least 3...

 player and 2-time world champion.

After placing 2nd to Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

's Raymond Ceulemans

Raymond Ceulemans

Raymond ridder Ceulemans is a three-cushion billiards player and possibly the most dominant single figure in any one sport, having won 35 World Championship titles , 48 European titles and 61 national titles...

 three times (1970, 1972 and 1973) in the UMB World Three-cushion Championship, Kobayashi turned things around and defeated Ceulemans for the world title in 1974. With this win, he ended Ceulemans' 10-year reign as champion. Kobayashi later admitted that he had been taping on camera Ceulemans' performances in a 1969 tournament in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 in order to study the Belgian's playing style.

A decade later, he won it again at the expense of Ludo Dielis

Ludo Dielis

Ludo Dielis is a Belgian professional carom billiards player.When Raymond Ceulemans, the reigning champion, opted not to participate in the world championship in 1981 over some circumstances, Dielis was selected as a temporary replacement. Rising to the occasion, he won the title besting Nobuaki...

. He defended it unsuccessfully the following year, losing to Ceulemans again.

For more than three decades, he has been the only Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

n native (not counting Sang Lee who represented the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 at the time) ever to win a World Three-cushion Championship. Two other players from Japan were close to achieving a world title but both were not very fortunate. This was until Ryuuji Umeda

Ryuuji Umeda

is a Japanese professional three-cushion billiards player.In 1998, Umeda finished 2nd to fellow Japanese Akio Shimada in the three-cushion event of the Asian Games. He later won it against Duong Anh Vu of Vietnam in 2006....

, another Japanese, won the title in 2007.

Kobayashi is a 9-time Japanese Champion. His son, Hideaki Kobayashi, is also a three-cushion billiards player.

His highest run documented is 14.