KOBE, Japan, June 24 -- The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour Japan Open kicked off on Wednesday in Kobe, western Japan.

The five-day tournament runs from June 24 to 28, with a total of 167 players from 21 countries and regions competing for six gold medals, men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women' s doubles, under-21 men's singles, under-21 women's singles.

Twelve Chinese top players, including 2015 Table Tennis World Championships winners Ma Long and Ding Ning, are participating in men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles.

Host Japan has most of its seed players participating in the tournament, including champions of the 2014 World Tour Grand Final Jun Mizutani and Kasumi Ishikawa.

The Japan Open is the fourth out of six Super Series of the 2015 ITTF World Tour, as the players fight for points to qualify for the season ending World Tour Grand Final later in the year in Lisbon, Portugal.