Japan roared to a record 10 world titles at the event that ended in Tokyo on Monday with newcomer Daiki Kamikawa beating four-time world champion Teddy Riner of France by a 2-1 decision in the men's showpiece open-weight final.
Japanese men wrapped up four out of eight gold medals on offer to restore pride in their home-grown sport, bouncing back from an unprecedented title drought at last year's championships in Rotterdam.
They are now set to improve from their all-time Olympic low of two medals, although both gold, from the 2008 Beijing Games.
But the success has been largely attributed to the hometown advantage, a new rule to ban wrestling-like tackles and an increase in the quota of entries by a country in each category generally from one to two. The open class took four.
The one-competitor limit is still enforced by the International Olympic Committee.
