Hall recovered from a disappointing qualification session in the Japanese city yesterday to secure the win in style.

He clocked a time of 56.376sec to edge American Michael Goulian, the top performer in qualifying, by a slender 0.313sec margin.

Martin Sonka of the Czech Republic looked on course to go quicker than Goulian but a two-second penalty on the seventh gate ended his chance of victory.

Sonka did enough for third place having finished in 58.433.

But the plaudits belonged to Hall, who built on his win in Cannes in April to leapfrog Goulian into pole position on the overall standings.

Hall has 36 points, the same as his American rival, while Yoshihide Muroya of Japan and Sonka find themselves in joint third.

The Australian pilot had to do it the hard way, beating two-time defending Chiba champion Muroya in the early rounds on the final day.

"This one feels even better than the last race, which was a good win, but this was very hard fought," said Hall. 

"To have a qualifying like yesterday and know we had to race the home favourite made for a rough morning. 

"It's a team sport and we are proud of our team – they pulled it together and there wasn't a single error from anyone. 

"I hope this race will be part of the calendar forever – the culture here is amazing. 

"Everyone is so enthusiastic, I knock their guy out and they still embrace me."

The World Championship series resumes in Budapest on June 23 and 24.