The individual event is scheduled to take place across tomorrow and Saturday (January 26) before the team competition is held on Sunday (January 27).

As reported by The Japan Times, the winners will be given the Prince Takamado Trophy.

Other fencers taking to the piste in Japan's capital include Italy's Alessio Foconi and Great Britain's Richard Kruse, who are ranked number one and two in the world respectively.

Home fans will be pinning their hopes on Kyosuke Matsuyama, the world number 35.

With the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games edging ever nearer, the Japan Fencing Federation (JFF), whose President is 2015 world foil champion Yuki Ota, is trying to attract more fans to its events by bringing in more entertainment.

"This Prince Takamado Trophy is such a special event because this is the only one that we have some of the top fencers of the world," Nobusuke Miyawaki, the secretary general of the JFF, was reported as saying by The Japan Times.

"So it will offer a little different mood from the National Championship, in which the entertainment aspect was one of the biggest features.

"This event will offer the fans occasions to see the world's highest level of competition."

Two other FIE World Cups begin tomorrow.

A women's foil event is set to be held in St-Maur in France, while Salt Lake City in the United States will stage a women's sabre competition.

Both have the same schedules as that in Tokyo, with two days of individual action being followed by a team event on Sunday.