Gripped Magazine
Sorato Anraku Climbs Outside, Sends V14
Sorato Anraku recently climbed Hōtō V14 (8B+) in Mizugaki, Japan. It was a rare outdoor boulder ascent for the young Japanese comp climbing crusher. Hōtō was established by Keenan Takahashi in November 2019 and has seen ascents from elite Japanese and international climbers alike, including Ryuichi Murai, who made the second ascent, Tomoa Narasaki, Niky Ceria, and Will Bosi. It is a crimpy, compression-style boulder, but Anraku makes it look like a flowy V4 with obvious toe and heel hooks.
“It had been 7 years since the last time in boulder,” said Anraku after his ascent on Instagram. “I felt the fatigue was different than usual, but I was able to relax with wonderful rocks.”
Since Anraku’s rookie World Cup season in 2023, he has been the boulderer to beat. At only 16 years old, he took the Boulder World Cup by storm that year winning both the Lead Overall World Cup and Boulder Overall World Cup. He won the Boulder Overall Cup for two more consecutive years, in 2024 and 2025. For the Lead Overall World Cup in 2024, he won bronze, and in 2025, silver. Anraku was favoured by many to win the 2024 Paris Olympics — he ended up finishing with silver.
Ryuichi Murai Climbing Hōtō V14
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