Kokoro Fujii has made a flash ascent of Utsushiyo, 8B+, in Ena, Japan.

Since coming fifth in the Boulder and Lead Japan Cup - and thereby losing the opportunity to qualify for the Olympic games - Kokoro has been spending more time on rock, and with clear success.

His flash of Utsushiyo is amongst the world's hardest, with only ten other climbers to have achieved the feat of flashing 8B+. Of those ten, only Tomoa Naraski's flash of Gakidō in late December could be argued as a harder flash in terms of grade specifically, although Tomoa later downgraded the boulder from 8C+ to 8B+.

Kokoro's flash attempt almost came to a swift end, when he faltered on the second move, and had to pause to search for holds and regain composure. From that point on, however, he looked smooth throughout. 

Sharing news on social media, he said:

'I was able to climb Utsushiyo, which I had been aiming for ever since I decided to go to Ena'.

'I lost sight of the holds at first and shouted too much at the end, but I managed to stay focused and climb!'

In addition to hard boulder flashes, Kokoro has been working hard routes as well, with his current goal a 9b route named Soul Mate, established in 2018 by Sachi Amma. 

On top of that, he also recently shared footage of his first session on a Burden of Dreams replica, during which he was able to link together three of the boulder's five moves.