Matty Hiroto Inaba of Waimea turned 16 years old on Friday. He’s going to be a sophomore at Hawaii Preparatory Academy and likes to paint landscapes and play baseball and golf with his friends.
But recently, Inaba became an international legend when he won the North American Championship for the Rubik’s Cube, placing first in the traditional 3×3 cube event at the World Cube Association championships in Toronto, Canada.
He completed the puzzle in just 4.27 seconds, a personal record for Inaba.
The 3×3 cub features three columns and three rows of colored squares on each side, and Inaba has become an expert at solving the puzzle since he first picked it up in 2015.
“Me and my mom were in Japan visiting some relatives, and we went to this department store, and there was a Rubik’s Cube there,” said Inaba. “I asked her to buy it for me, and she said, ‘sure.’”
Cut to seven years later and after countless hours of practice, Inaba now competes around the world, traveling via a series of retailer sponsors who support his cubing. Inaba competes in various events and has won 40 gold medals, 24 silver medals and 15 bronze medals at competitions around the world.
“I’m just so glad I bought him the Rubik’s Cube at the time,” said his mother, Rika. “Even at times when he was discouraged, he stuck with it and kept challenging himself for over six years.”
On the weekend of July 9, 500 people from 22 different countries attended the WCA Rubik’s North American Championship in Toronto, the largest speedcubing competition since the pandemic. Events ranged from the traditional 3×3 event all the way up to special 7×7 cubes, in addition to blindfolded events and a one-handed competition that Inaba also took part in.
“It was just very fun, and the final round was pretty nerve-racking, but somehow I was able to pull it together and win,” said Inaba.
He shared the news with his friends and family, who all celebrated the victory. “They were like, whoa, are you the best in North America pretty much? And I said, I guess so.”
After learning the classic method for solving the cube, Inaba went on to more advanced techniques which sped up his time. There’s a healthy competition between him and his friends that have allowed the group to progress together.
“There’s pretty much no jerks in the cubing community. They’re all very nice, very supportive. My friend group, we all started around 2016, 2017, and we were all just slow little kids, but then gradually, we just pushed each other,” he said. “Now, multiple of my friends actually have world records.”
Inaba started to gain recognition from the community when he launched his YouTube channel called The Cubing Jedi.
“That’s always been pretty fun for me, just editing videos,” Inaba said. “Half of it is just me solving at home and in competitions and good results that I get. And also, for every competition I go to, I create a vlog of everything I do. Traveling there, at the competition, and traveling back basically.”
Inaba has earned nearly 600,000 views from his videos, and many companies have taken notice, earning him sponsorships from companies like Tribox in Japan, Gancube in China, and New York-based TheCubicle.
“They just give me free cubes pretty much, and they also pay for me to go to these competitions like the one I just went to,” he said. “They also make me various clothing like hoodies with the logos that I can wear.”
Inaba has traveled and competed in Japan, Canada, Australia and California, and is getting ready for several competitions in the coming year.
“There’s two very big competitions coming up in 2023,” Inaba said. “There’s the World Championships in Korea, which happens every two years, and also the U.S. Nationals.”
Inaba plans to compete in both.
His mother, Rika, is proud of his accomplishments thus far.
“We are so proud of Matty for his determination to accomplish his goal of becoming the best cuber in North America,” she said. “It’s amazing what he accomplished in speedcubing while he maintained excellent grades and still participated in sports and other activities.”
And despite the high stakes at competitions, Inaba tends to avoid the pressure by enjoying the moment.
“It’s more just a fun thing for me. Some people kind of get nervous, but I just try to have fun,” said Inaba. “In the end, you’re just having fun with your friends and competing against them.”
Email Grant Phillips at gphillips@hawaiitribune-herald.com.