Add ‘knitting while listening to heavy metal music’ to the list of things that Japan apparently does better than anyone else in the world.

Earlier this month, on a rainy July day in Joensuu, Finland, competitors from around the world gathered together for the first-ever Heavy Metal Knitting World Championship. With teams coming from near and far with names such as 9″ Needles (USA), Crafts with Ellen (Denmark), Backstage Knitter (Sweden), Bunny Bandit (USA), and many more, the competition was fierce.

Normally, you wouldn’t associate the very separate artforms of creating or performing heavy metal music and knitting together, but the organizers behind this event want to change that. On their official website, the organizers state that these two arts have more in common than you might realize as both of them require people to create something cool with their hands while also having the right attitude. With 50 heavy metal bands per 100,000 Finnish citizens and at least as many interested in handicrafts, it seems only natural that the two art forms have finally been joined together in musical matrimony.

Each team was given about two minutes on stage with a live heavy metal band to show off what they could do. They were judged in various categories including their overall attitude, storytelling ability, connection with the audience, and more. However, in the end, the team who impressed the judges the most with their storytelling and ability to grab the audience with cultural theatrics was Giga Body Metal, from Japan! Their performance included a mock sumo match taking place around a kimono-clad knitter.

Congratulations to Giga Body Metal on becoming world heavy metal knitting champions. We all look forward to seeing you defend your title at next year’s competition!