Ryosuke Doi, Takeru Kitazono and Shinnosuke Oka finished almost three points clear of nearest rivals Ukraine.

Kitazono lived up to expectation at Audi Arena, having claimed five gold medals at last year's Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.

The Japanese trio barely put a foot out of place as they topped the rankings in the pommel horse and parallel bars and recorded the second-best score on floor.

A score of 25.399 on the high bar was their lowest aggregate but an overall score of 162.754 put them well clear of Ukraine, who totalled 159.828.

Nazar Chepurnyi, Volodymyr Kostiuk and Illia Kovtun finished just 0.649 points ahead of Italian trio Lorenzo Bonicelli, Ivan Brunello and Lorenzo Minh Casali, who took bronze with an overall score of 159.179.

Boys aged 16 and 17 took to the arena for today's team and all-round contests and there was more success for Japan in the individual competition.

The spotlight was on Oka as he topped the podium ahead of compatriot Doi and Ukraine's Kovtun in bronze.

Kitazono had finished in third place but with International Gymnastics Federation rules only permitting two entries per country in all-around finals, the bronze was awarded to the next best gymnast, Kovtun. 

The Japanese led going into the final round of equipment but a fall from the horizontal bar saw him drop down the field.

With the all-around contest also earning qualification for the individual apparatus finals, to be held on Saturday and Sunday, Oka was the most consistent to take gold with a score of 80.674.

His worst scores came in the vault, where he ranked 31st and the horizontal bar, but his 13.900 on the pommel horse helped him edge out team mate Doi by just 0.227 points.

Doi claimed silver on 80.447 while Kovtun had to settle for bronze on 80.264.

Tomorrow, the girls competition, for 14 and 15 year olds, will begin.