Higashi made his World Cup debut in Sapporo in December 1988 . After placing 14th and eleventh straight away, he was able to take part in the Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti in February 1989 , where he was 20th on the normal hill. In the following season 1989/90 he could not keep up in terms of performance in the World Cup and, if he qualified for the competition at all, never reached the second round. Therefore, he broke off his participation in the World Cup competitions at the end of December. In 1990/91 he only took part in the World Cup at the competitions taking place in Sapporo, but was able to take a tenth place on the large hill in February at the Nordic World Ski Championships in 1991 in Val di Fiemme . In the following winter of 1991/92 he was completely out of shape and he could not survive the qualification in all four World Cups in which he participated. At the beginning of the next season 1992/93, however, he performed very strongly and he celebrated his first World Cup victory on December 20, 1992 in Sapporo. This was followed by his first participation in the Four Hills Tournament .
In the following winters, with a few exceptions, he only competed in the World Cups taking place in Japan and achieved mediocre placements. It was not until the 1996/97 season that he competed again in a large number of World Cup competitions, where he was always able to achieve a place among the top 30. Finally he also won the season final flying in Planica . In 1997/98 he was able to place himself in the top ten several times and took part in the 1998 Ski Flying World Championships in Oberstdorf , where he finished 15th. After that he only competed sporadically in the World Cup without being able to post any notable successes. At the beginning of 2002 he was able to occupy top places in the Continental Cup competitions taking place in Sapporo and then started again in the World Cup until the end of the 2001/02 season, where he mostly placed in the points. At the ski flying world championship taking place in Harrachov in 2002 he was 41st. In the 2002/03 season he mainly took part in the World and Continental Cups taking place in Japan, but was used at the Nordic World Ski Championships in 2003 in Val di Fiemme. There he was able to win the silver medal in the team competition together with Kazuyoshi Funaki , Hideharu Miyahira and Noriaki Kasai . In summer 2003 he competed in the mat ski jumping of the Continental Cup and shortly afterwards he was able to score points for the first time at the Summer Grand Prix .
In the winter of 2003/04 he commuted back and forth between the World Cup and the Continental Cup. He was able to win several Continental Cups and achieved several good results in the World Cup. He also took part in the Ski Flying World Championships 2004 in Planica, where he was only 41st in the individual, but finished fifth with the team. At the 2004 Summer Grand Prix show jumping competitions, he achieved several good results and was able to take 21st place overall. During the 2004/05 season he entered the World Cup throughout, but could only achieve placements in midfield. At the Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf in 2005 , he was also part of the Japanese squad. In the summer of 2005 he competed at the Grand Prix again, with a fifth place in Hakuba being his best result. In the following winter of 2005/06 he switched back and forth between the World Cup and the Continental Cup, but could not bring any convincing performances in either series. Since the beginning of 2007, with the exception of a Continental Cup in January 2008 in Brotterode , he has only competed in jumping in Japan. In the 2009/10 season, however, Higashi took part again in World Cup competitions in Europe when he was used in the absence of the Japanese A team in the FIS Team Tour 2010 .
Higashi's older brothers, twins Kazuhiro and Akihiro, were also ski jumpers, but have now retired from their careers.
Japan
Planica