The TOM'S driver dominated the race from start-to-finish, withstanding pressure from his rivals, to take a win on his debut in the famous street race.
Kunimoto made the best start from second place on the grid, with polesitter Edoardo Mortara slotting in right underneath the rear wing of the TOM'S on the run down to Lisboa.
Right behind them, there was chaos before Mandarin Bend though as Roberto Streit closed the door on Sam Bird and the pair collided - with Streit being tipped into the barriers and suffering a heavy impact on the run through the corner.
The safety car was called out to help retrieve Streit and Bird's cars and, at the restart on lap three, Kunimoto led from Mortara, followed by Jaime Alguersuari, Daniel Campos-Hull and Roberto Merhi.
Campos-Hull managed to slipstream past Alguersuari for third under braking into Lisboa, just as Mortara locked up on the bumps. The Italian dropped to fourth behind Campos-Hull and Alguersuari, leaving himself with a lot to do if he was going to win the race.
Alguersuari got past Campos-Hull to take second into Lisboa on lap five, with Mortara snatching third from the Spaniard at the same place a lap later.
But as Alguersuari began closing the gap on leader Kunimoto, he was informed he would be given a drive-through penalty for jumping the start - which handed second back to Mortara.
Kunimoto found his lead being trimmed down until lap eight, when the safety car was called out following a sizeable accident suffered by Merhi at the final corner.
At the restart Kunimoto got away brilliantly, building up a near two-second advantage as it all went wrong for Mortara.
In his bid to keep up with Kunimoto, he ran wide at Matsuya and brushed the wall - slightly damaging his car.
Although still able to chip in to Kunimoto's lead, he could not erode it enough to be able to challenge for victory. Kunimoto eventually finished 1.171 seconds ahead.
Behind the leading duo, Brendon Hartley secured a surprise podium finish - having picked his way through the field from 20th on the grid, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process.
Hartley benefited from the first lap chaos and later from a collision when Kei Cozzolini ran into the back of Campos-Hull under braking for Lisboa on lap 13, putting them both out of contention.
Mika Maki finished fourth, ahead of Renger van der Zande and Laurens Vanthoor.
Pos Driver Team Car Gap 1. Keisuke Kunimoto TOM'S D/T 41:01.864 2. Edoardo Mortara Signature D/V +1.710 3. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M +4.006 4. Mika Maki Signature D/M +8.442 5. Renger van der Zande Prema D/M +10.276 6. Laurens Vanthoor RC D/V +12.975 7. Oliver Turvey Carlin D/M +13.134 8. Walter Grubmuller Hitech D/M +14.695 9. Jules Bianchi ART D/M +18.725 10. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M +20.801 11. Jon Lancaster Manor D/M +20.898 12. James Jakes ART D/M +21.418 13. Franky Cheng Signature D/V +22.404 14. Max Chilton Hitech D/M +22.604 15. Kei Cozzolino Now D/T +23.270 16. Kazuya Oshima Manor D/M +23.930 17. Daniel Campos-Hull HBR D/M +24.997 18. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M +33.744 19. Nicola de Marco RC D/V +46.527 20. Michael Ho Double R D/M +51.739 Retirements Stefano Coletti Prema D/M 11 laps Basil Shaaban HBR D/M 10 laps Carlo van Dam TOM'S D/T 7 laps Roberto Merhi Hitech D/M 6 laps Massaki Matsushita PTRS/Ombra D/H 6 laps James Winslow Ombra D/H 5 laps Koki Saga Le Beausset D/T 2 laps Marcus Ericsson Carlin D/M 0 laps Roberto Streit Double R D/M 0 laps Sam Bird Manor D/M 0 laps Fastest lap, Hartley 2:12.565 on lap 15
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