2016-17 State of Japanese Men's Skating

Koshiro's SP this year has wonderful music and unique choreo. I like it a lot. Now, if he can only not fall on his 3 Lo I'd be so happy. :agree:

Resurrecting this thread as the season is really heating up ready for the GPs and well through the JGPs. How do we think the Japanese men are looking so far?

The mileage Shoma has gotten with his programs, performing them at shows and at these early competitions has put him quite far in the lead for season preparedness.
At the Japan Open, his jumps looked better than ever and his movements had sharpness and intent behind them that I hadn't seen before. So impressed.

Yuzu, is still at the beginning of his learning curve and has the most ambitious layout of all the Japanese men and one of the hardest layouts in the world. It's going to take more time for him to get these programs coherent and truly battle-ready.
I like the programs because they have potential to be unique to Yuzu. If he could just change his pants to a darker color, I'd be a happy camper. His ankle has been sprained recently and I think that has prevented him from getting long hours of training that are needed to build stamina. Hoping for a quick recovery and a wise strategy from his team going forward.

Mura has a wonderful SP, but his LP music, being the same as that of Takahashi is an impediment to him with the judges. If they are remembering Dai, then it's not going to help his PCS.
He makes progress every year in refining his style and his skating skills. His weakest area is his spins. He loses levels right and left on those and it's important when competing with other mid/high level skaters to get the levels on everything. Each point counts. Will we see his famous diagonal fringe at the GP series? Watch this space.

Oda, still a member of team Japan did his country proud. Love him.

Keiji is consistently inconsistent. His programs will only catch the attention of the judging panel if he can put together mostly clean programs, several times in a row. I want to believe he can do it.

Kazuki Tomono's American in Paris LP is my favorite Junior program this year. He catches the intent and the style of the music so well. I hope his jumps will stabilize soon.

Interspectator said:

The mileage Shoma has gotten with his programs, performing them at shows and at these early competitions has put him quite far in the lead for season preparedness.
At the Japan Open, his jumps looked better than ever and his movements had sharpness and intent behind them that I hadn't seen before. So impressed.

Yuzu, is still at the beginning of his learning curve and has the most ambitious layout of all the Japanese men and one of the hardest layouts in the world. It's going to take more time for him to get these programs coherent and truly battle-ready.
I like the programs because they have potential to be unique to Yuzu. If he could just change his pants to a darker color, I'd be a happy camper. His ankle has been sprained recently and I think that has prevented him from getting long hours of training that are needed to build stamina. Hoping for a quick recovery and a wise strategy from his team going forward.

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I really loved Shoma's LP at the Japan Open. You can see how much work has gone into improving its style in comparison with its first outing. Really proud of him. That 4f was really good too. I think his jumps were looking much more stable here. Long may this improvement continue!

Yuzu's SP is great, really fun, although he still needs to work on going a bit more 'crazy'. A teensy bit more raunch needed, IMO. The LP had obvious stamina issues. I liked some of it as it was beautiful. Other bits were a touch dull. I'm sure he will get there though.

Nice job by Japan's Jr. Men in their JGP events! Overall, they performed much better this season compared to last.
Last season, Sota was Japan's only Jr. Man to medal and/or score over 200 points total at a JGP event. This season Koshiro Shimada, Kazuki Tomono, and Mitsuki Sumoto all earned a bronze medal each. Kazuki and Koshiro also achieved total scores over 200.

With regionals currently going on, it's probably still too early to predict, but judging by JGP results, I'm guessing Kazuki and Koshiro are early favorites for WJC.

So far this season Kazuki's skating has been relatively consistent, and maybe because he's not depending on it as much, his lutz edge seems better. Hoping he can clean up his jumps, alter his SP camel spin:hopelessness:, execute his SP steps as well as he did at DOI, and avoid a disaster performance. Want him skating strong as he transitions to Senior next season.
Also should be mentioned, Misao Sato choreo x Kazuki is :thumbsup:!

Even without a 3A or quad jump, Koshiro's ability to deliver a quality performance with quality elements gives him high scoring potential. If he can get his 3A consistent by Jr. Nationals/Nationals (thinking his 4S needs more time but you never know) he could very well be Japan's #1 Jr. Man heading to WJC. Although Kazuki is my favorite Jr. at the moment, I'm all for Koshiro challenging and outscoring him. Would love to see two very competitive men representing Japan at WJC, fighting for maximum spots and maybe even challenging for the podium.

Realistically, if the boys can keep their momentum going they should have no problem placing well enough to keep Japan's current 2 WJC spots and increasing their JGP spots by 1 for next season.

Just two things about the Sr. Men~

Glad to see Mura already skating/jumping strong. With the goals he has planned for this season it's a promising start. Hope he can avoid injury.
AND...
Shoma's FS costume is . So flattering for his body type! Props to the designer~

Wishing all the Men of Team Japan a successful and injury free season!
And wishing the already injured a full recovery!

So who is going to be #3? I'd have thought Mura but Keiji did really well. Not just in the NHK, his FS at Rostelecom was also pretty good and he's improved in both at the NHK so if he can keep that form going, and land those two 4S cleanly he might have a shot.

Yatagarasu said:

So who is going to be #3? I'd have thought Mura but Keiji did really well. Not just in the NHK, his FS at Rostelecom was also pretty good and he's improved in both at the NHK so if he can keep that form going, and land those two 4S cleanly he might have a shot.

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If they both perform well, and only one gets to go to Worlds...my heart would break. I like them both. Mura has had two chances, Keiji has never gone. I'd let Keiji go? But, I don't knooow. What a terrible decision.

Interspectator said:

If they both perform well, and only one gets to go to Worlds...my heart would break. I like them both. Mura has had two chances, Keiji has never gone. I'd let Keiji go? But, I don't knooow. What a terrible decision.

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Isn't it just? I've been sort of twirling it around in my head since Saturday and my only answer ends up being guh. I like Mura too but then I like the idea of Keiji evolving and maybe being pushed even further with this and yes, guh.

For me, the logical choice for #3 seems to be Mura, but my sentimental favorite is Keiji. I absolutely LOVE Mura's SP, but he doesn't seem to do as well in the FS. I sometimes think he needs to tame those jumps down just a little bit and put more energy and finesse into his spins. I enjoy Keiji's programs and think the Massimo Scali choreography is good for him.

If Mura does well in the Nats, I don't think it'll be a question but if Keiji is also clean, I will be mightily sorry. I really like him too and if he's actually stabilizing with his quads, it's always good to get a push. Of course the NHK and placing fourth at Nats would be a push too but not the same.

Interspectator said:

If they both perform well, and only one gets to go to Worlds...my heart would break. I like them both. Mura has had two chances, Keiji has never gone. I'd let Keiji go? But, I don't knooow. What a terrible decision.

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Yatagarasu said:

If Mura does well in the Nats, I don't think it'll be a question but if Keiji is also clean, I will be mightily sorry. I really like him too and if he's actually stabilizing with his quads, it's always good to get a push. Of course the NHK and placing fourth at Nats would be a push too but not the same.

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Oh but I would LOVE to hear the discussion the Fed has to make their decision. Makes me think of the 2014 US Nationals Ashley / Mirai thing where people seemed to assume Mirai would go to the Olympics. In the end, I guess the Feds (of any nation) can send whomever they want. Oh, things are going to get very interesting!

Also 2017 has both 4CC and Asian Winter Games, it's possible to compete in both but the dates are so close that it can't be healthy, so I imagine the top 5 or so at nationals will be sent to these two events, the results of which will contribute to world team selection?

Well Yuzuru has expressed interested in the 4CC this time around IIRC, so that already changes things somewhat from last season. Presuming Shoma goes again, it's the same choice between Mura and Keiji for third.

Yatagarasu said:

Well Yuzuru has expressed interested in the 4CC this time around IIRC, so that already changes things somewhat from last season. Presuming Shoma goes again, it's the same choice between Mura and Keiji for third.

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4CCs are the Olympic test event and in Korea this year. I expect that will make the event VERY appealing. We should have some incredible fields, especially for men and dance. (And if we are very fortunate the top two teams in the World in pairs, as well as three more GPF qualifiers this season).

Yatagarasu said:

Well Yuzuru has expressed interested in the 4CC this time around IIRC, so that already changes things somewhat from last season. Presuming Shoma goes again, it's the same choice between Mura and Keiji for third.

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It's going to be a tough one. I never thought Keiji would do so well at NHK - I guess he benefited from Jason underperforming, but there's no doubt he delivered on the day. He seems to be a relatively late bloomer. Nationals will be very interesting. And what about next year, when presumably Sota will be back on the scene?

eta said:

Also 2017 has both 4CC and Asian Winter Games, it's possible to compete in both but the dates are so close that it can't be healthy, so I imagine the top 5 or so at nationals will be sent to these two events, the results of which will contribute to world team selection?

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Japan has the tradition of announcing their World team at the last day of the competition. Can't imagine they are going to wait until after the 4CC/Asian Games to announce the selection of World 17 team.

shyne said:

Japan has the tradition of announcing their World team at the last day of the competition. Can't imagine they are going to wait until after the 4CC/Asian Games to announce the selection of World 17 team.

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Last day of competition, as in last day of their nationals?

eta said:

Last day of competition, as in last day of their nationals?

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yes. they have this "sending you off" ceremony for skaters selected for Worlds/Olympics. Kind of similar to US.

shyne said:

yes. they have this "sending you off" ceremony for skaters selected for Worlds/Olympics. Kind of similar to US.

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Ooooh thanks for this info. When I watch nationals I stop right after the last skater is scored and tend to miss the "fluff" bits.:hopelessness:

Ice Dance said:

4CCs are the Olympic test event and in Korea this year. I expect that will make the event VERY appealing. We should have some incredible fields, especially for men and dance. (And if we are very fortunate the top two teams in the World in pairs, as well as three more GPF qualifiers this season).

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Yes, that is bound to get them interested in going and it should make the event a corker for us watching We might almost end up with a sort of mini GPF there! For Yuzuru it's not just the test event, it's also his past injury because he's looking at the way to structure his season in better ways and we've heard it twice I think so I think it's probably going to happen. If he wants to go JSF is not going to say no to him.

Sai Bon said:

It's going to be a tough one. I never thought Keiji would do so well at NHK - I guess he benefited from Jason underperforming, but there's no doubt he delivered on the day. He seems to be a relatively late bloomer. Nationals will be very interesting. And what about next year, when presumably Sota will be back on the scene?

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He did benefit but I think more in terms of placement, than anything else. Maybe he was also pushed by the possibility and of course the home ice but he delivered and after his quite decent CoR FS, these were two more good programs. He does seem like a late bloomer which makes the whole necessity for allowing him opportunities even greater but the field of Japanese men is really becoming tight. Yes, there's Sota too, fingers crossed that thing heals properly though I don't expect him to start threatening Mura just yet. It's Keiji more who is the question mark for me.