2018-19 Japanese Ladies' figure skating

[yume]

I think Mai was supposed to start university this year.

I think only Satoko, Mai and Rika Hongo are in university.
But at least universiade JSF sent skaters who where not among the top: Rin Nitaya and Hinano Isobe. I don't know if it was because there were Asian winter games in Japan the same season, where Rika Hongo competed.

 

[lanceupper1114]

My dream team for 4cc: Rika Kihira, Mai Mihara, Mako Yamashita

Kaori Sakamoto will likely be there as defending champion.

 

[Dreamer57]

I just hope that Wakaba and Mai skate well enough to make 4CC if not worlds. Satoko, Rika and Kaori seem to be the favourites for the worlds team after making the GPF and getting mainly consistent high scores this season.

 

[leoleo]

I might be the only one but i feel like someone else like Mai could very much win a spot over Satoko if she is clean. IDK Satoko's scores at the GPF are just scaring me. Not the ur calls cause those are well deserved but her PCS dropping is very weird (especially since pcs usually go up at the GPF and Satoko didn't make major mistakes yet her pcs scores were so criminal)! I wonder if the fed is just less than smart and has decided to drop her while she is in the middle of reworking her jumps (and they have a new favorite)! Not trying to start drama, i love Satoko and i am always very outrage over her PCS scores but GPF makes me think the fed might not be behind her so much anymore. What do you guys think?

 

[Jeanie19]

I might be the only one but i feel like someone else like Mai could very much win a spot over Satoko if she is clean. IDK Satoko's scores at the GPF are just scaring me. Not the ur calls cause those are well deserved but her PCS dropping is very weird (especially since pcs usually go up at the GPF and Satoko didn't make major mistakes yet her pcs scores were so criminal)! I wonder if the fed is just less than smart and has decided to drop her while she is in the middle of reworking her jumps (and they have a new favorite)! Not trying to start drama, i love Satoko and i am always very outrage over her PCS scores but GPF makes me think the fed might not be behind her so much anymore. What do you guys think?

I thought Satoko's pc's were low. As for Mai, I put her as bronze in my predictions. I love her sp and she is really consistent.

 

[lanceupper1114]

I might be the only one but i feel like someone else like Mai could very much win a spot over Satoko if she is clean. IDK Satoko's scores at the GPF are just scaring me. Not the ur calls cause those are well deserved but her PCS dropping is very weird (especially since pcs usually go up at the GPF and Satoko didn't make major mistakes yet her pcs scores were so criminal)! I wonder if the fed is just less than smart and has decided to drop her while she is in the middle of reworking her jumps (and they have a new favorite)! Not trying to start drama, i love Satoko and i am always very outrage over her PCS scores but GPF makes me think the fed might not be behind her so much anymore. What do you guys think?

I think someone who is not Kaori, Satoko, or Rika K. would have to win Nationals to take a spot at worlds. Otherwise, its those three; these three have SB that is beyond anyone else, and they have body of work this season to support their selections.

 

[randomfan]

I might be the only one but i feel like someone else like Mai could very much win a spot over Satoko if she is clean. IDK Satoko's scores at the GPF are just scaring me. Not the ur calls cause those are well deserved but her PCS dropping is very weird (especially since pcs usually go up at the GPF and Satoko didn't make major mistakes yet her pcs scores were so criminal)! I wonder if the fed is just less than smart and has decided to drop her while she is in the middle of reworking her jumps (and they have a new favorite)! Not trying to start drama, i love Satoko and i am always very outrage over her PCS scores but GPF makes me think the fed might not be behind her so much anymore. What do you guys think?

Even a huge fan of Satoko, I must say that her scores at the GPF were about right (though the FS PCS could’ve been a bit higher). She was very tense in the SP, which I’m guessing was the result of both skating after Rika and missing the combo the first time around. The SP just didn’t have its usual magic, which is a shame because it’s such a stunning program.

I also noticed something interesting at the 2:36 mark here - https://youtu.be/ZpbiSx-mdrk. In her previous performances, there was a series of movements here (not a footwork expert so I don’t know what they were called). But whatever it was, it seems that it was simplified here, which confused me since she was constantly getting level 3s up until then (and she got it again here). It got me wondering if she did this change by accident, especially because I felt that it didn’t reflect the music quite as well.

I’m more surprised about Rika’s PCS. In the SP, judges give lower PCS in general, so I thought Rika would get a 34 at best (which equals a 68 in the FS). Meanwhile, she got a whopping 72 in the FS with a performance that was great but not as good as NHK (where she got 67). I expected her to still get higher because of reputation, but I was thinking around a 69 would’ve been more appropriate.

Anyways, I feel that the fed hasn’t dropped Satoko. There were just some unfortunate circumstances for her at the GPF that resulted in lower PCS than usual (I agree that even her PCS at her best is still pretty underscored, but that’s another story).

 

[Joekaz]

I think someone who is not Kaori, Satoko, or Rika K. would have to win Nationals to take a spot at worlds. Otherwise, its those three; these three have SB that is beyond anyone else, and they have body of work this season to support their selections.

Rika is the only one safe. The other 2 were good but not great. If Kaori or Satoko are fourth they wont jump either Mai(she had a good year) or Wakaba(injured but defending world silver medalist) if they are third. Mako, Marin or Yuna probably would get jumped if third depending on margin but not if second.

 

[yume]

I think someone who is not Kaori, Satoko, or Rika K. would have to win Nationals to take a spot at worlds. Otherwise, its those three; these three have SB that is beyond anyone else, and they have body of work this season to support their selections.

Last year fed gave more weight to nats results. She gave spots to girls who did the best at nats, no matter if there were girls who got better results than them before nats. It would be unfair to not do the same thing this season.

 

[cohkaix]

For last year at Nationals it was a rather 'unusual' case to have split team members for 4CC and WC...I think it was rather due to:a. the olympic season; and b. Japanese ladies were left with 2 spots at WC. So my guessing is that, for this year, the top three from nationals would be sent to WC, and most likely also to 4CC (please also be reminded that the skaters will be inquired beforehand their intentions of attending these events, if chosen).

One thing to note is that, according to the schedule of Nationals by JSF: (schedule as of Oct 14) there's no indication of when the 4CC/WC team members will be announced (usually there will be a time slot for that after the very last competition -- this year men's FS will be last on Dec. 24th). So it's not for certain at the moment that when the team members will be announced.

 

[kimi492]

Relevant portion from an interview with Raf
http://absoluteskating.com/index.php?cat=articles&id=2018coaches

When will we also enjoy Marin Honda?


Difficult question... If Eunsoo speaks good English and we have a mutual understanding with her, then it's not the same with Marin. You tell her what to do. She pretends to understand, nods, goes and does not do what she was told. And I do not know whether sometimes she does not understand, or simply does not want to. This is how we work, at times we have to endure, because we can't shout or curse... Well, we have such work, coaches. So I wait, probably she will learn English, probably will begin to listen to me. She is such a princess. It is difficult with her, I will try to change her so that she works differently. But it is interesting to me! I have Mexicans, skaters from many countries, I try to work with everyone.

 

[Globetrotter]

Relevant portion from an interview with Raf
http://absoluteskating.com/index.php?cat=articles&id=2018coaches

When will we also enjoy Marin Honda?


Difficult question... If Eunsoo speaks good English and we have a mutual understanding with her, then it's not the same with Marin. You tell her what to do. She pretends to understand, nods, goes and does not do what she was told. And I do not know whether sometimes she does not understand, or simply does not want to. This is how we work, at times we have to endure, because we can't shout or curse... Well, we have such work, coaches. So I wait, probably she will learn English, probably will begin to listen to me. She is such a princess. It is difficult with her, I will try to change her so that she works differently. But it is interesting to me! I have Mexicans, skaters from many countries, I try to work with everyone.

My secret desire is wanting to see how Marin will turn out under Eteri Tutberidze’s coaching. She has so much natural talent, strong SS and that all important X factor charm that charms judges, spectators and TV audience alll at the same time. Unfortunately from Raf’s interview, it does confirm that Marin is none too fond of practices which is consistent with what Coach Hamada said before. Perhaps she simply is the sort who dislikes or gets bored repeating the same things over and over. It’s tough but Eteri’s girls and Satoko get their steely nerves and consistency through......tough practices day in and out.

 

[kimi492]

My secret desire is wanting to see how Marin will turn out under Eteri Tutberidze’s coaching. She has so much natural talent, strong SS and that all important X factor charm that charms judges, spectators and TV audience alll at the same time. Unfortunately from Raf’s interview, it does confirm that Marin is none too fond of practices which is consistent with what Coach Hamada said before. Perhaps she simply is the sort who dislikes or gets bored repeating the same things over and over. It’s tough but Eteri’s girls and Satoko get their steely nerves and consistency through......tough practices day in and out.

I don’t know that I extrapolate that Marin is lazy - maybe her English isn’t good enough to understand Raf? I don’t think I’ve ever seen Marin say anything to Raf in the Kiss & Cry or at the boards,etc. She gives off the impression she understands almost no English, which in a way could be construed as lazy I suppose, I know I certainly would want to be able to understand my coach. Compared to other skaters I follow with foreign coaches like Yelim with Tom or Eunsoo with Raf and her TSL interview - I feel confident they can at least get the gist of what’s happening as I’ve seen both speak English.

 

[moonkat]

I don’t know that I extrapolate that Marin is lazy - maybe her English isn’t good enough to understand Raf? I don’t think I’ve ever seen Marin say anything to Raf in the Kiss & Cry or at the boards,etc. She gives off the impression she understands almost no English, which in a way could be construed as lazy I suppose, I know I certainly would want to be able to understand my coach. Compared to other skaters I follow with foreign coaches like Yelim with Tom or Eunsoo with Raf and her TSL interview - I feel confident they can at least get the gist of what’s happening as I’ve seen both speak English.

Brian has the same experience with Yuzuru. He would nod even when he doesn't understand. Maybe it's the Japanese culture of indirectness.
Satoko doesn't count btw because she's lived in the US from 5-7.

 

[champs]

I agree with kimi492 and moonkat. Mao said she hardly understood what Raf told her to do. Raf speaks in the kind of accent that makes it even harder for those Japanese who are new to an English speaking environment. (I suspect Shoma understands very little of what Ouriashev says either considering his accent.)

And I shamelessly nod as well without completely understanding what my bosses are telling me as they all speak very strong dialects which I'm having difficulty with since my recent relocation to country side.

 

[DenissVFan]

Here's an interesting article that suggests that non-native speakers of English understand other non-native speakers better than native speakers, which I mostly agree with. Raf, a non-native speaker, works with international skaters, such as Michal and Romain, so he has experience in this area. I believe that to effectively communicate with your coach you need to be at least at the intermediate level. Anything below that is not optimal. Evgenia's English is pretty good right now but she still said she had to adjust to speaking only English when she moved to Canada. Marin is in an ideal situation to learn English, though: she can acquire it through immersion on a daily basis and if she gets additional tutoring and also studies on her own, she'll soon improve. She also has teammates who speak English who can help her.

 

[SnowWhite]

Here's an interesting article that suggests that non-native speakers of English understand other non-native speakers better than native speakers, which I mostly agree with. Raf, a non-native speaker, works with international skaters, such as Michal and Romain, so he has experience in this area. I believe that to effectively communicate with your coach you need to be at least at the intermediate level. Anything below that is not optimal. Evgenia's English is pretty good right now but she still said she had to adjust to speaking only English when she moved to Canada. Marin is in an ideal situation to learn English, though: she can acquire it through immersion on a daily basis and if she gets additional tutoring and also studies on her own, she'll soon improve. She also has teammates who speak English who can help her.

I think Mikhail Kolyada said once that it's easier for him to understand Shoma in English than Nathan, because Nathan speaks fast due to it being his first language. Or something like that.

 

[combinationspin]

I’m more surprised about Rika’s PCS. In the SP, judges give lower PCS in general, so I thought Rika would get a 34 at best (which equals a 68 in the FS). Meanwhile, she got a whopping 72 in the FS with a performance that was great but not as good as NHK (where she got 67). I expected her to still get higher because of reputation, but I was thinking around a 69 would’ve been more appropriate.

Tbh, Rika’s PCS at GPF, as high as Mao at her best, were quite irritating to me at first. But after remembering what kind of PCS Evgenia used to get up until this season and the PCS Alina still gets, everything was fine .
In seriousness, Rika already is a very well-rounded skater. Her SS are better than Evgenia’s and Alina’s. IMO she is slightly more refined than Kaori and considerably more refined than Mai. She might lack Satoko’s gravitas and subtlety but she makes it up with freedom and nonchalance in her skating.
PCS are mainly TES based these days anyway. It was the judges way to say “This is the girl”.

 

[combinationspin]

I really hope Marin finds a way to solve the communication issues with Raf. If she can’t lean English, she should just hire an interpreter. Her family has already make some weighty financial and and personal sacrifices by sending her and her brother away to Raf to fix her jumps. It would be a waste if she can’t benefit from Raf’s coaching simply because of the language.
And I have heard that when a Japanese person nods, it doesn’t necessarily mean they understand what you say or agree to it. It only means they are listening to you, you hold their attention. Hope Marin and her team can come to terms with these little cultural differences, too.

 

[irriya]

I don’t know that I extrapolate that Marin is lazy - maybe her English isn’t good enough to understand Raf? I don’t think I’ve ever seen Marin say anything to Raf in the Kiss & Cry or at the boards,etc. She gives off the impression she understands almost no English, which in a way could be construed as lazy I suppose, I know I certainly would want to be able to understand my coach. Compared to other skaters I follow with foreign coaches like Yelim with Tom or Eunsoo with Raf and her TSL interview - I feel confident they can at least get the gist of what’s happening as I’ve seen both speak English.

I wouldn't say Marin is lazy but it did feel that she wasn't the most hard working athlete. I've seen some of her open practice, and it really impressed me how much Satoko doing jumps and spins compared to Marin. A friend of mine whose child skated in Lakewood club also said she felt Eun-soo and Mariah appeared to work harder than Marin. It's said she used not to do enough spin practice because she didn't like to. It appeared that she's trying to change now. Let's give her some time, wait and see. I really hope she can explore all her talents and bring more beautiful programs.