2025-26 Japanese Men's Figure Skating

[rabidline]

National Team
I used @figureskatingandrainbows template from the previous thread. This is based on Strengthening Athletes list released April 23, 2025, athletes may be added or removed based on GP/international assignments.

Special
Yuma Kagiyama (ISU, JSF, GS thread, seeded)
Rio Nakata** (ISU, JSF, GS thread, seeded)
Tatsuya Tsuboi (ISU, JSF, GS thread, seeded)
Shun Sato (ISU, JSF, GS thread)

A
Kazuki Tomono (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
Sena Miyake (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
Kao Miura (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
Sena Takahashi** (JSF)
Taiga Nishino** (ISU, JSF)

B
Sota Yamamoto (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
Shunsuke Nakamura (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
Shun Uemura
Shuntaro Asaga
Haru Kakiuchi* (ISU, JSF)
Ryoto Mori**
Daiya Ebihara** (ISU, JSF)

Other Skaters
Nozomu Yoshioka (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
Tsudoi Suto* (ISU, JSF)
Takeru Amine Kataise (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
Seigo Tauchi** (ISU, JSF)
Ryoga Morimoto* (ISU)
Ryusei Kikuchi (ISU)
Hayato Okazaki**

*denotes likely junior
**denotes junior age-ineligible
--Seeded skaters are the top 3 finishers at Nationals. They automatically qualify for the next years' Nationals. Non-seeded skaters must compete at Regional and Sectional Championships in order to qualify, but may be exempted if an international competition overlaps with Regionals/Sectionals

 

[rabidline]

2025-2025 Senior GP Assignments as of June 6, 2025:

2 Assignments

Skater	GP France	Cup of China	Skate Canada	NHK Trophy	Skate America	Finlandia Trophy
Yuma Kagiyama				✔		✔
Tatsuya Tsuboi	✔				✔
Shun Sato		✔		✔
Kazuki Tomono			✔		✔
Kao Miura	✔		✔
Sota Yamamoto		✔				✔

1 Assignment
None

Notable Seniors with No GP Assignments
Sena Miyake (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
Nozomu Yoshioka (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
Shunsuke Nakamura (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
Takeru Amine Kataise (ISU, JSF, GS thread)

It's a 5 men race for on who gets to accompany Yuma to the Olympics. In my opinion, Shun *should* have a bit of recent advantage over the others after his efforts at Worlds (and WTT, competing decently while very sick is a skill somewhat appreciated by JSF), but this is men, we know what happens when they're menning (as Japan Nationals 2024 can testify) so...

 

[KiraraChin]

A cute visual representation of the Japanese Men GP assignments:


Kazuki IMO got the worst deal in terms of timing, travelling, timezones, not to mention he tends to tank at Skate Canada

I'm super curious to see who's gonna be the NHK host pick - Nozomu or ShunShun?

 

[surimi]

In the OP, Sota retains the 'seeded' tag by mistake. I mean, I would love for it to be so, but sadly, it's not the case this season.

@KiraraChin , I like Nozomu and would be happy if he got a GP, but I think we shouldn't write off Sena, who can skate very well when it matters - in this case, at Nationals. He's done it twice already, and also skated well at 4CC.

 

[KiraraChin]

@KiraraChin , I like Nozomu and would be happy if he got a GP, but I think we shouldn't write off Sena, who can skate very well when it matters - in this case, at Nationals. He's done it twice already, and also skated well at 4CC.

Trueeeeee Sena is also a strong contender, not to mention Kosho Oshima who's on an upward trajectory and already declared he's determined to get an international assignment!

 

[surimi]

Trueeeeee Sena is also a strong contender, not to mention Kosho Oshima who's on an upward trajectory and already declared he's determined to get an international assignment!

Interesting, I didn't know! I think the international audience would love Oshima. Can skaters who aren't in the WS at all still get a GP host spot?

 

[KiraraChin]

Interesting, I didn't know! I think the international audience would love Oshima. Can skaters who aren't in the WS at all still get a GP host spot?

I think so! It'd be interesting for sure to see him in the international stage!

 

[rabidline]

In the OP, Sota retains the 'seeded' tag by mistake. I mean, I would love for it to be so, but sadly, it's not the case this season.

@KiraraChin , I like Nozomu and would be happy if he got a GP, but I think we shouldn't write off Sena, who can skate very well when it matters - in this case, at Nationals. He's done it twice already, and also skated well at 4CC.

Thank you! All adjusted.

And yes Sena shouldn't be counted out as he came out from Nationals with a higher placement than both Nozomu and Shunsuke.

 

[denise3lz]

JGP first announcement

フィギュア・ジュニアGP　島田麻央、中田璃士はタイなどにエントリー | 毎日新聞

日本スケート連盟は25日、東京都内で理事会を開催し、ジュニアグランプリ（GP）シリーズ（全7戦）などの国際大会派遣選手を承認した。 　女子でジュニア無敗が続く島田麻央選手（木下グループ）はタイ大会（バンコク・9月9～13日）とアラブ首長国連邦（UAE）大会（アブダビ・10月8～11日）にエントリー

mainichi.jp

1.Latvia
Rio NAKATA, Ryoto MORI

2.Turkey
Sena TAKAHASHI

3.Italy
Shun UEMURA, Taiga NISHINO

4.Thailand
Rio NAKATA, Daiya EBIHARA

5.Azerbaijan
TBD

6.Poland
TBD

7.United Arab Emirates
TBD

 

[KiraraChin]

Summer Cup (9-12 Aug) Senior Men entries include Yuma, Kao, Sota, Kazuki and Tatsuya: https://www.jsfresults.com/non_responsive_toppage.htm?figure_top.htm,local/2025-2026/fs/25/794/index.htm

 

[rabidline]

Challenger Assignments are out, reported by figure365 / Nikkan (click for full thread at X):



▪︎ Kinoshita Group Cup (Sept 5–7, Kansai Airport)

Men: Tatsuya Tsuboi, Kazuki Tomono, Kao Miura, Sota Yamamoto
Women: Kaori Sakamoto, Wakaba Higuchi, Mone Chiba, Rinka Watanabe, Hana Yoshida
Pairs: Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara, Yuna Nagaoka/Sumitada Moriguchi
Ice Dance: Utana Yoshida/Masaya Morita

▪︎ Lombardia Trophy (Sept 11–14, Bergamo)

Men: Yuma Kagiyama, Shun Sato, Kao Miura
Women: Rino Matsuike, Rion Sumiyoshi, Ami Nakai

▪︎ Nebelhorn Trophy (Sept 25–27, Oberstdorf)

Men: Tatsuya Tsuboi, Kazuki Tomono
Women: Mone Chiba, Hana Yoshida
Pairs: Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara


▪︎ Trialeti Cup (Oct 8–11, Tbilisi)

Men: Sota Yamamoto
Women: Wakaba Higuchi, Rinka Watanabe
Ice Dance: Utana Yoshida/Masaya Morita

 

[rabidline]

Takeuchi-san said they may assign more skaters to Kinoshita Group Cup CS after the NHK Trophy selection this weekend (!):

 

[surimi]

wow, double assignments! That's a plesant surprise for sure. I did not expect JSF to assign to Tbilisi at all.

 

[tsuyoboogie]

yeah...send the broken kid now admitting his left thigh injury has become chronic to do back to back events...at the very start of the season no less...just lovely...also mentioned he's been experiencing pain in his toe when he taps the ice...of course he is...wheeee...that's nice~

WD incoming!

 

[KiraraChin]

yeah...send the broken kid now admitting his left thigh injury has become chronic to do back to back events...at the very start of the season no less...just lovely...also mentioned he's been experiencing pain in his toe when he taps the ice...of course he is...wheeee...that's nice~

WD incoming!

This is about Kao, right? He's also scheduled to compete in both the Summer Cup and Tokyo Summer Trophy...

 

[rabidline]

Thought JSF is really pushing Kao to either step up (recover properly and compete at the Challengers) or fold (WD and take the risk of having to do well in the GP series) with these assignments, tbh.

But I think they want the Olys 3rd spot (Shun seems secure as the #2 for now) to be competed for equally hence all of the contenders (Kao, Kazuki, Sota, Tatsuya) getting the same number of challengers. And they all are doing Kinoshita Group Cup. All of them have 2 GP assignments too so it will be a fair fight in terms of number of assignments.

Add to it: Kao has Tokyo regionals (to qualify for Nationals) on Sep 18-21, the week after Lombardia.

 

[Eee]

Add to it: Kao has Tokyo regionals (to qualify for Nationals) on Sep 18-21, the week after Lombardia.

Won't he get a bye for that, or do the challengers don't count for byes?

 

[cohkaix]

Won't he get a bye for that, or do the challengers don't count for byes?

Yes, he should be able to get a bye for the regional, given the CS assignment.

 

[tsuyoboogie]

This is about Kao, right? He's also scheduled to compete in both the Summer Cup and Tokyo Summer Trophy...

Thought JSF is really pushing Kao to either step up (recover properly and compete at the Challengers) or fold (WD and take the risk of having to do well in the GP series) with these assignments, tbh.

But I think they want the Olys 3rd spot (Shun seems secure as the #2 for now) to be competed for equally hence all of the contenders (Kao, Kazuki, Sota, Tatsuya) getting the same number of challengers. And they all are doing Kinoshita Group Cup. All of them have 2 GP assignments too so it will be a fair fight in terms of number of assignments.

Add to it: Kao has Tokyo regionals (to qualify for Nationals) on Sep 18-21, the week after Lombardia.

Seems like JSF assigned all the guys who could use World Standings points two CS (good on JSF but why back to back for Kao?)

For now, I'm guessing Kao will decide prior to each competition whether or not his condition allows him to participate
Even when he's not feeling pain, he's worried about exacerbating his injury
Just my guess but this is how I foresee his Aug~Sept schedule

I think it's likely he'll WD from either Summer Cup or Tokyo Summer (more likely Summer Cup) unless he waters down his content and uses both to focus on getting a feel for his new programs (he's still deciding between two FS?)

Kao is very concerned about WS points (his reason for competing at 4CC) so his decision in regards to his CS assignments will be strategic
If he's not up to doing both he will likely choose to compete in the one that he anticipates could benefit him the most (in points)
Without the full roster of entries, I believe he will make Kinoshita Group Cup priority, then decide on Lombardia after

If he decides not to compete in Bergamo, he'll do Tokyo Block

 

[rabidline]

Haru Kakiuchi and Shunsuke Nakamura got the Kinoshita Cup CS assignment.