2025-26 Japanese Pairs and Ice Dance

[rabidline]

But even training at IAM? Never mind, good to see these clips any way, for a show or for competition....

Shoma and Marin have been doing ice shows since June last year, and they have a Recomposed by Max Richter - Vivaldi's Four Seasons show program that was choreographed by Jean-Luc Baker. So I think they came to Montreal to polish the choreo in preparation for an upcoming ice show that's happening in July/August, you can see JLB in the twizzles video watching over.

You can watch the program here on another site.

Marin Honda posted some clips of her and Shoma training at IAM in Montreal (they went there for a camp???).
Nothing was announced officially yet but it makes things even more interesting for Japanese ice dance field.
Those twizzles looks nice btw.

Yes, they announced they went for a training camp last Thursday. Shoma has gaming competitions / events lined up in late April and early May, so they may have finished the camp or they will soon finish it. It's good time for them to go overseas, they're based in Tokyo and the rinks they used there for practice have been very busy because of the ice shows. Tatsumi Ice Arena is used for Stars on Ice, MF Rink is used for The Melt practice. Kenji Miyamoto who they sought for advice is also quite busy with the shows.

_________________________________

There is a floating rumor by TSL on Facebook saying this:

« Marin Honda and Shoma Uno were seen learning the Golden Waltz at IAM yesterday. They are there officially for a ‘training camp’. Shoma has stated that he has a ‘schedule’ in October and some fans think they will be competing at West Japan Sectionals. What do you think? »

There is a lot of things that I can break down on this rumor:

- Competition for Japan ice dance teams to qualify for 2026 Nationals is East Japan Sectionals, not West Japan Sectionals.

- Shoma has never said publicly that he has a schedule in October, but he mentioned a gaming offline event he cannot attend because of conflicting schedule. This gaming event is known by Shoma's fans to be in October because he participated in 2025, but the offline event was held last week - directly conflicting with the overseas training camp.

- Shoma's participation in the October 2025 gaming event was as part of a "Western Team" which makes me suspect something got lost in translation and end up as "West Japan Sectionals".

There is also another source claiming they know Shoma and Marin have "chosen" their music for the FD - it turns out that the music is the Four Seasons cut choreographed by JLB, which they have used and performed in public since January and did incorporate more ice dance elements (stationary lift, one foot sequence, twizzles, dance spin, choreographic slide, character steps) than their previous program.

 

[cocteautwin]

I know it's just a rumor but if it's only for the show, they are quite committed to training (also, training camp in IAM is certainly a large financial expense). And I guess this rumor doesn't bother them, because they rather feed it than shut it down.
There are also many clips from their training process when they train actual competitive elements from the scratches. I have a feeling, if they already put so much time, effort and funds to train ice dance elements, they may give it a try competively as well. Why not? Could be true, could be not, let's wait and see. However, it's exciting to see the outcome of the training, on any stage.

 

[rabidline]

I know it's just a rumor but if it's only for the show, they are quite committed to training (also, training camp in IAM is certainly a large financial expense). And I guess this rumor doesn't bother them, because they rather feed it than shut it down.

Being serious about what they do is important for their show, because the main criticism of them is they're just "playing around with ice dance, better watch the people who actually compete" and "Shoma is just making the show to skate with his girlfriend and not better pro skaters" . Going to the best school of Ice Dance help show the people who watch them that they're serious about working hard for this - both of them.

It's an open secret in Japan that both Shoma and Marin come from wealthy families, and they have enough ventures to fund themselves to overseas choreography and training camp. Shoma retaining the support of Toyota (he is their only Japanese figure skater actively having skating projects, as Toyota's contract with Rika Kihira has concluded), Mizuno and Colantotte for his show probably helped him as well.

There are also many clips from their training process when they train actual competitive elements from the scratches. I have a feeling, if they already put so much time, effort and funds to train ice dance elements, they may give it a try competively as well. Why not? Could be true, could be not, let's wait and see. However, it's exciting to see the outcome of the training, on any stage.

It is exciting! I went to watch them live back in June 2025, and when I watched their show online in February 2026, it's insane just how much they have grown.

I think especially for Shoma and Marin, considering their past experience with their competitive careers, being able to train competitive elements and enjoy the process enough to show people the struggle that they have is likely healing on its own. They're engaging with skating on their own terms, free of expectations that comes from being nationally funded competing athletes.

Shoma just dropped some interviews where he was like... working on ice dance elements is his first time experiencing figure skating in the true sense - as in, like "figure" skating. He's streamlined himself to the bare essentials in order to keep up at the top of the men's discipline, and he now can take his time to really learn more of skating.

 

[cocteautwin]

"Shoma is just making the show to skate with his girlfriend and not better pro skaters" .

Whaat? Marin being labeled like that is insane. As if she wasn't one of the biggest talent which unfortunately didn't translate into senior results. She's a fantastic skater. People are so wild.
I know they are wealthy enough to pay for their training expenses and that they do it only for themselve, but I still think trying to compete may be an open option with all this commitment already made. They may do it just for fun as a personal challenge and see if they want more or not.

 

[rabidline]

Whaat? Marin being labeled like that is insane. As if she wasn't one of the biggest talent which unfortunately didn't translate into senior results. She's a fantastic skater. People are so wild.

Unfortunately it is that wild on the Japanese Shoma fan side (not all of them but significant)... lots of boymom fans wanting the best for "their son" and Marin with her lack of results and perceived lack of effort and desire for fame does not make the cut. It is an ongoing drama - they have thrown tantrums over Marin being invited to ice shows where Shoma is skating, refuse attending ice shows where both Shoma and Marin are invited.

Already after announcing he has a new ice dance program with Marin for the new show in July/August, fans are already speaking up that they don't like the direction the show is going if it's going to center ice dance. Tough luck, Shoma is the producer

I know they are wealthy enough to pay for their training expenses and that they do it only for themselve, but I still think trying to compete may be an open option with all this commitment already made. They may do it just for fun as a personal challenge and see if they want more or not.

We will just have to wait and see! But Shoma spoke very highly of competitive ice dancers. He watched the Olympic ice dance events in full - as opposed to the men, which he just watched the FS lol. He said it's presumptuous for him to even try to answer questions about coming back to compete in ice dance, because him and Marin have not trained enough to get to that point of answering.

 

[Anna K.]

Shoma as an ice dancer would be a surprise, i don't know if i can see him

You can see bits of them doing ice dance in this news item about the Ice Brave show (at 1:55)
The whole Four Seasons dance was uploaded on YouTube and then removed because of copyright, so I can't share that

 

[Anna K.]

Unfortunately it is that wild on the Japanese Shoma fan side (not all of them but significant)... lots of boymom fans wanting the best for "their son" and Marin with her lack of results and perceived lack of effort and desire for fame does not make the cut. It is an ongoing drama - they have thrown tantrums over Marin being invited to ice shows where Shoma is skating, refuse attending ice shows where both Shoma and Marin are invited.

Already after announcing he has a new ice dance program with Marin for the new show in July/August, fans are already speaking up that they don't like the direction the show is going if it's going to center ice dance. Tough luck, Shoma is the producer


We will just have to wait and see! But Shoma spoke very highly of competitive ice dancers. He watched the Olympic ice dance events in full - as opposed to the men, which he just watched the FS lol. He said it's presumptuous for him to even try to answer questions about coming back to compete in ice dance, because him and Marin have not trained enough to get to that point of answering.

And I wondered why boymom fans became your problem

Tough luck for Shoma indeed.
The good news is though, he might be forced to develop new artistic concepts in order to expand his audience as a performer and show producer instead of catering for fans.

It's interesting to know that ice dance plays a role in this development.
Given Shoma's character - he likes competing - they might try competitive dancing at some point because of sheer fun if nothing else. But not necessarily in the 2026-27 season.

 

[rabidline]

And I wondered why boymom fans became your problem

Yeah I have enough experience with them Shoma has been motivated to prove them wrong by standing ten toes down for Marin which I enjoy seeing.

Tough luck for Shoma indeed.
The good news is though, he might be forced to develop new artistic concepts in order to expand his audience as a performer and show producer instead of catering for fans.

Exactly exactly. I mean... Shoma has a lot of projects that I didn't expect he would get or do as a fan, and he really grew a lot working on his first produced show.

It's interesting to know that ice dance plays a role in this development.

It gives him a reason to spend a long time working together with the person he loves the most

Given Shoma's character - he likes competing - they might try competitive dancing at some point because of sheer fun if nothing else. But not necessarily in the 2026-27 season.

We'll see we'll see. He does like competing but there's also gaming competitions....

 

[denise3lz]

RikuRyu is invited to Royal Garden Party (Japan) today

春の園遊会　引退表明のりくりゅうも出席 ［写真特集4/19］ | 毎日新聞

木原龍一さん（手前左）、三浦璃来さんと歓談される天皇、皇后両陛下＝東京・元赤坂の赤坂御苑で2026年4月17日午後2時6分、西夏生撮影

mainichi.jp

 

[Anna K.]

^Traditional clothing suits them so well, especially Riku

I wish they wore a variation of this on the ice... Well, they still might in one of those shows.

 

[cocteautwin]

These kimonos are work of art. Yuma and Masaya were also there.
They look like royal couple with two princes sons.

Source: Mainichi

 

[UmeYoSake]

^Traditional clothing suits them so well, especially Riku

I wish they wore a variation of this on the ice... Well, they still might in one of those shows.

Perhaps they could borrow a pair from Cathy

 

[Anna K.]

Perhaps they could borrow a pair from Cathy

What came to my mind was actually closer to this one:

 

[UmeYoSake]

What came to my mind was actually closer to this one:

Ah, now I see what you meant by "those shows". Okay, sorry I misunderstood. Hyoen is a great project, but I would like them to show some pair skills like lifts and throws in their shows while they can, which I believe aligns with their mission or what they said they wanted to do at the party.

 

[denise3lz]

As an aside, Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress mentioned that Shishkova and Naumov had won the World Championships following the Lillehammer Olympics.

 

[Diana Delafield]

Perhaps they could borrow a pair from Cathy

I don't remember seeing that performance. Love the look, but how did they get away with using handheld props? Or were those not banned at that time?

 

[labgoat]

Perhaps they could borrow a pair from Cathy

Such a wonderful program. I always looked forward to their love of sport and creativity.

 

[Anna K.]

I don't remember seeing that performance. Love the look, but how did they get away with using handheld props? Or were those not banned at that time?

I searched our all-knowing forum. See what I've found:

Post in thread 'Costume Changes/Gimmicks/Props'

Jan 24, 2022

I cannot for the life of me remember which season this was and I don't have time to look right now - but there was one season when the ISU let ice dancers use props in their program and I remember Weaver/Poje using a fan

I remember that one! The props season was a very short-lived experiment

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[Anna K.]

Once we are talking about it: @Diana Delafield how much extra fabric could you deal with during a pairs'lift? Given that the display of this fabric is the main purpose of the lift.

Still musing about a possibility of traditional Japanese costume use in pairs show skating

 

[Diana Delafield]

Once we are talking about it: @Diana Delafield how much extra fabric could you deal with during a pairs'lift? Given that the display of this fabric is the main purpose of the lift.

Still musing about a possibility of traditional Japanese costume use in pairs show skating

You'd have to modify the style, and forget extra fabric, for safety reasons. Close fitting sleeves instead of the traditional long, loose ones. A neater band of "built-in" fabric instead of a separate sash, with the folded knot at the back much smaller, flatter, and all stitched down. Not much below hip length, and with the kimono opening stitched closed almost its full length. And the whole dress in a lighter, more flowing, fluttering stretch fabric than the traditional stiff silk. I've worn the real thing as a singer in a production of Madama Butterfly, and it's stiffer and heavier than it looks.

What you'd have to avoid in a costume for a pairs girl is any open loops of fabric on the sash or loose open sleeves, a dangerous trap for her partner's hands. A bulky traditional obi would make it impossible for him to get a grip on her waist for twists and many of the lifts and spins. A good costume maker could produce something that evoked the real thing without duplicating a kimono and just cutting it shorter.