2025-26 Japanese Women's Figure Skating

[Joekaz]

青木祐奈　「（メンタルが）少しやられていた」　渡辺倫果の助言でＳＮＳ断ち…ＳＰは６４・１９点 - スポーツ報知

女子ショートプログラムが行われ、青木祐奈（ＭＦアカデミー）は６４・１９点をマークした。冒頭でルッツ―ループの連続３回転ジャンプを決めると、ダブルアクセル（２回転半）、３回転フリップも着氷。ノーミスで

hochi.news

Yuna Aoki has been cutting off her social media use, and it's because of the reactions around her NHK Trophy host spot allocation. Yuna herself already knew for 2 months that she won the NHK Trophy host spot, but because of the announcement timing happening after other skaters competed, there were a lot of speculations on social media that wore her down. Rinka Watanabe advised her to stop looking at social media and Yuna now refreshed herself with cycling and walking while listening to music.

Ugh, I know that the news of Yuna getting the host spot is accompanied by JSF explanation on their selection criteria (for the Women, the NHK selection event, for the Men, the NHK selection event + Kinoshita Cup results), but I wish they could have announced Yuna earlier because the optics aren't great after Saki Miyake did really really well at Kinoshita Cup....

I know these problems aren't new but yeah, it's always the skaters who have to read those comments.

__________________________

Machine translation:

The women’s short program was held, and Yuna Aoki (MF Academy) scored 64.19 points. She successfully landed a triple Lutz–triple loop combination at the beginning, followed by a double Axel (2.5 rotations) and a triple flip. Reflecting with a smile after a clean performance, she said, “There were some lost levels and under-rotations, so it wasn’t a perfect 100, but considering it was 8 a.m., I think I adjusted well in my own way.”​

​

Just a few days earlier, on the 16th, it was announced that she would compete in the NHK Trophy (to be held November 7–9 in Osaka). Given recent results in international competitions, some fans had voiced support for other skaters. Aoki commented with a smile, “I had known about my selection for about two months already, so I was determined to compete. I did see some of the speculation and rumors flying around,” but she also revealed, “Mentally, I was a bit worn down.”​

​

Rinka Watanabe advised her, “It’s better not to look at social media,” so Aoki cut herself off from it for about a week. She now refreshes herself with cycling and listening to music while walking.​

​

Her previously injured right ankle is recovering well. With major events like the NHK Trophy coming up, she said she is currently focusing on “developing the mental strength to overcome pressure.” Looking ahead to the free skate on the 20th, she cheerfully said, “I want to land the Lutz–loop combination.”​

Too many people go so overboard for these pre GP glorified practices. The results are pretty meaningless because everyone has their own plan for peaking at Nats, and most top contenders use them to work on things instead of trying to win. Last thing I remember was everyone was so happy Yuna wasn't retiring. Lol

 

[rabidline]

Too many people go so overboard for these pre GP glorified practices. The results are pretty meaningless because everyone has their own plan for peaking at Nats, and most top contenders use them to work on things instead of trying to win. Last thing I remember was everyone was so happy Yuna wasn't retiring. Lol

Sports is all about optics and recency bias unfortunately.

I wish JSF had announced Yuna's NHK Trophy spot at the same time as Saki's and Mako's Kinoshita Cup assignments.

 

[Joekaz]

Sports is all about optics and recency bias unfortunately.

I wish JSF had announced Yuna's NHK Trophy spot at the same time as Saki's and Mako's Kinoshita Cup assignments.

Yep, that is true. People love to go by the last thing they see.

 

[YuBluByMe]

As far as Olympic selection goes, it's pretty obvious the Fed has decided on Chiba as the heir apparent "chosen one" with Kaori in her final season.

Because of her international results. She’s the only Japanese woman besides Sakamoto scoring 210+ and winning the big medals.

So there is only one spot open and since Wakaba has never been on the Feds favorites list, she had better be razor sharp at Nationals or someone else will be sent.

Agreed that there is only one Olympic spot open. But Higuchi needs to be sharp in her GP assignments too. She looked exhausted after her free skate at Kinoshita and took a long time getting off the ice. Injury? Illness? I’m not sure. But she can’t skate like that on the GP. If she does she will not be going to the Olympics regardless of how she does at Nationals unless she wins.

I think we all knew last season that the third World’s spot will go to whoever finished highest at Nationals among the GPF finalists not named Sakamoto or Chiba. But that’s not because Nationals results were the top criteria and got the last say; it’s because those group of women were skating at the same level and National results were used as a “tiebreaker.”

If criteria is anything like it was last year (has JSF published it yet?) then SB, making the GPF and medalling are going to be significant.

 

[Joekaz]

Because of her international results. She’s the only Japanese woman besides Sakamoto scoring 210+ and winning the big medals.

Agreed that there is only one Olympic spot open. But Higuchi needs to be sharp in her GP assignments too. She looked exhausted after her free skate at Kinoshita and took a long time getting off the ice. Injury? Illness? I’m not sure. But she can’t skate like that on the GP. If she does she will not be going to the Olympics regardless of how she does at Nationals unless she wins.

I think we all knew last season that the third World’s spot will go to whoever finished highest at Nationals among the GPF finalists not named Sakamoto or Chiba. But that’s not because Nationals results were the top criteria and got the last say; it’s because those group of women were skating at the same level and National results were used as a “tiebreaker.”

If criteria is anything like it was last year (has JSF published it yet?) then SB, making the GPF and medalling are going to be significant.

Do you not know Wakaba was very ill and had to be helped backstage? That result was meaningless. Nationals placement is the most important thing deciding the spot. But the GP results do count too, so it would be best to do well there. But, unless she does awful during the GP season, no one will bump her if she podiums there. The bigger question is how the judges there will score her if she doesn't do well in the season. We all know that whether you are favored because you do better or do better because you are favored is very debatable in skating. Lol

 

[RafaelAstro]

I have a feeling that Rion Sumiyoshi may surprise us this season, if she developes more her consistency and lands her quad toe she is very likely to go

 

[Joekaz]

I have a feeling that Rion Sumiyoshi may surprise us this season, if she developes more her consistency and lands her quad toe she is very likely to go

It will come down to World's. Just doing well in GP won't overcome someone else making the podium over you, unless it's close and they were awful during the season.

 

[denise3lz]

If criteria is anything like it was last year (has JSF published it yet?) then SB, making the GPF and medalling are going to be significant.

JSF published criteria on July 23.

https://www.skatingjapan.or.jp/common/img/info/2025-26_FS_senkokijun_20250723.pdf

 

[denise3lz]

machine translation edited by me

25th Olympic Winter Games

(1) The winner of the All-Japan Championships is selected.
(2) One athlete will be selected from those who meet either of the following criteria, based on an overall judgment
A) 2nd and 3rd placed athletes at the All-Japan Championships
B) The top two finishers in the ISU Grand Prix Final
C) The top 3 best scorers of the ISU season at the end of the All-Japan Championships.
(3) 3 competitors from the following, including those selected in (1) and (2), will be selected based on an overall assessment
A) Athletes who meet A), B) and C) of (2) and were not selected in (2)
B) Top 3 in the ISU World Standings at the end of the All-Japan Championships
C) Top 3 in JSF's own international competition points at the end of All-Japan Championships
D) The highest two overall scorers in the international competitions they were sent to before the All-Japan Championships and in the domestic competitions designated by the Reinforcing Department. The top three average scorers of the two competitions.

 

[rabidline]

In my opinion, regardless of whether one is of the opinion on that JSF is favoring her or not (I don't really think so), Mone did a lot of her homework for her bid to the Olympic team last season.

In a season where a lot of non-Kaori Japanese women made their breakthrough, she separated herself from the field by doing the following:

1. Going clean in the SP when Kaori was not able to at the biggest stages (GPF, Worlds).
2. Separated herself from Hana Yoshida, the other Olympic eligible woman in Kinoshita Academy (leading to Kinoshita Group signing up as her affiliation company).
3. Doing both of the above by landing her existing jumps, without 3A or quads.

In terms of raw scoring abilities, I can argue for every Japanese women having the potential to do well, but these 3 above sort of create an unique niche for Mone in the eyes of JSF and the judges: a reliable Japan #2 who can be the most relied upon to seize the opportunity, either to medal, or even more than that, in case Kaori faltered at the Olympics (and history has proven that Kaori is not exactly infallible). And they don't have to wait until Mone miraculously obtains a consistent 3A or quad, she's already doing it and bringing home the results. It's how Kaori carved her way up, and how she became the de facto #1 when the previous hopeful faded due to injuries. None of the other Japanese women have this yet, hence the mostly comparable results and favors.

Is it enough to get Mone to the Olympics? Maybe not 100%, because ice is slippery. But for her, it's not about why she should be in the team, it's about how can you leave her out of the team. It's harder to leave her out of the Olympic team unless she's grievously injured, because of the niche she established last season. And if it comes down to the "comprehensive judgement" , she has the world standing, and the higher international score (she already has set a PB of her career this season at Kinoshita Group Cup, the first international competition she's entered in this season).

 

[Joekaz]

In my opinion, regardless of whether one is of the opinion on that JSF is favoring her or not (I don't really think so), Mone did a lot of her homework for her bid to the Olympic team last season.

In a season where a lot of non-Kaori Japanese women made their breakthrough, she separated herself from the field by doing the following:

1. Going clean in the SP when Kaori was not able to at the biggest stages (GPF, Worlds).
2. Separated herself from Hana Yoshida, the other Olympic eligible woman in Kinoshita Academy (leading to Kinoshita Group signing up as her affiliation company).
3. Doing both of the above by landing her existing jumps, without 3A or quads.

In terms of raw scoring abilities, I can argue for every Japanese women having the potential to do well, but these 3 above sort of create an unique niche for Mone in the eyes of JSF and the judges: a reliable Japan #2 who can be the most relied upon to seize the opportunity, either to medal, or even more than that, in case Kaori faltered at the Olympics (and history has proven that Kaori is not exactly infallible). And they don't have to wait until Mone miraculously obtains a consistent 3A or quad, she's already doing it and bringing home the results. It's how Kaori carved her way up, and how she became the de facto #1 when the previous hopeful faded due to injuries. None of the other Japanese women have this yet, hence the mostly comparable results and favors.

Is it enough to get Mone to the Olympics? Maybe not 100%, because ice is slippery. But for her, it's not about why she should be in the team, it's about how can you leave her out of the team. It's harder to leave her out of the Olympic team unless she's grievously injured, because of the niche she established last season. And if it comes down to the "comprehensive judgement" , she has the world standing, and the higher international score (she already has set a PB of her career this season at Kinoshita Group Cup, the first international competition she's entered in this season).

Actually Mone got a q in the SP at World's. Liu and Higuchi were the only ones clean in the SP. Higuchi also actually won a GP event last season, unlike Mone. And Higuchi made the podium at the most pressure packed event of the season, Nationals. Mone did not. Mone is very good and would make a fine Olympic participant. But so would several other girls. It will come down to how they do in the GP season and, most importantly, how they do at Nationals. As far as the criteria go, as always, it basically says unless you win Nationals the Fed can choose any of a number of girls if they decide to. In practice however, they generally won't bump a girl that makes the podium unless there is a big talent disparity and or a fluke occurrence. The talent gap of the top 6 or 7 girls in Japan is relatively small. Anyone that looks at the scoring can see Kaori and Mone are the most likely. But they also make mistakes and the others certainly have the talent to beat them if they do.

 

[YuBluByMe]

That result was meaningless.

Because none of the Japanese women, other than Chiba really, were superstars. It would have only been meaningful if someone with two GP assignments (other than Chiba or Sakamoto) won the gold.

Nationals placement is the most important thing deciding the spot. But the GP results do count too, so it would be best to do well there.

GP results are the second most important criteria after Nationals placements! So YEAH it will be benefit her greatly to do well. Nationals results alone won’t cut it, but a combination of factors. It’s been this way for several seasons now. Who was the team in 2024? Why? Because neither Chiba or Yoshida were anywhere near the podium. Why was Chiba left off the team in 2023? Why was Watanabe chosen instead, despite being outside the top ten?

But, unless she does awful during the GP season, no one will bump her if she podiums there.

I disagree. She doesn’t need to just not be awful in the GP series. No on else can’t be significantly better than her, either. Let’s say she gets two bronzes with 195-200 scores in the GP and she doesn’t qualify for the GPF. But someone else gets a gold and silver with 210+ (not Chiba or Sakamoto) and medals at GPF. At Nationals, she’s fifth and Higuchi is third and there’s a small margin between the two. I’m very sure that JFed will choose the fifth place finisher in this scenario because she’s been scoring higher than Higuchi throughout the season. If something like this happens, the other girl will have to do poorly at Nationals to NOT be chosen.

That was the “problem” last season. There were four ladies in the same range and each distinguished themselves in some way so National results were the bottom line. It’s a good problem to have. It’s still very early, but I feel that Sumiyoshi and Nakai are already breaking away from the Higuchi-Yoshida-Matsuike-Watanabe pack. But they still need to bring it at the GP series. They all do.

 

[Joekaz]

Because none of the Japanese women, other than Chiba really, were superstars. It would have only been meaningful if someone with two GP assignments (other than Chiba or Sakamoto) won the gold.

GP results are the second most important criteria after Nationals placements! So YEAH it will be benefit her greatly to do well. Nationals results alone won’t cut it, but a combination of factors. It’s been this way for several seasons now. Who was the team in 2024? Why? Because neither Chiba or Yoshida were anywhere near the podium. Why was Chiba left off the team in 2023? Why was Watanabe chosen instead, despite being outside the top ten?


I disagree. She doesn’t need to just not be awful in the GP series. No on else can’t be significantly better than her, either. Let’s say she gets two bronzes with 195-200 scores in the GP and she doesn’t qualify for the GPF. But someone else gets a gold and silver with 210+ (not Chiba or Sakamoto) and medals at GPF. At Nationals, she’s fifth and Higuchi is third and there’s a small margin between the two. I’m very sure that JFed will choose the fifth place finisher in this scenario because she’s been scoring higher than Higuchi throughout the season. If something like this happens, the other girl will have to do poorly at Nationals to NOT be chosen.

That was the “problem” last season. There were four ladies in the same range and each distinguished themselves in some way so National results were the bottom line. It’s a good problem to have. It’s still very early, but I feel that Sumiyoshi and Nakai are already breaking away from the Higuchi-Yoshida-Matsuike-Watanabe pack. But they still need to bring it at the GP series. They all do.

It's really far too early to really predict what's going to happen. Your scenario is possible for Chiba to get bumped too. I'm just saying it's very unlikely that anything that has gone on so far is going to make much difference. Chiba is very good, but not a superstar. She will have to earn her way just like everyone else. I'm just saying making the podium at Nats is the most likely path, not the only one.

 

[macy]

Do you not know Wakaba was very ill and had to be helped backstage? That result was meaningless. Nationals placement is the most important thing deciding the spot. But the GP results do count too, so it would be best to do well there. But, unless she does awful during the GP season, no one will bump her if she podiums there. The bigger question is how the judges there will score her if she doesn't do well in the season. We all know that whether you are favored because you do better or do better because you are favored is very debatable in skating. Lol

i'm not going to have an opinion on Wakaba until her next competition where she hopefully will be competing healthy. She was VERY obviously ill the day of the FS and likely should have WD so it's a non factor in my mind. it's no wonder she skated the way she did.

 

[Joekaz]

i'm not going to have an opinion on Wakaba until her next competition where she hopefully will be competing healthy. She was VERY obviously ill the day of the FS and likely should have WD so it's a non factor in my mind. it's no wonder she skated the way she did.

I don't understand why people seem to want to write off Wakaba so fast when she had such a good season last year. She has both her GPs in the second half of the season, so she doesn't want to peak early. She even stated beforehand that she was concentrating on getting her programs down and not worried about jumps yet

 

[RafaelAstro]

I don't understand why people seem to want to write off Wakaba so fast when she had such a good season last year. She has both her GPs in the second half of the season, so she doesn't want to peak early. She even stated beforehand that she was concentrating on getting her programs down and not worried about jumps yet

The problem is that there is a lot of talent in Japan right now. It’s not the same scenario as the 2017–18 or 2021–22 seasons, when at most five ladies were fighting for a spot (skaters who had won a medal throughout the season in any competition). Now we have Kaori, Mone, Wakaba, Hana, Rinka, Rion, Saki, Yuna, Rino, Mako, and Ami, all of them either winning something or making the podium with big scoring potential in recent seasons. We’re coming from a season where five skaters qualified for the Grand Prix Final. So, as much as I love Wakaba, any of these skaters has the potential to fight for a spot, and I wouldn’t be mad if another skater, if not Wakaba, makes the Olympics, because I really like all of them.

 

[Joekaz]

The problem is that there is a lot of talent in Japan right now. It’s not the same scenario as the 2017–18 or 2021–22 seasons, when at most five ladies were fighting for a spot (skaters who had won a medal throughout the season in any competition). Now we have Kaori, Mone, Wakaba, Hana, Rinka, Rion, Saki, Yuna, Rino, Mako, and Ami, all of them either winning something or making the podium with big scoring potential in recent seasons. We’re coming from a season where five skaters qualified for the Grand Prix Final. So, as much as I love Wakaba, any of these skaters has the potential to fight for a spot, and I wouldn’t be mad if another skater, if not Wakaba, makes the Olympics, because I really like all of them.

I understand that. But there is no reason to think any of those girls are better than or have an advantage over Wakaba right now. To the contrary, Wakaba should be the favorite to go right now. These pre GP competitions have very little bearing on things at the end of the year.

 

[RafaelAstro]

Well, in the end, we need to see how the season unfolds for every skater. I’m not a fan of the idea that Kaori and Mone are already being considered for the Olympics. Are they consistent? Yes. Are they benefitted by their federation? Yes. Are they great skaters? Absolutely. Have they already been selected? No. It’s still very early in the season, and we don’t know what’s going to happen until it happens. Technically, everyone has a chance, but they need to prove it, no matter how good we think they are or how much reputation or experience they have.

 

[rabidline]

I don't understand why people seem to want to write off Wakaba so fast when she had such a good season last year. She has both her GPs in the second half of the season, so she doesn't want to peak early. She even stated beforehand that she was concentrating on getting her programs down and not worried about jumps yet

As a Wakaba fan I can't lie... I'm worried! It's not so much as writing her off as trying to set my expectations low about this, and not putting any blame on external factors. Last season it's a bit different because I actually saw Wakaba live in January 2024 and was like, "well, she's in fighting shape." even though it was an ice show. So I had confidence in her going into the 2024-2025 season, where she was solid and capitalized on every opportunity she got, especially in the GPs. Not so much this year, but I also understand because every skater is on different stages of life (competitive and off-ice), so the way they approach the Olympic season is different.

I'm just worried that this slow start will cost Wakaba in the end, and so far I love her skating but she's not giving me confidence re: landing jumps needed for the points. Which I am a bit nervous about, because I don't want Wakaba to lose the advantage that she had over the other Japanese women after being a solid player last season. But I would love it if she can prove me wrong- there's a couple competitions she's entered in that can be generous with scoring, so if she can capitalize on that....

In comparison, Mone is already making an argument and quietly making sure she got her i's dotted and t's crossed in regards to the JSF Olympic team criteria. Of course it doesn't mean that she's already in the Olympic team. But she's already making the moves that literally count for the criteria, compared to others.

 

[TallyT]

I’m not a fan of the idea that Kaori and Mone are already being considered for the Olympics.

Considered is fine... already JSF-approved would not be (but I doubt JSF have gotten that far yet, there have been very few times anyone has been a cert even after the GPF let alone before it even starts)