Kazuki Tomono | Page 264 | Golden Skate

Kazuki Tomono

Both Hiraike-sensei and Kazuki himself posted on IG about Nationals. The great news is that Kazuki confirmed his participation in the National Winter Sports Festival (aka Kokutai). Nobu said he is competing too so the Osaka team will once again be Kazuki and Nobu 😍
This is taking place 26-30 January in Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture (Dai-chan's home town and Kazuki also has family there).



 
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The great news is that Kazuki confirmed his participation in the National Winter Sports Festival (aka Kokutai). Nobu said he is competing too so the Osaka team will once again be Kazuki and Nobu 😍
This is taking place 26-30 January in Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture (Dai-chan's home town and Kazuki also has family there).

When Dai retired for the 2nd time in 2023 and received an award from the Ryobi Teien Memorial Foundation, Mitsunobu Kojima, chairman of the Okayama Prefectural Skating Federation (and representative of the Ryobi Group) - I guess half jokingly - tried to convince him to participate in the National Winter Sports Festival once more in 2025 as it was to be held in Okayama Prefecture for the first time ever. I don't think they even knew at the time that the figure skating competitions would be held in Kurashiki at the rink where Dai had started skating (Healthpia). Of course, Dai declined, pointing out that he had just retired and couldn't go back again (not to mention that he had switched disciplines and not competed in singles in 3 years). It would have been really neat if he could have competed for his home Prefecture in his hometown, against Kazuki and his former peer and rival Nobu. I'm kinda sad that this wasn't to be, but still happy that we'll see Nobu compete once more before he retires - and as a team with Kazuki at that, with whom he won the tournament for Osaka this year! :hap10: (I haven't found the full list of entrants for next year's competition yet to see if they could win it for the second year in a row.)
 
When Dai retired for the 2nd time in 2023 and received an award from the Ryobi Teien Memorial Foundation, Mitsunobu Kojima, chairman of the Okayama Prefectural Skating Federation (and representative of the Ryobi Group) - I guess half jokingly - tried to convince him to participate in the National Winter Sports Festival once more in 2025 as it was to be held in Okayama Prefecture for the first time ever. I don't think they even knew at the time that the figure skating competitions would be held in Kurashiki at the rink where Dai had started skating (Healthpia). Of course, Dai declined, pointing out that he had just retired and couldn't go back again (not to mention that he had switched disciplines and not competed in singles in 3 years). It would have been really neat if he could have competed for his home Prefecture in his hometown, against Kazuki and his former peer and rival Nobu. I'm kinda sad that this wasn't to be, but still happy that we'll see Nobu compete once more before he retires - and as a team with Kazuki at that, with whom he won the tournament for Osaka this year! :hap10: (I haven't found the full list of entrants for next year's competition yet to see if they could win it for the second year in a row.)
Awww thank you for sharing this! I would have been so special to Dai compete in singles once more in his hometown! But it's understandable why he declined, Nobu himself has talked about the physical toll he's been feeling as a competitive singles skater in his late 30s. Not to mention Dai is so busy with other things.
Apparently, the general public won't be allowed at the next National Winter Sports Festival (maybe due to capacity), but do you think Dai-chan might be there to watch as a special guest, given his connection to Kurashiki and the skaters? I think other Kassouya members such as Sena, Kosho, Yuto and possibly Sota and Koshiro will be there too, I can imagine they would be so happy if Dai-chan was there to cheer them on!

Meanwhile, some updates from yesterday:


 
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Awww thank you for sharing this! I would have been so special to Dai compete in singles once more in his hometown! But it's understandable why he declined, Nobu himself has talked about the physical toll he's been feeling as a competitive singles skater in his late 30s. Not to mention Dai is so busy with other things.
Apparently, the general public won't be allowed at the next National Winter Sports Festival (maybe due to capacity), but do you think Dai-chan might be there to watch as a special guest, given his connection to Kurashiki and the skaters? I think other Kassouya members such as Sena, Kosho, Yuto and possibly Sota and Koshiro will be there too, I can imagine they would be so happy if Dai-chan was there to cheer them on!

Meanwhile, some updates from yesterday:



Is there a Gala after the competition? If there is, he might skate there, alone or with Kana Muramoto?
 
Apparently, the general public won't be allowed at the next National Winter Sports Festival (maybe due to capacity),

Yes, that's very likely the reason (regarding the figure skating competitions) as the Healthpia rink doesn't have any audience stands. Whenever they hold skating exhibitions, the spectators are crammed in the walkway surrounding the ice. o_O


but do you think Dai-chan might be there to watch as a special guest, given his connection to Kurashiki and the skaters? I think other Kassouya members such as Sena, Kosho, Yuto and possibly Sota and Koshiro will be there too, I can imagine they would be so happy if Dai-chan was there to cheer them on!

I hope so! He didn't attend the Kurashiki FSC’s "appreciation day" in May this year due to a scheduling conflict, so it would be nice, if he could make room in his busy schedule this time. It would be great to see Keiji there as well! 😊


Is there a Gala after the competition? If there is, he might skate there, alone or with Kana Muramoto?

Not sure, if there is a gala, there's none listed in the official schedule yet: https://okayamaikaho2025.jp/guide/#gsc.tab=0#

He could attend the Awards Ceremony on January 30 though!






Love to see Nobu blending in with the boys - the age difference of about 10 to 15 years is hardly noticeable! 😅
 
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Is there a Gala after the competition? If there is, he might skate there, alone or with Kana Muramoto?
I don't think there is a National Winter Sports Festival gala, sadly! At least, there hasn't been any in the past five years or so, and there isn't one on the schedule for this year as @synesthesia said.
I think it would be nice if Dai and Keiji could attend as spectators! It would be a great encouragement for the skaters and mark a special occasion for Kurashiki and Okayama Prefecture. We shall see!

Meanwhile, the movie version of Hyoen premiered today, and fans are posting about how touched they are to see it on the big screen 🥹


Also, sorry I forgot to share it here earlier, but 25ans posted an article about great figure skating programmes based on films, and Kazuki's La La Land was listed: https://www.25ans.jp/lifestyle/skate/g62686966/skate-202411-vc/
Alongside other iconic programmes: V/M Moulin Rouge, Javi's Pirates of the Caribbean, Dai-chan 'La Strada' and Kaori's 'The Piano' 😍
 
Happy New Year, everyone 🎉

Kazuki's New Year message:

Happy new year!
Thank you for your continued support this year


Kazuki's Mainichi article from yesterday:

Tomono skated the moody ‘Don't Fall in Love’ softly in the exhibition after All-Japan. In this issue, we report on that exhibition and the banquet, which is a familiar sight in the world of figure skating.
 
Also, remember the Naris Cosmetics Instagram ads with Kazuki? Several fans are reporting having seen them several times, and I hadn't realised but they are being posted by the main Naris Cosmetics account, rather than 'Journal by Naris'
Here are two fans posting about it, they like Kazuki but they are not 'Kazuki stan' accounts, so the reach of these ads seems pretty wide:


 
I really love this picture by Daiichi Juken Group 🥹🤩


They wrote:
Tomono is facing an important season this year.

We took this photo with the image of a ‘West Side Story’ situation, going back to our roots, in the hope that we will ‘start in Milan and stand again on Milan's soil’.
(This is the fire escape at the head office.)
 
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