Skaters on Team Japan | Page 75 | Golden Skate

Skaters on Team Japan

Adeliza said:
Gongratulations for getting 3 spots for next Worlds! I'm especially happy since I'll be watching those competitions live in Helsinki next spring, and it'll be great to see three Japanese men skating there (and hopefully skating lights out and bringing home a medal or two ;) )



I wouldn't be so scared, even though these Worlds didn't go quite as we would have liked (and certainly not as Yuzu and Shoma would have liked). I definitely trust Shoma to stay among the top guys in the coming seasons, and Sota to enter into the senior ranks with respectable results (given that he recovers fully from his ankle injury and gets good programs for next season). Also I wouldn't count Mura and Dice out yet (no retirement announcements from them yet, I assume? I just suddenly got worried that I might have missed the news). ALSO Keiji Tanaka has improved a lot this season - 4th at nationals, 5th at NHK, 6th at 4CC, very respectable given his former headcasing tendencies - and I have high hopes for his future. Shu Nakamura and Daichi Miyata will also turn senior next season, and even though they haven't done so well in junior competitions, they might become very fine senior skaters (think about Tatsuki Machida's career!). It's difficult to make any predictions in figure skating, of course, but I'm optimistic about Japanese men's future. :agree:
Click to expand...


Do you think any of them could be the "next big thing"?
 
a bit sad that the Japanese ladies lost their TEN year podium streak (unbroken since 2006!) this year in Boston... but I sincerely hope they will bounce back strong next year. All the best team Japan!
 
Lillian said:
Do you think any of them could be the "next big thing"?
Click to expand...

Well at the moment Shoma seems like the next top Japanese male skater after Yuzuru, but other than that I really cannot say. This sport is so unpredictable and a lot can happen in just one season (which makes everything so much more exciting), and I'm really not the one to make any guesses since I'm just an ordinary fan. So much comes down to who manages to stay consistent and/or has the technical goods to compete with the top international skaters... I just hope everyone rests well in the off-season, gets good programs that suit them, doesn't overtrain quads and injure themselves (dammit Sota) and I guess we'll see what the situation is once the next season starts. :scratch3: (I hope that answers your question, not sure if I went a bit off-topic there)
 
skatefan22 said:
Actually, I remember that Yuna's fans made some videos about it and none of them shows Mao. They basically show Miki Ando, Yukari Nakano, and Fumie Suguri.

Just search Yuna and Miki on youtube and immediately found these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMDPzAuWs6Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADHIbKj7Qbo

After watching these videos, I have to say that I understand Yuna's frustration. And what Yuna experienced is similar to Yuzu. Miki and Yukari did come so close so many times...and we can see Yuna's reaction and frustration right on the spot.
Click to expand...

Thanks skatefan22 for the videos.
As we know, in the first video, not all of them were Japanese skaters and aren’t certain that whose run-through some of them were.
For example about the accident with Miki, they showed in the first video at 2:00 that’s kinda famous accident between them and
I heard that was Miki’s run-through (GPF 2008) and maybe one of them was Yukari’s run-through.
( It will be nice if the videos could show more details without mute like where and when they were recorded.)
 
Adeliza said:
I wouldn't be so scared, even though these Worlds didn't go quite as we would have liked (and certainly not as Yuzu and Shoma would have liked). I definitely trust Shoma to stay among the top guys in the coming seasons, and Sota to enter into the senior ranks with respectable results (given that he recovers fully from his ankle injury and gets good programs for next season). Also I wouldn't count Mura and Dice out yet (no retirement announcements from them yet, I assume? I just suddenly got worried that I might have missed the news). ALSO Keiji Tanaka has improved a lot this season - 4th at nationals, 5th at NHK, 6th at 4CC, very respectable given his former headcasing tendencies - and I have high hopes for his future. Shu Nakamura and Daichi Miyata will also turn senior next season, and even though they haven't done so well in junior competitions, they might become very fine senior skaters (think about Tatsuki Machida's career!). It's difficult to make any predictions in figure skating, of course, but I'm optimistic about Japanese men's future. :agree:
Click to expand...

Agree with your post! I am also optimistic.
I'm still new to the sport and probably not qualified to say but I am excited by the potential I see in several of Japan's Jr. men. Many of them are still young and only had their JGP debut this past season (thanks to Shoma and Sota for the spots). High hopes for Mitsuki and Koshiro. Soft spot for Sena and Yuto. Looking forward to seeing how Tatsuya Tsuboi and novice Shun Sato progress.
My greatest hope however, is for a breakthrough 2016-2017 season for Kazuki Tomono. Though both his performances at JGP Riga were rough (lots of sloppy jumps and falls), I was still impressed by his interesting programs, showmanship and tenacity. As the season progressed, Kazuki's jumps including 4S and 3A became more consistent. At WJC where he replaced Sota with only a day or so notice and pressure of being 1st to skate in the SP, Kazuki still managed to qualify for the FS. He then placed 12th in the FS, highest of the Japanese men, up 5 spots from SP for 15th overall. His FS TES was 7th highest WITH a popped 4S and edge call on his 3LZ (a persistent issue that I'm confident will be addressed). Smart call by his team to change of his FS 3LZ2T to a second 3F2T for WJC. I do feel he skated cautiously (held back on his performance and speed) in both the SP and FS in order to successfully land his jumps. However, I'm glad he was able to stay in control and deliver two good performances in his WJC debut. Also extremely happy he was able to have fun, show a lot of personality and entertain the audience with his exhibition.

According to this tweet Kaori Sakamoto, Kazuki Tomono and Shun Sato will compete in Gardenia Spring Trophy next weekend. If this is true Good Luck to all three.

Wishing all of Team Japan an enjoyable, if not restful "show" season.
 
Last edited:
Lillian said:
I don't know much about jumping techniques, but people say his technique is bad- as bad as Kanakos. And "artistry" is subjective. He hasn't won anything yet and he is already 18 yo. I just don't believe he can do "big" things.
Click to expand...

His technique is not the best and my opinion is that he really needs to work with a jump coach. The quality of his quads has decreased this season and the fact that he trains 7 days a week doesn't help. Dai has advised him to keep a schedule and give his body time to rest but he's pretty stubborn. He doesn't have the best jumps in the field but a jump coach can help fix that while he still can.
 
tsuyoboogie said:
According to this tweet Kaori Sakamoto, Kazuki Tomono and Shun Sato will compete in Gardenia Spring Trophy next weekend. If this is true Good Luck to all three.

Wishing all of Team Japan an enjoyable, if not restful "show" season.
Click to expand...

Actually, in the same tweet it notes that the assignments have been suspended. The formal announcement can be found here: http://www.skatingjapan.or.jp/whatsnew/detail.php?id=2692&sports_id=2&type=event It is unknown why these assignments to Gardenia Trophy were withdrawn as no reason was provided.
 
[Tnx&Love] Send Farewell Message to Taka!!

Dear all,

It gives us immense pleasure to invite you to our project #THANKYOU崇彦!

It is a project launched by some volunteer fans in Japan to give our one and only figure skater, Takahiko Kozuka, a warm send-off, who will leave the ice on Apr 17th. He will be definitely missed. This will be the last chance to send our huge THANKS and LOVE to him. If you have a Twitter account, tweet along with #THANKYOU崇彦 (or #tnxtaka in case your environment does not support Japanese font.) We will convey the hash tag to him on the last day of his performance as a figure skater so that he can read them any time later.

You can join via Instagram as well.

Please visit our website for details.

Hope you join us!

from #THANKYOU TAKAHIKO PJ(Twitter ID: @thankstaka0417)

Web: http://heatup.gonna.jp/TKTaka/english/thankstaka-e.html
 
NMURA said:
Kaori Sakamoto and Mitsuki Sumoto competed at Taiwanese Nationals(?)

Sakamoto FS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM41C9qfGgE
Sumoto FS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDn4Yn6kb_M
Click to expand...

No, they didn't compete there. Both were invited as special guests to perform at the gala of a local competition, 2016 Chinese Taipei National Team Championship. The competition was held to decide the CT entries to 16-17 summer competitions, such as AO Trophy and JGP, and it's only for junior level and below (BTW, it was announced at the end of the competition that the AO Trophy 2016 will be held in Philippine, Manila).
 
I like this kind of article.:biggrin:

Talk of Mura and the earphone shop stuff (Mr.Okada)
http://recopal.jp/headphone/earphones/1318/

WHY DO SO MANY SKATERS LIKE EARPHONES?

(Okada) Many skaters love earphones. Are there any reasons?
(Mura) It becomes a kind of custom to use earphones before our performances. We get concentration imaging the real performances with music or heighten our mood listening to the music which lifts our spirits. Venues have music on full volume and applause in the venues naturally comes to our ears. Earphones with high sealing degree function can prevent unnecessary sound and give us suitable concentration. Figure skating is not the kind of sport where athletes compete by time or distance. What’s important is how much we can do our best although sometimes we are in bad shape or we can’t get into it. Controlling our minds by ourselves is crucial. In that sense, I think that earphones are an essential tool.

(Mura) In this sport, many athlete use earphones. In the practice on the other day, yuzu approached me and said, “It feels like Boyang uses UE?” I was surprised, “Is it true?”. We asked Boyang and found he used “UE18PRO”. Then, our three talk about “Ear-moni” * began!
(*“Ear-moni (formally "Custom In Ear Monitor")” is the service of customer-made earphones)

(Mura) Sometimes, earphones become some kind of charm. For example, about the earphones used in a good-result competition, we get to use them often after that, like “I can get myself in gear using them!”

(Okada) as if you are ambassadors of “Ear-moni”!
(Mura) The other day, Honda Takeshi-san seems to have made his customized earphones. Now I continue steady activity with yuzu to spread “Ear-moni” to this field (laugh).
 
Last edited:
JSF released the list of skaters on their support list for next season although I think this is just temporary and additions will be made once the JGP and GP assignments are determined. Still sad to see that only 3 men made it on the "special" support list.
http://www.skatingjapan.or.jp/image_data/fck/file/2016/H28FS160427.pdf

Single
Special List
Yuzuru Hanyu
Shoma Uno
Takahito Mura
Satoko Miyahara
Wakaba Higuchi
Mao Asada
Rika Hongo
Marin Honda

A List
Keiji Tanaka
Sota Yamamoto
Daisuke Murakami
Ryuju Hino
Kazuki Tomono
Daichi Miyata
Yuna Shiraiwa
Kanako Murakami
Yuka Nagai
Rin Nitaya
Yuhana Yokoi

B List
Shu Nakamura
Koshiro Shimada
Mitsuki Sumoto
Sei Kawahara
Taichiro Yamakuma
Hidetsugu Kamata
Mariko Kihara
Yura Matsuda
Kaori Sakamoto
Yuna Aoki
Mai Mihara

Pairs
A List
Sumire Suto/Francis BoudreauAudet

B List
Marin Ono/Wesley Killing
Miu Suzaki/Ryuichi Kihara

Ice Dance
Special List
Kana Muramoto/Chris Reed

A List
Emi Hirai/Marien de la Asuncion

B List
Rikako Fukase/Aru Tateno

Synchronized Skating
A List
Jingu Ice Messengers
 
hamaguri said:
Haruka isn't there... :sad21:
Click to expand...

Haruka was 15th at Nationals, so she doesn't fit the criteria...:( I think she had to be at least 12th there or have a SB equivalent to the selected skaters.
But if she gets invited to a GP event, I think she'll get on the A list (and 特強 if she gets 2). If not, maybe the B list and she could be assigned some CS competitions.
Miyabi, Riona and Miyu have disappeared too. I'm not sure about Miyabi because she seems to have grown a lot but I still have hopes for Riona and Miyu.

Last season, a revised list was published in June so hopefully Dice and Sota (and hopefully Keiji) will move up on the top list with 2 GP assignments.
I wonder if Sota will move up to senior if he can't secure 2 GP spots. If he can get invited to 1, then he'll probably get NHK as the 2nd.
But then, I don't know how his ankle is doing and also wonder how tall he's grown especially if he's been off the ice for a while.
 
mikaboo said:
Haruka was 15th at Nationals, so she doesn't fit the criteria...:( I think she had to be at least 12th there or have a SB equivalent to the selected skaters.
But if she gets invited to a GP event, I think she'll get on the A list (and 特強 if she gets 2). If not, maybe the B list and she could be assigned some CS competitions.
Miyabi, Riona and Miyu have disappeared too. I'm not sure about Miyabi because she seems to have grown a lot but I still have hopes for Riona and Miyu.

Last season, a revised list was published in June so hopefully Dice and Sota (and hopefully Keiji) will move up on the top list with 2 GP assignments.
I wonder if Sota will move up to senior if he can't secure 2 GP spots. If he can get invited to 1, then he'll probably get NHK as the 2nd.
But then, I don't know how his ankle is doing and also wonder how tall he's grown especially if he's been off the ice for a while.
Click to expand...


Riona...Matmuf must be sad...

I'm worried about Sota... Last year, he got special A, didnt he? He's a promissing skater succeeding Shoma. JSF should get him 2 spot considering 2018 althogh he had to skip JWC for his injury. I cant imagine he wont turn senior considering his thought about 2018...
 
hamaguri said:
Riona...Matmuf must be sad...

I'm worried about Sota... Last year, he got special A, didnt he? He's a promissing skater succeeding Shoma. JSF should get him 2 spot considering 2018 althogh he had to skip JWC for his injury. I cant imagine he wont turn senior considering his thought about 2018...
Click to expand...

Sota was 特強 last year. I don't think JSF has control over who the other federations invite though.
He'll be considered for selection because of his SB and JGP Gold medal but he isn't guaranteed a spot. But I think he'll get an invitation since he's not too far down in the WS and SB.
 
hamaguri said:
Riona...Matmuf must be sad...

I'm worried about Sota... Last year, he got special A, didnt he? He's a promissing skater succeeding Shoma. JSF should get him 2 spot considering 2018 althogh he had to skip JWC for his injury. I cant imagine he wont turn senior considering his thought about 2018...
Click to expand...

i am sad, both for Riona and Haruka, i really hope they will get at least 1 GP spot but chances seem really low :sad21:
 
So, as far as I can tell these are the changes?

Promoted to "Special" list:
Marin Honda (was on the "B" list last year)

Promoted to "A" list:
Yuna Shiraiwa (was "not supported" last year)
Yuhana Yokoi (was "not supported" last year)
Rin Nitaya (was on the "B" list last year)
Ryuju Hino (was on the "B" list last year)
Kazuki Tomono (was on the "B" list last year)
Daichi Miyata (was on the "B" list last year)

Promoted to "B" List:
Koshiro Shimada (was "not supported" last year)
Mitsuki Sumoto (was "not supported" last year)

Dropped from "Special" list to to "A" list:
Daisuke Murakami
Sota Yamamoto
Kanako Murakami
Yuka Nagai

Dropped from "A" list to to "B" list:
Kaori Sakamoto
Shu Nakamura
Mariko Kihara

Skaters that are no longer "supported":
Haruka Imai (was on the "Special" list last year)
Miyu Nakashio (was on the "A" list last year)
Riona Kato (was on the "A" list last year)
Miyabi Oba (was on the "B" list last year)
Hiroaki Sato (was on the "B" list last year)
Kosuke Nakano (was on the "B" list last year)

Pairs/Dance support is basically all new, except Hirai/de la Asuncion
Kozuka was on the "special" list, until he retired...

Pretty shocking that former "special" or "A" list skaters Imai, Nakashio and Kato are dropped completely... :-/

Source for last year (PDF) -> HERE
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Magill
50K people celebrate RikuRyu and Team Japan in Tokyo
Replies
10
Views
1K
TallyT
TallyT
F
Question about Lutz technique in Japan
Replies
11
Views
1K
drivingmissdaisy
D
gsk8
  • Sticky
2026 NHK Trophy: General Info and Pregame Chat
Replies
0
Views
154
gsk8
gsk8
gsk8
Replay Lounge 2026 Olympics | Team Event
8 9 10
Replies
188
Views
20K
momrk
M
gsk8
Japanese Olympic selection criteria and Nationals preview
Replies
3
Views
1K
ladyjane
ladyjane
Back
Top