State of Japanese Skaters 2015-2016

[Interspectator]

Last season's stats

2014-2015 Season's Bests for the Top 8 Japanese Men
http://ice-kingfisher.tumblr.com/post/117237973368/for-anyone-interested-the-season-best-segment
Many thanks to my good friend, the uploader.

Total Segment Scores
288.58 Hanyu (WTT)
269.09 Machida (SA)
256.47 Murakami (4CC)
256.45 Uno (4CC)
255.81 Mura (SC)
245.68* Kozuka (JC)
215.45 Yamamoto (WJC)
214.54* Tanaka (CSKR)

SP Total
96.27 Hanyu (WTT)
93.39 Machida (SA)
88.90 Uno (4CC)
86.28 Mura (NHK)
82.86 Murakami (4CC)
81.38 Kozuka (COR)
76.14 Yamamoto (JGPF)
68.06* Tanaka (CSKR)

SP TES
51.11 Hanyu (GPF)
49.72 Uno (4CC)
49.65 Machida (SA)
46.35 Mura (NHK)
45.43 Murakami (4CC)
43.46 Yamamoto (JGPF)
42.41 Kozuka (COR)
37.06 Tanaka (CdN)

SP PCS
46.29 Hanyu (WTT)
43.74 Machida (SA)
40.85* Kozuka (JC)
40.03 Mura (WTT)
39.18 Uno (4CC)
37.75* Murakami (JC)
34.00* Tanaka (CSKR)
32.68 Yamamoto (JGPF)

FS Total
194.08 Hanyu (GPF)
175.70 Machida (SA)
173.61 Murakami (4CC)
173.29* Kozuka (JC)
173.24 Mura (SC)
167.55 Uno (4CC)
146.48* Tanaka (CSKR)
145.46 Yamamoto (WJC)

FS TES
103.3 Hanyu (GPF)
91.74 Mura (SC)
91.47 Murakami (4CC)
89.92 Uno (4CC)
87.28 Machida (SA)
84.29* Kozuka (JC)
79.44 Yamamoto (WJC)
74.48* Tanaka (CSKR)

FS PCS
93.36 Hanyu (WTT)
89.00* Kozuka (JC)
88.42 Machida (SA)
83.28 Mura (WTT)
82.44 Uno (4CC)
82.14 Murakami (4CC)
72.00* Tanaka (CSKR)
67.80 Yamamoto (JGP Est)

Asterisks for National, non-ISU competitons

Summary: Last season, Japan's Figure Skating suffered from two of their best skaters ever retiring. Takahashi Daisuke and Oda Nobunari. Tatsuki Machida announced his retirement at Japan Nationals 2014 as well, which was a shock to many.

With a depleted field and only 2 spots for the next World Championships, it will be imperative for all skaters to impress all throughout the next season if they want a chance to go to Worlds 2016.

Early Season Highlights:

Shoma and Sota make the JGPF
These two boys had been bubbling under the top placements last season, and have made a breakthrough on the Junior level.
Sota stabilized his triple axel and Shoma his triple axel and a quad toe. With these they were able to make the JGPF.

The 3 M's win Grand Prix Events
The season started with a roar for Machida and Mura as they both won their first Grand prix events in decisive fashion. Machida with 269.09 and Mura with 255.81 points. Murakami then came out of nowhere and won the NHK trophy with a personal best score of 246.07 --Which he would later break again at the 4 Continents Championship.

Amidst all this good news for the Japanese men, Hanyu had had a nightmare start to the season with a back injury and collision at COC. He managed to sneak into the last spot for the GPF.

Mid Season Highlights:

Grand Prix Finals Junior and Senior

Sota and Shoma broke Junior World records in the Short and Long programs respectively and claimed the top two medals. Shoma the gold and Sota the Silver. Shoma attained the highest TSS for a Junior.

Hanyu won the GPF with a significant gap between Gold and Silver, this is his second GPF gold in a row.
He then went on to win Japan Nationals in similar style and Shoma made his presence known in the Senior ranks by grabbing the Silver Medal. Kozuka came back strong in the FS to capture the bronze medal for the second time in a row.

Late Season Highlights:

At Junior Worlds both Shoma and Sota were able to get on the podium once again. Shoma won gold and Sota came from behind to win bronze.

At the World Championships Hanyu was not able to defend his World title, but he battled through surgery and injury to win Silver behind his training mate Javier Fernandez.

Mura was able to regain some of his early season form with a 3rd place finish in the men's segment at the World Team Trophy and Hanyu won the Segment both in the short and long by a significant margin.

Who will you be watching next Season? Who do you think will make the World team?
Is Mura an early season skater only or will he be able to deliver in the latter half as well?
What are Murakami's chances next season and how will he stack up against Mura and Shoma?

Let's discuss!

2014-2015 Season Bests for the top 10 Japanese Ladies (Satoko, Rika, Kanako, Wakaba, Yuka, Miyabi, Riona, Rin, Miyu )
If you find any discrepancies, please comment.

Total Segment Scores
193.60 Satoko Miyahara (WC)
185.57 Wakaba Higuchi (JWC)
184.58 Rika Hongo (WC)
179.66 Kanako Murakami (WC)
172.34 Yuka Nagai (JGPF)
168.38 Riyona Kato (NHK)
166.56 Mai Mihara (SGT Jr.)
166.25 Kaori Sakamoto (JWC)
160.64 Miyu Nakashio (JGP Tal)
159.58 Rin Niyata(25th GST)
----------
157.97 Haruka Imai (SA)
155.68 Miyabi Oba (19thCON)
EDIT: Added Mai and Kaori to this list. That drops Harkua and Miyabi off the top 10.

SP Total
67.02 Satoko (WC)
65.48 Kanako (WC)
62.99 Yuka (JGPF)
62.17 Rika (WC)
61.55 Riona (U.S.IFSC)
61.27 Wakaba (JW)
58.89 Rin (JGP Cour)
58.72 Kaori (Junior Worlds)
57.89 Miyu (TEB)
54.72 Haruka (TEB)
--------------------------
52.67 Mai (GST)
49.71 Miyabi (WU)

SP TES
37.19 Satoko (WC)
36.34 Yuka (JGPF)
35.86 Wakaba (WJC)
35.31 Kanako (WC)
34.87 Rin (AO FST)
34.69 Rika (WC)
33.12 Kaori (Junior Worlds)
33.07 Miyu (TriglavTrophy)
31.19 Mai (GST)
28.07 Riona (NHK)
-----------------------------
27.23 Myabi (WU)
27.14 Haruka (SA)

SP PCS
31.00 Kanako (NHK)
30.25 Satoko (WTT)
27.97 Rika (4CC)
27.65 Haruka (SA)
26.88 Riona (U.S.IFSC)
26.65 Wakaba (JGPF)
26.65 Yuka (JGPF)
25.60 Kaori (Junior Worlds)
24.78 Miyabi (COR)
24.91 Rin (JGP Tal)
---------------------------------
24.82 Miyu (Triglav Trophy)
22.48 Mai (GST)

FS Total
129.12 Satoko (WTT)
124.30 Wakaba (JWC)
122.41 Rika (WC)
117.51 Riona (NHK)
114.89 Mai (Gardena Spring Trophy)
114.18 Kanako (WC)
110.56 Rin (25th GST)
111.15 Yuka (4CC)
109.11 Miyabi (19thCON)
108.83 Miyu (JGP Tal)
----------------------------------
107.53 Kaori (Junior Worlds)
104.18 Haruka (SA)

FS TES
69.50 Wakaba (JWC)
68.02 Satoko (LomT)
65.24 Rin (25th GST)
64.70 Mai (GST)
63.75 Riona (NHK)
61.83 Rika (WC)
59.38 Yuka (4CC)
57.41 Kaori (Junior Worlds)
57.23 Miyabi (COR)
56.56 Miyu (JGP Tal)
---------------------------------
52.48 Kanako (WC)
51.53 Haruka (SA)

FS PCS
62.19 Satoko (WTT)
61.20 Kanako (NHK)
60.58 Rika (WC)
54.80 Wakaba (JWC)
54.22 Haruka (SA)
53.76 Riona (NHK)
53.03 Yuka (JGPF)
50.88 Miyabi (19thCON)
52.27 Miyu (JGP Tal)
51.12 Kaori (Junior Worlds)
-----------------------------------------
49.19 Mai (GST)
48.39 Rin (JGP Tal)

Season Summary: As with the men, 2 of the brightest stars of Japanese figure skating decided to retire at the end of the 2013-14 season; Miki and Akiko. Mao took the year off to consider her future plans. Without them, the field was wide open for the many up-and-coming junior skaters as well as for the remaining senior skaters like Kanako and Haruka.

Early Season Highlights:
Wakaba, Yuka and Miyu made it into the JGPF, qualifying behind 3 Russian competitors.
With a shocking win at COR that no one was expecting, Rika also made it into the Senior GPF when Gracie Gold withdrew due to injury.
Satoko began the season with a win at the Lombardia Trophy, and also collected two bronze medals at her GP assignments.

Mid Season Highlights:
Wakaba, still only 13 years old, won the bronze at the Junior Grand Prix Final in Barcelona. She then went on to win the bronze at Japan Nationals as well.
In December, Satoko became the National Champion of Japan and Rika Hongo continued to skate consistently and won the silver.

At the 4 Continents Championship, Satoko and Rika shared the podium yet again with Silver and Bronze medals respectively. Satoko was suffering from an ankle injury at that time.

Late Season Highlights:
At the World Championships, Satoko and Rika scored new over all personal bests and Satoko won the silver medal and Rika placed 6th in their first appearance at the World Championships. Kanako placed 7th. With these placements, the ladies retained 3 spots for Japan at the next World Championships.

At the World Team Trophy held in Tokyo, Satoko placed third in the Free Skate with a new personal best score of 129.12.

Looking at the scores for this past season, Satoko is the clear leader of the Senior ladies field. Just behind her, however, the scores are extremely close.
Rika was the surprise of the season with her consistency, but her TES and PCS needs to be raised if she wants to compete for the 'big' medals.
Who will go to seniors next year?
Who will you be looking forward to next season? Will Kanako be able to pull her TES to the level it was a few seasons back?
Wakaba seems determined to win everything in the Juniors next year...who will be her main rival?
Let's Discuss!

 

[Interspectator]

I've done some Average Scores for the top 7 men. Why 7? Because the drop-off after 7 is so sharp and I didn't have the concentration for more than that. B-Competitions and National Championships are also included. -But not Sectionals. (JFS can again weep for the loss of Machida)

AVERAGE SCORES FOR the TOP 7 JAPANESE MEN

Average Overall Scores
267.005 Yuzuru Hanyu
241.392 Tatsuki Machida
236.592 Takahito Mura
232.488 Shoma Uno
225.204 Daisuke Murakami
221.208 Takahiko Kozuka
206.062 Sota Yamamoto

Average SP Scores
90.145 Hanyu
90.017 Machida
79.842 Mura
79.215 Uno
77.116 Murakami
75.384 Kozuka
68.868 Yamamoto

Average LP Scores
176.86 Hanyu
156.75 Mura
153.56 Uno
151.37 Machida
148.09 Murakami
145.82 Kozuka
137.19 Yamamoto

Some Notes on the Above Info
I made this so that it would be easier to compare Japan and US and Russian skaters better, and in hard numbers. -When someone says something like 'Kovtun is better than Murakami'....I can actually go and check the averages and see if this is the case. Could a member please collect the averages for Russian men? Pretty Please?
Right, so, personal Observations from the stats I collected.

Yuzu wins handily in the top scores and in the averages...as most surmised would be the case. -He skated a total of 6 competitions and his scores were best at GPF, Japan Nationals and WTT. This has been his pattern for the past 3 seasons. -A slow start, peaking and GPF and JN -catastrophic injury- battling through and keeping form somehow till the end of the season.

Machida's season also followed the trend of the 2 seasons before. A strong showing at the beginning of the season and faltering at the GPF...though we couldn't see if he could peak again at Worlds due to his retirement. He skated only 4 competitions this season. His SP average is only a hair below Yuzu's and he was certainly the most consistent skater in his SP...though again, only in 4 competitions.

Mura's Season was up and down and even looking at his previous seasons, no peaking pattern emerges. A plus for him was getting into GPF this year and recovering well for the WTT. The spread of his scores in the SP was not too big if we discount his epic bombing at WC, but the spread was a bit more for his LP. Mura skated in a total of 9 competitions this season.

Shoma has skated in over 8 competitions this year. His scores for the SP this season have a definite upward trend peaking at important competitions like GPF, JN, 4CC etc. His FS scores were a bit more spread out, peaking at GPF, JN, and 4CC. -A promising sign that Shoma can 'keep it together' when it counts.

Murakami showed some incredible improvement this season bettering his personal bests by a huge margin at NHK and again at 4CC. With the exception of Japan Nationals, his scores rose steadily and peaked at 4CC. He skated around 7 competitons this season.

Kozuka...there are no words. Really, I can't make any sense of why he'll do brilliantly once in a while, and the rest of the time he's bombing. Injury, lack of confidence, scholarly pursuits maybe. -But we still love to watch him.

Sota Mr. stability award goes to him this year. There have been no major bombings from Sota this year as he has gone about the task of getting a tirple axel and making it into the top 6 of Japanese men. His scores spread is the smallest amongst the guys because he is not yet attempting the quad and his triples have all been stable.
His scores peak at JGPF, Japan Natonals and Junior Worlds. --Hopefully the start of a good trend for him.
Sota has skated in over 8 competitions this year.

 

[Interspectator]

It's a new season so I've made a new thread for the Japanese skaters. I don't know much about our new Dance and Pairs teams so if someone could post about them that would be great!

In today's news, Mao and Satoko will participate in the Japan Open.

 

[Barb]

It's a new season so I've made a new thread for the Japanese skaters. I don't know much about our new Dance and Pairs teams so if someone could post about them that would be great!

In today's news, Mao and Satoko will participate in the Japan Open.

Yuzu is not confirmed?

 

[Interspectator]

Yuzu is not confirmed?

No one else is confirmed yet. Fernandez is in.

 

[xibsuarz]

Yuzu is not confirmed?

Yuzuru normally doesn't go to JO, does he? Still, it's going to be nice to see Satoko and Mao's programs before the season starts.

The guys are definitely going to be in a lot of pressure to get that 3rd spot back at Worlds. And although some of them may already be used to that pressure, I feel a bit uneasy about Shoma since the media is hyping him up a lot and people have high expectations from him. I'm not saying that he can't meet them, but hopefully he won't get too nervous on his first full senior season. And I pray that they keep themselves healthy, if that's not too much to ask (did the 3 of them, Yuzu, Mura and Kozuka, went to Worlds with some kind of injury?)

I don't know how Mao's return will impact the ladies' field. Will they feel relieved that some pressure was lifted off their shoulders? Will her presence motivate them to do better? It's going to be interesting to see how things go with them (I shudder at the thought of Nationals for both men and ladies)

 

[shiroKJ]

Yuzu is not confirmed?

Japan Open is invite only and I doubt he'll get one since he's not with IMG...plus, he's never been invited before lol

 

[Interspectator]

Japan Open is invite only and I doubt he'll get one since he's not with IMG...plus, he's never been invited before lol

Yuzu's preferred opening competition is usually Finlandia.

 

[Li'Kitsu]

Thanks a lot Newbie for all the stats!

Japanese nationals are going to be the usual bloodbath, only to be survived with a big tissue box and lots if ice cream

We have 5 men fighting for 2 spots - or maybe it's more accurate to say 4 fighting for 1. I can't see Hanyu not making the team, or the JSF leaving him home for that matter. Between Kozuka, Uno, Mura and Murakami the surest bet right now would probably be Uno (whom the japanese media seems to hype as Yuzu's successor? Uhm...). I think Murakami might further surprise people though, despite all my prejudice against it I really liked his new "Bring him home" SP. Mura sadly never seems to get any consistency into his skating, and Kozuka just doesn't have the jumps anymore... I'll be heart-broken for the 3 guys that will have to stay home. And I hope they'll all get through their season injury-free, then getting the 3rd spot back should be a doable task.

It's not that bad for the ladies... but bad enough. With Asada returning, it's likely one of Miyahara, Hongo and Murakami is going to stay home (as I really can't see Mao not making the team). Miyahara has the best chances to stay on top, obviously, but you can never say never. Between Murakami and Hongo, Murakami had more potential last season, but Hongo had the consistency. And now Rika has an amazing SP, that might give her a further advantage. Plus, she's still improving at an impressive rate... so overall, I think Kanako will have to stay home

 

[padme21]

I look forward to when Sota moves up to the senior ranks. I see Sota as more of Hanyu's successor than Shoma. Plus their skating styles are more similar.

 

[Li'Kitsu]

I look forward to when Sota moves up to the senior ranks. I see Sota as more of Hanyu's successor than Shoma. Plus their skating styles are more similar.

I hope for now Sota will do well in his next junior season, and when he turns senior, Japan will have it's 3rd spot back :yes:

Sota is also way more of a Yuzu fan Shoma really loves Dai... it's pretty funny, how we have two younger versions of Dai and/vs. Yuzu now.

 

[firal]

I agree Rika's SP is showing a lot of potential, but since we haven't seen what Satoko has in store yet, we can't count her out. Another skater with crazy consistency!

It's too early for dream World's podium but I'm already hoping for a Mao/ Hanyu double gold.

 

[deedee1]

to Newbiespectator!!! Some of you guys always make me & when I see such stats as this one....