2025 Japan Nationals Men FS

[YukiNieve]

Kao Miura

Les Parapluies de Cherbourg

Plans 4 quads

4Lo (good) - GOE 3.45!
4S (good)
4T-3T (good)
4T (hand)
3A (SO)
3A-2A
3Lo-1EU-2S

Fist pump
Standing-O

Takeshi is impressed by the speed that Kao goes into 4Lo.
One spin is invalid - Takeshi says the position was probably not low enough for sit spin.

165.53 SB
261.18
2nd

 

[Karen-W]

Kao's going to the Olympics. First three jumping passes clean as a whistle.

ETA - the rest of the program was messy on the jumping front, but the TES is undeniable.

 

[YukiNieve]

Yuma Kagiyama

Turandot

4S (good) GOE 4.57! ←At one point it was 4.85; then it was reduced but it's still high.
4T (good) GOE 4.34
3Lz
1A-1EU-3S
4T (fall)
3F-3Lo
3A-2T

Nice speed until the end.
He was landing 4F during practice.

183.68 (2nd for FS)
287.95
1st

Yuma is crying in K&C.
This program might be too difficult to skate clean.

 

[Karen-W]

So, popped the first 3a (did manage the 1eu+3s on the back) and fell on the second 4t... I know the judges won't have the balls to do it, but I'd give Shun the FS win.

ETA - this program really is a dud in its construction. That step sequence just kills all the positive energy & momentum from the audience.

ETA2 - color me shocked the judges actually did give Shun the FS win.

 

[YukiNieve]

Shun Sato wins FS!!

 

[YukiNieve]

Men FS
Judge detail score

https://www.jsfresults.com/National/2025-2026/fs_j/nationals/FSKMSINGLES---------01FNL-000100--_JudgesDetailsperSkater.pdf

 

[Sylvia]

GOLD Yuma Kagiyama Oriental Bio/Chukyo University 287.95 1 2
SILVER Shun Sato Aim Service/Meiji University 276.75 5 1
BRONZE Kao Miura Oriental Bio/Meiji University 261.18 2 3
4 Rio Nakata TOKIO Inkarami 248.65 3 4
5 Sota Yamamoto WALK 238.94 6 5
6 Kazuki Tomono Daiichi Jyukken Group 229.74 4 7
7 Daiya Ebihara Komaba Gakuen High School 218.99 16 6
8 Nozomu Yoshioka Hosei University 214.59 9 10
9 Takeru Amine Kataise Kansai University 213.16 7 12
10 Kosho Oshima Fuji Yakuhin 212.98 12 9
11 Taiga Nishino Seisa International Yokohama 211.11 17 8
12 Tsudoi Suto Meiji University 210.11 13 11
13 Tatsuya Tsuboi Sysmex 207.43 10 15
14 Ryoto Mori MF Academy 205.44 14 13
15 Sena Takahashi Kinoshita Academy 205.44 11 16
16 Takumi Sugiyama Okayama University 202.71 18 14
17 Sena Miyake Nippon Tatemono Kanzai 200.95 8 20
18 Haru Kakiuchi Hyogo Nishinomiya FSC 199.56 15 17
19 Shunsuke Nakamura Kinoshita Academy 194.10 22 18
20 Ryoga Morimoto Doshisha University 193.18 21 19
21 Shun Uemura Shujitsu Gakuen 191.87 20 21
22 Yuto Kishina Kansai University 174.82 23 22
23 Yujin Takeda Seisa International High School Sapporo 174.13 24 23
24 Shuntaro Asaga Kansai University 173.62 19 24

FS:
1 Shun Sato Aim Service/Meiji University 188.76 103.24 85.52 8.50 8.61 8.57 0.00 #20
2 Yuma Kagiyama Oriental Bio/Chukyo University 183.68 92.73 91.95 9.14 9.11 9.36 1.00 #24
3 Kao Miura Oriental Bio/Meiji University 165.53 81.58 83.95 8.36 8.39 8.46 0.00 #23
4 Rio Nakata TOKIO Inkarami 158.74 81.89 76.85 7.68 7.54 7.86 0.00 #22
5 Sota Yamamoto WALK 156.73 78.04 79.69 7.75 8.11 8.07 1.00 #19
6 Daiya Ebihara Komaba Gakuen High School 148.76 81.33 67.43 6.75 6.79 6.71 0.00 #9
7 Kazuki Tomono Daiichi Jyukken Group 141.69 63.04 80.65 8.14 8.04 8.04 2.00 #21
8 Taiga Nishino Seisa International Yokohama 140.93 77.66 65.27 6.39 6.39 6.82 2.00 #8
9 Kosho Oshima Fuji Yakuhin 139.51 70.71 69.80 6.82 7.39 6.75 1.00 #13
10 Nozomu Yoshioka Hosei University 139.17 68.40 70.77 7.14 6.93 7.18 0.00 #16
11 Tsudoi Suto Meiji University 138.52 71.33 67.19 6.61 6.68 6.89 0.00 #12
12 Takeru Amine Kataise Kansai University 134.76 62.82 72.94 7.29 7.32 7.29 1.00 #18
13 Ryoto Mori MF Academy 134.53 69.96 64.57 6.46 6.36 6.57 0.00 #11
14 Takumi Sugiyama Okayama University 133.17 67.47 66.70 6.64 6.82 6.57 1.00 #7
15 Tatsuya Tsuboi Sysmex 132.91 62.38 72.53 7.18 7.14 7.46 2.00 #15
16 Sena Takahashi Kinoshita Academy 131.62 67.25 66.37 6.57 6.54 6.82 2.00 #14
17 Haru Kakiuchi Hyogo Nishinomiya FSC 128.88 61.72 68.16 6.79 6.82 6.86 1.00 #10
18 Shunsuke Nakamura Kinoshita Academy 127.14 63.20 64.94 6.36 6.50 6.64 1.00 #3
19 Ryoga Morimoto Doshisha University 125.78 62.40 63.38 6.32 6.32 6.39 0.00 #4
20 Sena Miyake Nippon Tatemono Kanzai 125.01 55.75 73.26 7.21 7.36 7.43 4.00 #17
21 Shun Uemura Shujitsu Gakuen 123.89 60.85 63.04 6.32 6.43 6.18 0.00 #5
22 Yuto Kishina Kansai University 108.66 47.32 62.34 6.04 6.29 6.39 1.00 #2
23 Yujin Takeda Seisa International High School Sapporo 108.59 56.45 56.14 5.46 5.54 5.86 4.00 #1
24 Shuntaro Asaga Kansai University 104.14 45.14 61.00 6.18 6.07 6.07 2.00 #6

 

[Kelvster]

no words can describe. so incredibly sad for tomono

kao miura's skate was messy in the second half too, but overall there's no denying that kao's skates were superior at nationals~

sigh! such a cruel sport. my hearts go out to kazuki and his fans.

 

[clairecloutier]

So strange that Kao Miura may get the 3rd Oly spot despite being so hugely inconsistent the last couple years.

 

[PRlady]

So strange that Kao Miura may get the 3rd Oly spot despite being so hugely inconsistent the last couple years.

Well yes. But Kazuki and Sota were even more inconsistent, and the other best skaters are too young. Kao has all the goods and it’s just a question of putting them together.

 

[clairecloutier]

It's interesting because if you look at their overall records, there's a case to be made for either Kao or Kazuki. Kao has bigger highlights (4CCs/JW gold in 2023), but Kazuki has a better record at senior Worlds (three top 6 finishes). Kazuki's skating brings me a lot more joy, though. He's so much more expressive and musical than Kao.

 

[her grace]

It's interesting because if you look at their overall records, there's a case to be made for either Kao or Kazuki. Kao has bigger highlights (4CCs/JW gold in 2023), but Kazuki has a better record at senior Worlds (three top 6 finishes). Kazuki's skating brings me a lot more joy, though. He's so much more expressive and musical than Kao.

Yep. I checked out their records, too. Tomono beat Miura at his one senior worlds. Of course, one could argue that Miura should have been sent to senior worlds in 2023 as well. They’ve both been fairly inconsistent. I’ve really enjoyed Tomono’s highs, though: So musical and expressive!

 

[Theatregirl1122]

Do we know when the Japanese Olympic teams will be announced?

 

[Karen-W]

Do we know when the Japanese Olympic teams will be announced?

From the So You Want To Watch FS blog post about Japanese Nationals - https://www.soyouwanttowatchfs.com/blog/2025-japanese-national-championships-info-streaming

Extras: The Fuji TV Sports Youtube channel will livestream backstage events. The channel also uploads some skaters’ performances. Videos are blocked outside of Japan but can be accessed with a VPN.

• 12/18: Short Program Draw 18:00
• 12/20: Men FS Press Conference 21:00
• 12/21: Women FS Press Conference 21:00; Olympic Team Press Conference 22:00

 

[kwanfan1818]

Thank you so much for the play-by-play and the commentary, @YukiNieve

 

[YukiNieve]

Yuma is crying in K&C.
This program might be too difficult to skate clean.

Come to think of it, Yuma must have been skating without mistakes during practices, and that is why he was so frustrated in K&C.

 

[kwanette]

Well yes. But Kazuki and Sota were even more inconsistent, and the other best skaters are too young. Kao has all the goods and it’s just a question of putting the

Yep. I checked out their records, too. Tomono beat Miura at his one senior worlds. Of course, one could argue that Miura should have been sent to senior worlds in 2023 as well. They’ve both been fairly inconsistent. I’ve really enjoyed Tomono’s highs, though: So musical and expressive!

Why would Kao have been sent to 2023 Worlds? Kazuki won bronze at JPN Champs. Kao was 6th

 

[YukiNieve]

Fuji TV has been live streaming the conversations among the skaters in the "green room" (where the top three skaters at that moment are sitting), and it's very interesting. Watch it while it is still available. You can translate the captions into English using YouTube function.

全日本フィギュア2025　男子グリーンルーム配信

全てが決まる。全日本フィギュアスケート選手権男子フリーミラノ・コルティナ五輪最終選考会として男女ともに3枚の出場枠を争う注目の一戦！グリーンルームの様子をノーカット配信！詳しいスケジュール・番組内容は公式HP・SNSをご覧ください。▼#フジスケ 公式ホームページ：https://www.fujitv.co.jp/...

www.youtube.com

After Yuma's FS:
Kao: oh, that's tear of frustration.
Shun: (even though) he got first place??
Kao: No, he is frustrated. The goal he is aiming for is much higher.

 

[her grace]

Why would Kao have been sent to 2023 Worlds? Kazuki won bronze at JPN Champs. Kao was 6th

Miura had the better international season making the Grand Prix Final (which Tomono has never done) and Japan has a BOW approach where more competitions than solely nationals are used to determine teams. After Miura won 4CC that season (Tomono wasn’t at that competition), there was even more clamor for putting him on the world team, though the decision had already been made.

 

[kwanette]

Miura had the better international season making the Grand Prix Final (which Tomono has never done) and Japan has a BOW approach where more competitions than solely nationals are used to determine teams. After Miura won 4CC that season (Tomono wasn’t at that competition), there was even more clamor for putting him on the world team, though the decision had already been made.

Did they have a BOW then? Isn't that why
Shoma was pissed at the Press Conference about Koshiro? So Sota was sent and came in 15th..Kazuki and Shoma kept the 3 spots. Kazuki as a second alternate...did the same w Shoma in 2018. I am not saying who should go to the OLY..but Kazuki beat Kao in Kinoshita and was the highest ranking JPN man over Tsiboi..sp and Kao at 4 Continents in 2025..

 

[her grace]

Did they have a BOW then?

Yes

Isn't that why
Shoma was pissed at the Press Conference about Koshiro?

Yes.

For 2023, they chose S1, S3, and S5 and passed S2 Shimada and S4 Shun Sato.

Usually, Japan has a tiered approach, something like first spot is national champ. Second spot is chosen from nationals 2-3, top 2 Japanese finishers at GP Final, top 2 Japanese in WS, etc. The tiers are sometimes tweaked, but that’s the general approach.

 

[kwanfan1818]

In 2014, when they also had BOW guidelines, they bypassed Kozuka, who came in 3rd, and Oda, who came in 4th and had won bronze at GPF coming in as an alternate for Takahashi, who came in 5th at Nationals. Takahashi had qualified for GPF with a 4th and 1st, but became injured before GPF and wasn't back to form at Nationals. Because he was higher in ISU stats, and was scoring significantly higher than Kozuka internationally -- as did Oda that season -- the selection committee didn't have to make an exception, even with Oda finishing as the second-highest Japanese skater (after Hanyu) at GPF, nearly 20 points over Machida, who was 2nd at Nationals and was chosen for Sochi. Kozuka was already suffering from the hip socket problem that plagued him, and he suffered other chronic injuries.