Japanese figure skating 2018-19 season news & updates

[Jeschke]

What's going on with Suzuki/Kihara?
They are not entered for worlds?

Have I missed an injury? I don't want to jinx/think about the other scenario
(((@Hanna)))

 

[rosewood]

During an official practice at 4CC Kihara got concussion and they withdrew from the competition. Seems he's not recovered yet. Wish a full and quick recovery for him.

 

[clairecloutier]

Yoshiko Kobayashi, a Japanese federation official, says that Japan's summer camps for skaters have been an important part of building the success of their national program:

How Japan Built Its Figure Skating Powerhouse
https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2019/03/12/how-japan-built-its-figure-skating-powerhouse/

It's interesting because I wonder if this is what USFSA is hoping to achieve with the new High Performance Camp.

 

[Sylvia]

Jack Gallagher has a nice interview, in English with Japanese translation, with Dice Murakami on Ice Time. Dice is now coaching in Oregon although he emphasizes that he's helping out and doesn't have plans so far of being a head coach taking kids to big competitions. Great to hear from Dice and see what he's up to!

Belated thanks for posting! Here's the direct link to listen: https://soundcloud.com/user-983930015/no-13-daisuke-murakami

What's going on with Suzuki/Kihara?
They are not entered for worlds?

Ryuichi Kihara posted in their joint blog on Feb. 27 but didn't specify his injury: https://ameblo.jp/ryuichi-miu/entry-12443342540.html
Machine translated excerpt:

"I have tried to recover for the World Championships after being injured, but I did not get over it completely, and after consulting with the coach, I decided that I should not overdo it with my physical condition.

We are sorry for your concern."

Suzaki/Kihari withdrew from 4CC before they traveled to Anaheim (Feb. 4) so the practice accident must have happened beforehand? I hope his recovery is going well and that they will be back next season.

Yuzuru Hanyu to need 2-3 months of treatment for ankle injury (March 29): https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2019/03/3601026e1387-figure-skating-hanyu-to-need-2-3-months-of-treatment-for-ankle-injury.html

Two-time men's Olympic figure skating champion Yuzuru Hanyu will need two to three months of treatment for the long-term ankle injury that will keep him out of April's World Team Trophy, the Japan Skating Federation said Friday.
Hanyu, who finished runner-up last Saturday at the World Figure Skating Championships, has been diagnosed with damage to the lateral collateral ligament and the deltoid ligament in his right ankle and the peroneal tendon.
The skater is said to still be suffering from throbbing pain and inflammation in the joint. The 24-year-old needed pain killers to compete at the worlds, his first competition since he injured the ankle four months earlier.

Team Japan for World Team Trophy (April 10-14, 2019) in Fukuoka:
Team Captain: Misato KOMATSUBARA

Keiji TANAKA
Shoma UNO
Rika KIHIRA
Kaori SAKAMOTO
Riku MIURA / Shoya ICHIHASHI (pair)
Misato KOMATSUBARA / Tim KOLETO

 

[RoseRed]

I believe Kihara had already announced that he had a concussion.

 

[Tinami Amori]

I have a quick question about Miki Ando and not sure where to post it. On another board, a skating fan from Russia asked if Miki Ando is still skating/performing occasionally, and it seems like she is, in some shows. I only found few fotos here. Can someone please give me more details on her professional skating career situation?

https://www.instagram.com/miki_m_ando0403/?hl=en

 

[Sylvia]

The first Prince Ice World shows in 2019 will be April 27-29 and May 3-5 in Yokohama: http://www2.princehotels.co.jp/iceshow/

Cast (3 rows of head shots):

Row 1: Shizuka Arakawa, Takeshi Honda, Kanako Murakami, Shoma Uno, Keiji Tanaka (April 27-29), Kazuki Tomono (May 3-5)
Row 2: Marin Honda, Miyu Honda (April 27-29)-actress/12th in Junior, Novice A silver medalist Sara Honda (May 3-5), Wakaba Higuchi (April 27-29)
Row 3: Sota Yamamoto (April 27-29), Mako Yamashita (May 3-5), Junior Men's champ Tatsuya Tsuboi (May 3-5)

Miki Ando is listed for the Prince Ice Worlds shows in West Tokyo from July 19-22, 2019.

Current cast list for the Dreams on Ice (annual Team Japan exhibition) show in Yokohama, June 28-30, 2019: http://www.onice.jp/DOI19/men.html
Men: Keiji Tanaka, Kazuki Tomono, Tatsuya Tsuboi, Shun Sato, Sora Tarumi (Novice A champ)
Ladies: Rika Kihira, Kaori Sakamoto, Yuhana Yokoi, Yuna Shiraiwa, Tomoe Kawabata, Nana Araki, Rika Tejima (Novice A champ)
Ice Dance: Misato Komatsubara/Tim Koleto
Synchro: Jingu Ice Messengers
(I've posted in Nathan Chen's fan thread that he's been invited for the third straight year as a guest performer.)

 

[Sylvia]

The 2019 Aichi Prefectural Championships Senior Ladies' medalists were Yuhana Yokoi 1st, Miyabi Oba 2nd & Hinano Isobe 3rd - Oba's IG has a podium photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/BvxlQ0ZnZqv/

Oba also shared this clip of her 3A landed in the warmup! https://www.instagram.com/p/BvxlcUlnif-/
I believe she received 3A< call in FS? (caught a glimpse of her protocol in her IG story)
SP scores/some jump info: https://twitter.com/figureskatingm1/status/1111975609012355072

 

[Jeschke]

Oba‘s 3a looks quite impressive

 

[Fairuza]

That was a nice casual 3A

 

[Taso]

That was a nice casual 3A

With no crossovers to enter, wow!

 

[Ardarys]

She made that look so easy

 

[Jeschke]

I am still amazed by that clip of Oda.
Her successful junior years are alredy 7,8yrs gone, one GP and mid-field JPN nationals results afterwards. No international comeptitions since 2015.
To push yourself still 4yrs later from that

 

[rosewood]

It's announced Suzaki/Kihara split. Suzaki said she'll talk about her future plan with her coaches and the fed. Kihara said his priority at this point is to recover from his injury in his shoulder. He'll talk about the best medical treatment of the injury with his doctors and his trainer. He wishes to be back on the ice as a pairs skater as soon as possible.
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20190408-00000051-dal-spo

Prior to the split it was announced he got concussion during a practice at 4CC and they withdrew from the competition. But it sounds his chronicle injury in his shoulder is more serious eventually. Wish full and quick recovery for him.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Oba also shared this clip of her 3A landed in the warmup! https://www.instagram.com/p/BvxlcUlnif-/

That's a dream 3A. just like that.. while she is strolling.

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

That's a dream 3A. just like that.. while she is strolling.

Anyone else having trouble seeing the Oda clip? Viewing from Germany.

 

[Sylvia]

Anyone else having trouble seeing the Oda clip? Viewing from Germany.

Jeschke was able to view the Miyabi Oba warmup 3A clip from Germany? I don't believe you need an IG account in order to view content (you do need one to view IG stories but this is not a story clip).

It's announced Suzaki/Kihara split. Suzaki said she'll talk about her future plan with her coaches and the fed. Kihara said his priority at this point is to recover from his injury in his shoulder. He'll talk about the best medical treatment of the injury with his doctors and his trainer. He wishes to be back on the ice as a pairs skater as soon as possible.
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20190408-00000051-dal-spo

Thanks for summarizing the article, @rosewood.

Suzaki/Kihara's names were removed from the 4CC entries list on Feb. 4 (official practices started in Anaheim on Feb. 5) so I assume the practice accident must have happened either before they traveled to 4CC or at an unofficial practice there? Wishing them both well for the future.

 

[puglover]

I hope this is not too general a question for this thread but I am intrigued by the Japanese Federation's ability to produce such amazing skaters. It seems quality ice time has often been a challenge but they still have amazing results. What kind of grassroots programs do they have? How much is financed by individual families or is funding available from an early age? Are their successful skaters provided with opportunities and funded by the country similar to China or is it mostly paid for by the skaters and their families? I know that with success they get amazing earning potential but it obviously takes money and opportunity to get there.

 

[Sylvia]

@puglover, as a starting point, have you read the article by Akiko Tamura posted earlier by Claire?

Yoshiko Kobayashi, a Japanese federation official, says that Japan's summer camps for skaters have been an important part of building the success of their national program:

How Japan Built Its Figure Skating Powerhouse
https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2019/03/12/how-japan-built-its-figure-skating-powerhouse/

 

[CaliSteve]

That's a dream 3A. just like that.. while she is strolling.

Its like she is skating along and just decides to do a 3A, and a nice one too!

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

Jeschke was able to view the Miyabi Oba warmup 3A clip from Germany? I don't believe you need an IG account in order to view content (you do need one to view IG stories but this is not a story clip).


Thanks for summarizing the article, @rosewood.

Suzaki/Kihara's names were removed from the 4CC entries list on Feb. 4 (official practices started in Anaheim on Feb. 5) so I assume the practice accident must have happened either before they traveled to 4CC or at an unofficial practice there? Wishing them both well for the future.

Clip working fine now. Nice to see. Thanks.

 

[Jeschke]

It's announced Suzaki/Kihara split.

That sucks
(((@Hanna)))

 

[Sylvia]

Miu Suzaki/Ryuichi Kihara's "Yuri on Ice" SP in PyeongChang via Olympic YT channel (no commentary): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN2H7tbu8E4

ETA:

Suzaki/Kihara previously were sponsored by Kinoshita Group; Satoko Miyahara and Koshiro Shimada are the two figure skaters currently sponsored by KG: http://kinoshita-group-sports.com/figureskating/

 

[Marco]

It's announced Suzaki/Kihara split.

Just like that, Japan's team medal shot for Beijing 2022 is back to 0.

 

[cohkaix]

Just like that, Japan's team medal shot for Beijing 2022 is back to 0.

Not exactly. There's still one pair team Miura (17)/ Ichihashi (21). The team started as junior pair a couple years ago and will move up to senior next season. Actually they will be at WTT and the timing is working out perfectly. If the pair can skate on without major injury, they should try challenging 2022 for Team Japan. (I'd be more worried about that afterwards, as there hasn't been more junior pair team emerging from local competitions for a couple of years after Miura&Ichihash)

 

[Marco]

One thing I don't get - Japan has so many amazing singles skaters and the field is so deep. There is little window to break through. Why aren't there more singles skaters willing to try pairs or dance? They would still be able to show the amazing skating skills that they have. The pairs can do SBS flips and lutzes like they can do in their sleep as singles, and the dancers can shine without worries of UR (imagine Yukina Ota as a dancer). The decent teams can pretty much guarantee national podium finishes, GP invites (at least from host picks to NHK Trophy) and trips to 4CCs and Worlds.

I think the Chinese pairs coaches will be happy to share the expertise provided that the Japanese singles coach can do the same in return

 

[clairecloutier]

Not exactly. There's still one pair team Miura (17)/ Ichihashi (21). The team started as junior pair a couple years ago and will move up to senior next season. Actually they will be at WTT and the timing is working out perfectly. If the pair can skate on without major injury, they should try challenging 2022 for Team Japan. (I'd be more worried about that afterwards, as there hasn't been more junior pair team emerging from local competitions for a couple of years after Miura&Ichihash)

Miura/Ichihashi are not on the same level as Suzaki/Kihira IMO—they looked somewhat improved this year, but still struggling with lifts and inconsistent on other elements. But, they have several more years to work until Beijing, and little competition, so we’ll see.

 

[Dobre]

Miura/Ichihashi are not on the same level as Suzaki/Kihira IMO—they looked somewhat improved this year, but still struggling with lifts and inconsistent on other elements. But, they have several more years to work until Beijing, and little competition, so we’ll see.

Undoubtedly. But since you don't need TES minimums at the Olympics [ETA: Worlds TES minimums] and since Japan is frequently looking at the possibility of finishing last in pairs during a team event, as long as Japan has a team with citizenship, they are capable of competing in the team event at about the same level as previously. It's highly dangerous to be down to one pair team, as we all know how often teams are injured or don't make it longterm. But this particular junior pair team has very good motivation to keep going, at least so long as another team with citizenship doesn't emerge on the scene. There are also a lot of countries struggling with fielding pairs at the moment. Rebuild is pretty much the name of the game.

Having said that, Japan has lost ground in dance internationally. While Muramoto & Reed were pretty much bound to finish last in the FD at the Olympics, they were at least the middle of the pack in the RD. Komatsubara & Koleto missed the FD cut at Worlds this season and finished behind teams from 3 countries that M&R defeated in last year's team event. Plus his citizenship--while reportedly a possibility--hasn't cleared at this point in time. Fortunately for Japan, however, we're a ways out from the Olympic season.

 

[Sylvia]

Undoubtedly. But since you don't need TES minimums at the Olympics

TES minimums for the 2018 Olympics were the same as for 4CC/Euros.

ETA:

I just looked up why Miura/Ichihashi did not compete at 4CC in Anaheim. They only competed junior internationally this season (2 JGPs & Junior Worlds) and their TES at 2018 4CC were about 2 points short of the 2017-18 minimum scores for both SP and FS. They withdrew (was one of them injured?) after placing 2nd in SP behind Suzaki/Kihara at Nationals.

 

[ostile17]

I have a quick question about Miki Ando and not sure where to post it. On another board, a skating fan from Russia asked if Miki Ando is still skating/performing occasionally, and it seems like she is, in some shows. I only found few fotos here. Can someone please give me more details on her professional skating career situation?

https://www.instagram.com/miki_m_ando0403/?hl=en

She is also going to appear at Friends on Ice 2019, 8/30 - 9/1 in Shin-Yokohama

http://friendsonice.com

Cast: Shizuka Arakawa, Daisuke Takahashi, Shoma Uno, Akiko Suzuki, Takeshi Honda, Miki Ando, Shae-Lynn Bourne, Ilia Kulik and more