Japanese figure skating 2020-21 season news & updates

rosewood

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Hanyu announced he doesn't participate in GP series this season. Reasons are 1) To avoid catching the v*rus. He has asthma. 2)It's difficult for Orser to attend NHK as well as Hanyu needs 2 weeks quarantine when he enters Canada to participate in SC. 3) To avoid pushing up the risk of infections when his fans gather in the rink.
 

rosewood

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JSF had a meeting in Tokyo today.
1) They decided to run for the 2023 Worlds bid. Their plan is to hold Worlds at Saitama Super Arena on March 20-26, 2023.
2) They decided to hold this season's Japan Open. The plan which was announced in the past was to hold JO at Saitama Super Arena on Oct the 3rd. The (re-)confirmed plan in detail will be announced by TV Tokyo before long.
3) They decided to give an exceptional seeded spot for Nationals to Miyahara (4th at Nationals), who trains in Canada, based on last season's BoW that she was on Team Japan for Worlds. She got a spot for Nationals without skating at neither of Regionals and Sectionals. It means she will not be bothered by the 2 weeks quarantine restrictions for entering/leaving Japan/Canada to participate in Regionals/Sectionals.
 
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rosewood

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From Wednesday's meeting it's also reported JSF confirmed this season's serection criteria for Worlds.
Singles (3 spots)
First spot for Worlds goes to Nationals champion
Second spot goes to a skater selected among the skaters below
1) 2nd and 3rd at Nationals
2) Top 2 medal winners among Japanese skaters at any of GP events
3) Top 3 among Japanese skaters on the ISU standings at the point of Nationals
Third spot goes to a skater selected among the skaters below
1) Skater who meets the second spot criteria but was left out of the spot
2) Top 3 among Japanese skaters on the ISU standings at the point of Nationals
3) Top 3 among Japanese skaters on the ISU GP series best scores rankings at the point of Nationals
*A top 6 finisher at Worlds in the past can be selected even though he/she can't participate in Nationals
a) if the reason is inevitable i.e. injuries or v*rus infections
b) the skater's results before the inevitable reason occurred were good enough
c) if the skater's condition can be expected to get good enough for skating in Worlds
Pairs/Ice Dance (1 spot)
The spot goes to the team selected among the teams below
1) Nationals champion
3) Top 3 among Japanese teams on ISU GP series best score rankings at the point of Nationals

*If the schedule of Nationals and ISU's events including GP series are changed due to the CV19 pandem*c, JSF can re-consider the selection criteria based on the environment at the point.
 
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rosewood

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TV Tokyo (main sponsor company) announced the details of Japan Open.
Date/Venue: Oct 3rd 2020, at Saitama Super Arena
Skaters: Wakaba Higuchi, Tomoe Kawabata, Yuhana Yokoi, Marin Honda, Sota Yamamoto, Lucas Tsuyoshi Honda, Ryuju Hino, Hana Yoshida, Chisato Uramatsu
Pro-skater: Hiroaki Sato

Carnival on Ice (JO's gala show)
Date/Venue:Oct 3rd 2020, at Saitama Super Arena
Skaters: JO skaters + Akiko Suzuki, Komatsubara/Koleto

ETA:
JO/CoI will have spectators (smaller size than usual). It will be aired by TV Tokyo as well as there'll be a paid livestreaming.
 
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rosewood

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Keiji Tanaka is out of Japan Open & Carnival on Ice due to an injury. He says he's recovering from the injury and doing his best to be in good enough condition by his competitions.

ETA:
Shoma is back in Lambiel's home rink.
 
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Sylvia

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rosewood meant to write above that Keiji Tanaka is out of this weekend's "Dreams on Ice" shows - refer to post #87 for more info about DOI (Sept. 12-13): https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...eason-news-updates.107299/page-3#post-5852245

Posted on July 21 (during the senior training camp):
Kagiyama: https://twitter.com/fskating_Life/status/1285472310774751232
SP, Take 5 (choreo by Misao sato)
FS, from Princess Mononoke ST (choreo by Misao Sato)
Translation of figure365's tweet earlier today: https://twitter.com/figureskatingm1/status/1303863816111886336
Yuma Kagiyama, who will compete as senior this season, will debut a new short program at Dreams on Ice this weekend: “Vocussion” by Yo-Yo Ma, choreographed by Lori Nichol.

Yuma Kagiyama had previously announced a different SP, “Take Five,” choreographed by Misao Sato, but he ended up having Lori Nichol choreograph a new SP remotely from Aug 15.
It seems Yuma also changed his FS from “Princess Mononoke” to “Lord of the Rings,” choreo by Misao Sato.
Article ("The free song is "Lord of the Rings" and Coach Sato will continue to choreograph this. Use the musical version that contains female vocals, not the movie version"):

Yuna Shiraiwa recently shared photos and a message on her Instagram that she "finally received a diagnosis of healed": https://www.instagram.com/p/CEy4EMfJv9s/
 
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Sylvia

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Yuma Kagiyama interview/article:
He will begin his competitive season at the Kanto block/regional, Oct. 1-4, 2020.
 

all_empty

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Kaori looked great...so smooth.

Happy to hear Yuna is healthy. She was competitive with the likes of Wakaba and Marin as a junior (against some very good Russian juniors) and I hope she can still make her mark as a senior.

Dare I say I'm more excited about the Japanese ladies this preseason so far?
 

all_empty

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Here's Wakaba's attempt at a 3A.


She had some issues with the jumps in the first half but nailed everything afterwards.

Nice expression in the step sequence as well.
 

Sylvia

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New short programs debuted at Dreams on Ice include:

Yuma Kagiyama's SP to “Vocussion” by Yo-Yo Ma & the Silk Road Ensemble, choreographed (remotely) by Lori Nichol (landed 4S+2T, 4T, 3A): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMLZGf3yibc

Kaori Sakamoto's "Bach a la Jazz" SP, choreographed by Benoit Richaud (2A, 3F+3T, 3Lo): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlIldSoRsjc
(Second half may be arranged/performed by Matt Herskowitz?)

Tomoe Kawabata's SP to "Waltz In The Evening Glow" by Takashi Kako (3Lz+3T, 3Lo, 2A): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8-ItoL7gAU
She skated her last season's FS to "Yumeji's Theme" (In the Mood For Love OST) by Shigeru Umebayashi & "Sikuriadas" by Inti-Illimani, performed by Incantation.

Shun Sato also debuted his Pirates of the Caribbean SP and FS to Battle of the Kings (by Audiomachine?), both choreographed by Benoit Richaud.
 

rosewood

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After the performance Kaori said she thinks at this point that she'll go this season with the jump contents she did here. Seems she ditched the idea of doing 4T or 3A this season. But, hey, watch her 3T in her cascades like 3F-3T and 2A-3T-2T. The height and the stability of 3T improved visually. So I think her training on 4T is giving good effects on this season's performances. I wish she'll be more consistent than last season with the easier content to get back on the podium at Nationals and then win a spot for Worlds. Meanwhile, she said her SP costume was a temporary one and she'll make a SP costume for competitions.

With new programs revealed in DOI as well as Tanaka's injury, I'm excited to see how things will go in Regionals which will start before long.

Entries are open:
Tohoku-Hokkaido
Kanto
Tokyo
Chubu
Kinki
Chu-Shikoku-Kyushu

Schedule in English:

Chu-Shikoku-Kyushu will start from Sep. 24 and Chubu from Sep. 25. Tanaka entered to Chu-Shikoku-Kyushu. Wish he'll recover enough for the Reagional.
 
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Marco

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I see such promise in both Shun and Yuma. I am already bummed that, if Yuzuru and Shoma stay on til Beijing, only one of them is going to to Worlds and to the Olympics until 2022. And worse yet, I also really like Sota.

Yuma especially has such flow - he doesn't lose speed on anything and is so effortless. Reminds me of Nobunari. Shun on the other hand is more reserved, reminds me of a young Takahiko but with weaker spins. Sota reminds of a young Takeshi Honda with his musicality.
 

Sylvia

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... Lambiel also choreographed the free skate prior to Junior Worlds and during the quarantine before the skater came back from Japan. It is set to Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.
“This music I feel is very matching and there are vocals in the second half and I can feel the energy from the vocal and I feel so much speed going into the choreo sequence,” explained Shimada. “It’s a very nice program. I really love doing it in practice and I’m looking forward to showing it to everyone. The first part is the classical version, performed by Chinese pianist Lang, then I have José Carreras singing.”
Fan cam of his FS debut as a guest in a Swiss Cup competition this past weekend (I've started a thread in Kiss & Cry):
His total score was 202.76 (148.79 in FS - jumps: 4Sq, 3T<<, 3Lo, 3A, 3A+1Eu+2S, 3Lzq+3T, 3F).

Shimada also debuted his SP to “Fire Dance” performed by Jennifer Thomas that was choreographed by Kenji Miyamoto - Absolute Skating posted a sideways fan cam filmed from a distance: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CFVBSCFKNNY/

ETA:
TV Tokyo on twitter says "Nathan Chen and Mariah Bell will appear in videos at Japan Open and Carnival on Ice. This season's SP and EX numbers will be unveiled for the first time."
Thank you - I went ahead and started an event thread in GSD: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/2020-japan-open-october-3-carnival-on-ice-gala.107589/
 
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Sylvia

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Rika Hongo competed for the first time in over a year at the Chubu Regional and is in 3rd place after the SP (jumps were 3T+2T, 3S, 2A - [video from livestream]) - here's an article about her return:

First 2 Regional blocks have started competition and this is the thread in Kiss & Cry for qualifying & domestic competitions in Japan (results in English usually are published after the competitions are over): https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...onal-qualifying-domestic-competitions.107441/

Chubu Regional Senior Men top 2 finishers (3 competed):
Sota Yamamoto 80.77 (4Tq+3T, 4S< 2fted, 3A hand, all L4s [SP video]) 139.35 (FS) 220.12
Ryuju Hino 59.66 (SP) 124.57 (FS) 184.23

Chubu Regional Senior Ladies SP top 8 scores via this play-by-play Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/figureskatingm1/status/1309753787289141250
1 Mako Yamashita 65.64 (3Lo, 2A, 3Lz+3T<)
2 Rin Nitaya 61.69 (3Lz, 2A, 3T+2T)
3 Rika Hongo 60.29
4 Yuhana Yokoi 57.21 (2A, 3F, 3Lz fall)
5 Miyabi Oba 54.12
6 Nana Araki 53.95
7 Yura Matsuda 53.86
8 Rino Kasakake 52.58

Tatsuya Tsuboi won the Junior Men's event (199.25) and the top 2 Junior ladies after the SP are Rino Matsuike 61.02 (3Lz, 2A, 3F+3T) & Chisato Urumatsu 56.88.

ETA:
Tanaka entered to Chu-Shikoku-Kyushu. Wish he'll recover enough for the Reagional.
Top 2 Senior Men after the SP: Keiji Tanaka 66.97 & Kosuke Nakano 63.62

Tanaka's right knee was injured a month ago and has not been completely healed, which is why he watered down his jumps:
 
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