Japanese figure skating 2023-24 season news & updates

[japanice]

[ICE TIME] Mao Shimada Remains the Class of the Junior Ranks | SportsLook

Reigning world junior champion Mao Shimada says she's been inspired by retired star and three-time world champ Mao Asada's success in landing the triple axel.

featured.japan-forward.com

 

[On My Own]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1705489316036694116

Not that I understand why the reigning JWC+4CC champion doesn't get a bye to nationals, but here's what's happening.

 

[Sylvia]

From earlier in this thread (I'll go start the 2023-24 Japanese natiional qualifying competition thread in Kiss & Cry):

... link to JSF's Nationals qualifying document dated August 28, 2023: https://www.skatingjapan.or.jp/common/img/info/qualifying_2023.pdf

Seeded player [top 3 at Nationals]
3 Sr girls Kaori Sakamoto Mai Mihara Mao Shimada
3 Sr boys Shoma Uno Koshiro Shimada Kazuki Tomono

2 Jr girls Mao Shimada Ami Nakai
Jr boy None

Sr pair 1 set Riku Miura / Ryuichi Kihara
No Sr Dance

Exempt player [bye through Regional or Sectional due to an international]:

Chubu Block [Regional]
Jr. Rena Uezono Jr.GP POL
Jr. Seigo Tauchi Jr.GP JPN
Jr. [boy] Masaya Mishima Jr.GP POL

Kinki Block [Regional]
Jr Ayumi Shibayama JrGP HUN
Jr Haru Kakiuchi JrGP HUN
Jr Shunsuke Nakamura JrGP ARM

East Japan [Sectional]
Sr Rinka Watanabe GP CAN / GP CHN
Sr Kao Miura GP CAN
Sr Wakaba Higuchi GP FRA
Sr Yuma Kagiyama GP FRA
Sr Rion Sumiyoshi GP FRA

West Japan [Sectional]
Sr Mone Chiba GP USA / GP FRA
Sr Tatsuya Tsuboi GP USA
Sr Mana Kawabe GP USA
Sr Sota Yamamoto GP CAN
Sr Hana Yoshida GP USA
Sr Takeru Amine Kataise GP FRA
Sr Rika Kihira GP CAN [but first required to compete at her Regional from which she has withdrawn ]

 

[On My Own]

Seeded player [top 3 at Nationals]
3 Sr girls Kaori Sakamoto Mai Mihara Mao Shimada
3 Sr boys Shoma Uno Koshiro Shimada Kazuki Tomono

2 Jr girls Mao Shimada Ami Nakai
Jr boy None

Sr pair 1 set Riku Miura / Ryuichi Kihara
No Sr Dance

Exempt player [bye through Regional or Sectional due to an international]:

Chubu Block [Regional]
Jr. Rena Uezono Jr.GP POL
Jr. Seigo Tauchi Jr.GP JPN
Jr. [boy] Masaya Mishima Jr.GP POL

Kinki Block [Regional]
Jr Ayumi Shibayama JrGP HUN
Jr Haru Kakiuchi JrGP HUN
Jr Shunsuke Nakamura JrGP ARM

East Japan [Sectional]
Sr Rinka Watanabe GP CAN / GP CHN
Sr Kao Miura GP CAN
Sr Wakaba Higuchi GP FRA
Sr Yuma Kagiyama GP FRA
Sr Rion Sumiyoshi GP FRA

West Japan [Sectional]
Sr Mone Chiba GP USA / GP FRA
Sr Tatsuya Tsuboi GP USA
Sr Mana Kawabe GP USA
Sr Sota Yamamoto GP CAN
Sr Hana Yoshida GP USA
Sr Takeru Amine Kataise GP FRA
Sr Rika Kihira GP CAN [but first required to compete at her Regional from which she has withdrawn ]

Is this implying he already has a bye due to GP Canada?

 

[Sylvia]

Is this implying he already has a bye due to GP Canada?

Kao Miura has a bye through the Eastern Sectional Championship due to his GP but he has to compete at his Regional in order to get the bye.

In early September Rika Kihira posted (eta link: https://twitter.com/rika_kihira/status/1698607716187435319) about not being able to compete at her Regional which means she can't advance to her Sectional Championship (Western) even though she has a bye (on paper) through her Sectional due to her Skate Canada GP assignment.

Link to the Kiss & Cry thread I've created for all Japanese qualifying & domestic competitions in 2023-24: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...onal-qualifying-domestic-competitions.111015/

 

[On My Own]

Well I'm sure he won't rank worse than 22nd. It's just a pity he has to compete.

 

[Karen-W]

Well I'm sure he won't rank worse than 22nd. It's just a pity he has to compete.

I'd be concerned about his ability to compete in his GP events with a torn hip muscle.

 

[Sylvia]

This Japanese news article machine translates Kao Miura's quote to "I heard it was a torn muscle in the lower back":

【フィギュア】三浦佳生が午前公式練習で衝突、腰の肉離れ抱えて強行出場で81・92点 - フィギュア : 日刊スポーツ

昨季のシニア4大陸選手権とジュニアの世界選手権で2冠を達成した三浦佳生（18＝オリエンタルバイオ／目黒日大高）が、今季ブロック大会の初戦に登場した。演技の前の… - 日刊スポーツ新聞社のニュースサイト、ニッカンスポーツ・コム（nikkansports.com）

www.nikkansports.com

 

[On My Own]

I'd be concerned about his ability to compete in his GP events with a torn hip muscle.

Well we'll see how severe it is, but yes, maybe this competition just plain won't matter in the grand scheme of things...

 

[Wyliefan]

Maybe I'm ignorant, but I thought a bye was by definition something you've already earned, not something you earned but can't get until you earn it again.

 

[Holy Headband]

Maybe I'm ignorant, but I thought a bye was by definition something you've already earned, not something you earned but can't get until you earn it again.

The “byes” for the second stage of the national qualifying cycle are given only to skaters who are scheduled to compete in international events on that day. So if you get to Sectionals, but have to go to a GP then, you can skip your Sectional. But if you don’t get to Sectionals in the first place, it doesn’t matter what else you’re doing then. The byes are not given on merit.

It’s a stupid system. I get why they stick to their national competitions so strictly, but there should be provisions for skaters experiencing injury or a personal emergency like a death in the family, extreme weather preventing them from travelling, etc. Forcing injured skaters in particular to compete in meaningless events where all you need to advance is to finish the competition can’t be good for Japanese skating in any way.

 

[japanice]

[ICE TIME] Ayumi Shibayama and Haru Kakiuchi Claim Bronze at the Budapest Junior Grand Prix | SportsLook

Although Japanese skaters Shibayama and Kakiuchi had better results in their second Junior Grand Prix events of the season, both will miss out on the JGP Final.

featured.japan-forward.com

 

[Sylvia]

Rika Kihira today : https://twitter.com/rika_kihira/status/1707334590459679146

Machine translation:

Thank you everyone for your continued support.

I have decided to miss Skate Canada.
After many meetings with my coach, I decided to prioritize completely recovering from my injury this year in order to pursue my dream of attending the 2026 Milan Olympics.
Next season, I hope to fully recover my health and performance and aim for the top with all my might

The goal is the 2026 Milan Olympics.
I would be happy if you would continue to support and watch over me!

Rika Kihira

 

[YukiNieve]

It has been 13 years since 36 yrs old Nobunari Oda competed for the Kinki Regionals last time.
This weekend he won free skate and got silver overall by landing 4Tq, 3Lz, 3A-1Eu-3S, 3Lo, / 3F-3T, 3A, 3Lz-2A with all positive GOEs.

https://www.jsfresults.com/National/2023-2024/fs_j/block5/data0105.pdf

 

[On My Own]

lol kinky

 

[On My Own]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1708756223955186158

 

[Wyliefan]

For those who can't see that, Mai Mihara has withdrawn from Finlandia.

 

[On My Own]

Embedded tweets not working for people either??

 

[skatingguy]

Embedded tweets not working for people either??

No they show up just fine right now - they've changed their policies so many times it's hard to keep track, but at the moment non-members can see a tweet, but not replies.

 

[Wyliefan]

Yes, that's why I posted -- the rules change all the time, and it's hard to be sure who's able to see what on any given day.

 

[Sylvia]

It has been 13 years since 36 yrs old Nobunari Oda competed for the Kinki Regionals last time.
This weekend he won free skate and got silver overall by landing 4Tq, 3Lz, 3A-1Eu-3S, 3Lo, / 3F-3T, 3A, 3Lz-2A with all positive GOEs.

Oda posted this yesterday : https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx4F3c3PlQY/

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

Finished the recent [regional] block without any injuries!
The result is 2nd place Thank you for your support!
Also, this is a story that made me cry at the end of the short film, but my mother, who didn't cry even after her active period, cried after the short performance. Just because she was tired of crying doesn't mean I never cried voluntarily! Laughing
The cry face is too funny though
The next West Japan @ Hiroshima, I look forward to seeing you there!

The West Japan Section Championship to qualify for Senior & Junior Nationals is Oct. 25-29 in Hiroshima.

 

[tony]

Oda landing a 'q' quad at 36 is fascinating- pretty sure if he gets one ratified, he'll be the oldest competitor to ever (officially) land one, and by quite a distance.

That, and throwing off 3A's and 3+3 combos and sequences like he hasn't missed a day-- really remarkable.

Selfishly, I hope that he learned his math and counting if he continues to progress at this level

 

[Lizziebeth]

I must admit that I thought about his counting his combos too

Has he been skating in a lot of shows?? He must really be working hard to be able to do all those jumps!!

 

[Sylvia]

Has he been skating in a lot of shows?? He must really be working hard to be able to do all those jumps!!

Yes, a ton of shows.

Oda returned to competition in late January 2023 - @Tak posted about it in the Kiss & Cry section:

The Winter National Athletics Figure Skating Event was concluded. Each prefecture sends two member team and lowest aggregate ordinal team wins this event.
...
Senior Men
A surprising return of "retired" skater at ninth place, and no, he did not contravene "Zayak" rule here.
...
9. Nobunari Oda 12,6 201.46 Osaka (jumps were decent, but did not get good levels in Spins and Stsq)

 

[robinhood]

I must admit that I thought about his counting his combos too

Has he been skating in a lot of shows?? He must really be working hard to be able to do all those jumps!!

I always felt Oda was one of the most natural and gifted jumpers of his genaration. those knees are made of butter and marshmellow. It is a crime he doesn't even have a world medal in his resumé and I love Takahashi, but oh boy....that 2014 spot should have been for him
Anyway, any chance he gets out of Japan and competes in challengers or GP??

 

[On My Own]

@Rukia Please tell me there's fanfic about Nobunari Oda medaling at Kinki regionals, surely there are people as immature as I am on AO3？

 

[Rukia]

@Rukia Please tell me there's fanfic about Nobunari Oda medaling at Kinki regionals, surely there are people as immature as I am on AO3？

lol I went and looked just for you and alas there are none...yet. it could still happen. Nobunari Oda is on there though, but judging from the summaries he's just there to be background while Yuzuru Hanyu hooks up with any number of other skaters (they appear to be primarily Javier Fernandez, although Boyang Jin is gaining some momentum particularly in Chinese fics).

 

[On My Own]

lol I went and looked just for you and alas there are none...yet. it could still happen. Nobunari Oda is on there though, but judging from the summaries he's just there to be background while Yuzuru Hanyu hooks up with any number of other skaters (they appear to be primarily Javier Fernandez, although Boyang Jin is gaining some momentum particularly in Chinese fics).

So last season, I snickered at Uno skating to "air on the g-string" and I refuse to believe I was the only one who did

 

[Sylvia]

Fun fact re. one of my favorite classical music pieces (copied from wiki):

"Air on the G String", also known as "Air for G String" and "Celebrated Air", is August Wilhelmj's 1871 arrangement of the second movement of Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068.

The arrangement differs from the original in that the part of the first violins is transposed down so that the entire piece can be played on just the violin's lowest string (the G string, hence the name). In performance, that part is generally played by a single violin (instead of by the first violins as a group).

Anyway, any chance he [Oda] gets out of Japan and competes in challengers or GP??

IIRC, Japan usually doesn't assign skaters to ISU Challengers after Finlandia Trophy - is it because of timing conflicts with their East/West Japan Section Championships and/or Grand Prix season?

 

[On My Own]

"Celebrated Air"

OH MY GOD