Japanese figure skating 2024-25 season news & updates

[YukiNieve]

Hope it's OK to start a new thread?

Kinoshita Cup with impressive entries is scheduled this week:

2024 Kinoshita Cup (Aug.3-4, 2024)

Skating Schedule/Order

2024木下トロフィー争奪フィギュアスケート大会

Entries include:
(Senior Men) Yuto Kishina, Shun Sato, Kazuki Tomono, Shunsuke Nakamura, Kao Miura, Sena Miyake, Sota Yamamoto
(Senior Women) Rion Sumiyoshi, Mone Chiba, Mako Yamashita, Hana Yoshida, Rinka Watanabe
(Junior Women) Rena Uezono, Ikura Kushida, Mao Shimada

 

[On My Own]

Hope it's OK to start a mew thread?

I prefer Celebi

 

[YukiNieve]

I actually like Mew!

 

[YukiNieve]

2024 Kinoshita Cup (Aug.3-4, 2024)

Skating Schedule/Order
2024木下トロフィー争奪フィギュアスケート大会
Entries include:
(Senior Men) Yuto Kishina, Shun Sato, Kazuki Tomono, Shunsuke Nakamura, Kao Miura, Sena Miyake, Sota Yamamoto
(Senior Women) Rion Sumiyoshi, Mone Chiba, Mako Yamashita, Hana Yoshida, Rinka Watanabe
(Junior Women) Rena Uezono, Ikura Kushida, Mao Shimada

Kao Miura, Sota Yamamoto, Haru Kakiuchi have withdrawn.

Tomoki Hiwatashi will compete as an open entry (meaning that there will be no official record for the results).

x.com

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[YukiNieve]

2024 Kinoshita Cup (Aug.3-4, 2024)

Senior Men SP
1. Shun Sato
2. Sena Miyake
3. Kazuki Tomono
4. Shunsuke Nakamura
5. Yuto Kishina

Judge detail scores: https://www.jsfresults.com/local/2024-2025/fs/26/673/data0103.pdf

Senior Women SP
1. Mone Chiba
2. Rion Sumiyoshi
3. Hana Yoshida
4. Maria Egawa
5. Mako Yamashita
6. Rinka Watanabe
7. Hinako Kato
8. Rinka Izumi

Judge detail scores：https://www.jsfresults.com/local/2024-2025/fs/26/673/data0203.pdf

 

[Evgeniafan]

2024 Kinoshita Cup (Aug.3-4, 2024)

Senior Men SP
1. Shun Sato
2. Sena Miyake
3. Kazuki Tomono
4. Shunsuke Nakamura
5. Yuto Kishina

Judge detail scores: https://www.jsfresults.com/local/2024-2025/fs/26/673/data0103.pdf

Senior Women SP
1. Mone Chiba
2. Rion Sumiyoshi
3. Hana Yoshida
4. Maria Egawa
5. Mako Yamashita
6. Rinka Watanabe
7. Hinako Kato
8. Rinka Izumi

Judge detail scores：https://www.jsfresults.com/local/2024-2025/fs/26/673/data0203.pdf

Is there a stream?

 

[YukiNieve]

FOD does live stream but you may need to use a credit card that was issued in Japan as well as using VPN.
Sorry but I am not sure since I had this account when I was in Japan.

https://fod.fujitv.co.jp/

 

[YukiNieve]

2024 Kinoshita Cup (Aug.3-4, 2024)

Senior Men FS
Judge detail scores: https://www.jsfresults.com/local/2024-2025/fs/26/673/data0105.pdf

		SP	FS	Points
1​	Shun Sato	1​	1​	225.84​
2​	Shunsuke Nakamura	4​	2​	196.43​
3​	Kazuki Tomono	3​	3​	181.82​
4​	Yuto Kishina	5​	4​	167.86​
5​	Sena Miyake	2​	5​	165.9​

Senior Women FS
Judge detail scores: https://www.jsfresults.com/local/2024-2025/fs/26/673/data0205.pdf

		SP	FS	Points
1​	Mone Chiba	1​	1​	196.3​
2​	Hana Yoshida	3​	2​	190.25​
3​	Rion Sumiyoshi	2​	3​	186.38​
4​	Maria Egawa	4​	4​	179.23​
5​	Mako Yamashita	5​	5​	151.45​
6​	Rinka Watanabe	6​	6​	145.19​
7​	Hinako Kato	7​	7​	90.24​
8​	Rinka Izumi	8​	8​	85.42​

 

[japanice]

[ICE TIME] Summer Cup Recap: Mao Shimada and Rio Nakata are Winners in Otsu | SportsLook

Shimada landed eight triple jumps in her free skate and triumphed in the Summer Cup by more than 24 points. Nakata struggled with his spins despite the win.

featured.japan-forward.com

 

[jenny12]

I'm probably late on this but man do I love Yuna Aoki. What a gorgeous skater. Perhaps the most beautiful IMO in the world right now.

 

[On My Own]

There was some good skating from the Japanese women last season. Yuna Aoki's LP was one of the best, for me (ridiculous to see it getting only 62 PCS at NHK last season...). She has the capability to land a 3Lz+3Lo, so competitive tech content too.

This season, I see people losing it over her Adios Nonino SP, and I just don't see what's so special about it. Although, tbf, people were losing it over her horrible Lana del Ray SP last season, so "what's new", I guess.

Speaking of tangos. Kaori Sakamoto shows great skating skill in hers, but I hope she trains the movement quality better. I don't like the choreo, but I've given up on that with her at this point .

 

[YukiNieve]

Japanese top skaters had a summer camp in Varese, Italy, and then had a show Japanese Dream Ice Gala al Palaghiaccio di Varese with Carolina Costner on August 15, 2024.

https://www.liveticket.it/dati_flexa/Image/Img_eventi_2024/japanese_dream_n_loc.jpg

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

 

[japanice]

[ICE TIME] Exhibition Galas are Canceled for Skate Canada and Finlandia Trophy | SportsLook

Skating officials in Canada and Finland say scheduling issues factored into decisions to eliminate the exhibition galas. Are these simply cost-cutting moves?

featured.japan-forward.com

 

[YukiNieve]

Kazuki Tomono created a new exhibition program, "Life Is Beautiful" with Misha Ge this summer.
He intended to skate to this music as a free program for 2020-2021 season but scrapped it as he decided to use the program from the previous season. He always wanted to "revive" this program.

This season Kazuki worked two new choreographers, Shae-Lynn for short and Lori Nichol for free.
With them, he has learned a lot of new materials and approaches.

Without Shoma, the competitions among Japanese men becomes even more fierce and unpredictable. Kazuki aims at the Olympic Games. Kazuki has decided that he will end his amateur career after that season. He wants to dedicate everything to accomplish the goal in the year and a half leading up to the Olympics so that he feels he has done it all.

https://nonno.hpplus.jp/series/tomono-monogatari/167168/

 

[On My Own]

Without Shoma, the competitions among Japanese men becomes even more fierce and unpredictable.

Really? I think it's unfortunately rather set in stone that Miura/Sato/Kagiyama will make the Japan team this worlds and the Olympics, barring injury.

Do you mean Lori Nichol when you say "Nicole"?

 

[YukiNieve]

Do you mean Lori Nichol when you say "Nicole"?

Oh, yes. Corrected.

 

[Wyliefan]

This Twitter account has videos and scores from the Tokyo Summer Trophy, featuring a number of the top Japanese women.

x.com

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[japanice]

[ICE TIME] Sena Takahashi Shines in Sensational JGP Debut | SportsLook

Kanagawa Prefecture native Sena Takahashi, 14, skated two clean programs to win the men's title at the JGP Riga Cup in his first-ever competition outside Japan.

featured.japan-forward.com

 

[On My Own]

Uezono has amazing skating quality for someone who's only a junior!

Japanese women's skating is saving us!

 

[Kateri]

Uezono has amazing skating quality for someone who's only a junior!

Japanese women's skating is saving us!

She's barely 14!!!

 

[On My Own]

She's with Mihoko Higuchi, so perhaps not surprising. Same coach who produced wonderful skaters like Uno and in the past Ito. Also one of Mao's skaters during juniors.

 

[On My Own]

@Karen-W Do you know how many below 15 are in juniors this season?

I just want to know think about what the coaches' strategy is, with the senior limit being raised to 17 now. I'd absolutely want them to spend up until 15 mastering basic skating and getting triples up until 3A down, before participating in the JGP and possibly training quads.

It's good to see Rena being a wonderful skater, but I don't see why she or someone like her would want to spend 3-4 years in juniors compulsorily.

 

[Karen-W]

@Karen-W Do you know how many below 15 are in juniors this season?

I just want to know think about what the coaches' strategy is, with the senior limit being raised to 17 now. I'd absolutely want them to spend up until 15 mastering basic skating and getting triples up until 3A down, before participating in the JGP and possibly training quads.

It's good to see Rena being a wonderful skater, but I don't see why she or someone like her would want to spend 3-4 years in juniors compulsorily.

Under 15 in general or Japanese skaters under 15?

I don't think that most coaches and federations would agree with the idea of keeping a very good 13 year old out of international competitions, especially JGPs, simply because they're going to have to spend 4 years in juniors with the new age rules. That competition experience is invaluable for their development as skaters.

 

[On My Own]

Under 15 in general or Japanese skaters under 15?

All.

And I don't agree with you, necessarily. A 13 year old from Slovakia maybe would benefit from opportunities because there simply aren't all those many in Slovakia. But a 13 year old from Japan has many, many opportunities within Japan, against world class skaters to boot, and they don't really need to go out already at the age of 13, as Uezono did.

If this rule change doesn't encourage better coaching practices, then there will have been no point to it. Japan very much was one the countries that was already teaching rather young girls those big jumps, as much as people like to pretend Russia is alone.

 

[Karen-W]

All.

And I don't agree with you, necessarily. A 13 year old from Slovakia maybe would benefit from opportunities because there simply aren't all those many in Slovakia. But a 13 year old from Japan has many, many opportunities within Japan, against world class skaters to boot, and they don't really need to go out already at the age of 13, as Uezono did.

If this rule change doesn't encourage better coaching practices, then there will have been no point to it. Japan very much was one the countries that was already teaching rather young girls those big jumps, as much as people like to pretend Russia is alone.

Sure, Jan. Except that's not true. There are always going to be 1-2 really young girls who go for the quads and 3As far too young - see Kalin in the USA; the Kim twins in Korea; but it's not happening at the levels in Japan, Korea, the USA or Canada as it was happening in Russia. The ratio of pre-pubescent female skaters attempting quads & 3As in Russia far outpaced that of any other country; and it was ONLY happening in the women's discipline - the ratio of men attempting quads & 3As in Russia was similar to that of Japan, the USA & Canada and, additionally, the age at which the boys/men started attempting that level of difficulty in each of those countries was similar. What was happening in Russia with the women's discipline was unnatural and abnormal.

 

[On My Own]

Except that's not true.

Rika Kihira, Mao Shimada (both from the same camp, at that), Alysa Liu, Mia Kalin. Kihira and Liu seem to have even got injured due to them.

Mao Asada and Miki Ando, of the past ones. Yukari Nakano landed her first 3A at 2002 Skate America, so I would guess she trained it before then. In 2006, Irina Slutskaya of all people was propping up her "maturity" against Asada.

I did not compare "rates" and I find the argument of comparing "rates" to be ridiculous, because what precisely is different between all these skaters and the Russian ones? The Japanese girls had/have stronger basic skating, but none of them apart from Ando had/has particularly amazing technique on their jumps.

 

[HaNguyen]

I really hated Mark Hanretty saying in his skating commentary that the quad jumps in the future may be required for junior women, based strictly on Mao Shimada and that other European skater. Bah!

 

[japanice]

[ICE TIME] Kaoruko Wada Stuns Rena Uezono to Win in Junior Grand Prix Debut | SportsLook

Wada grabbed a nearly three-point lead over Uezono in the short program and pulled away to win the Junior Grand Prix competition in the Czech Republic.

featured.japan-forward.com

 

[Frau Muller]

Wada is the best new young Japanese woman I’ve seen in a long time. She has a divine floating style. It’s a joy to see every aspect of her jumps from take-off to landing. Smooth!

 

[YukiNieve]

Mao Rink, Mao Asada's project to provide more skating opportunities for all levels of skaters, will open sometime in November in Tokyo this year and its website has just been launched.

It has two rinks, training facilities, a restaurant with outdoor seating, a gallery, a shop and a studio.

It will have public sessions, hourly rentals and it can also hold ice shows.

MAO RINK - こどもから大人まで楽しめるスケートリンク -

地域の方々など沢山の人々が集えるような笑顔溢れるスケートリンク。 11月秋にオープン予定。「将来世界で活躍できるスケーターを育てたい。子どもたちから大人まで、幅広い世代の方々にスケートを楽しんでいただきたい。」という想いのもとつくられました。

maorink.com