Japanese figure skating 2026-27 season news & updates

[YukiNieve]

Senior GPS Assignments (as of June 16, 2026)

1st France (Oct 23-25):
Men - Kao Miura, Sota Yamamoto
Women - Yuna Aoki, Ami Nakai, Rion Sumiyoshi

2nd Canada (Oct 30-Nov 1):
Men - Rio Nakata, Kazuki Tomono
Women - Saki Miyake, Mao Shimada

3rd China (Nov 6-8):
Men - Kao Miura, Shun Sato
Women - Mone Chiba, Mako Yamashita, Rinka Watanabe
Pair - Yuna Nagaoka/Sumitada Moriguchi

4th US (Nov 13-15):
Men - Sota Yamamoto
Women - Rino Matsuike, Ami Nakai

5th Finland (Nov 20-22):
Men - Kazuki Tomono
Women - Mao Shimada, Rion Sumiyoshi, Rinka Watanabe

6th Japan (Nov 27-29):
Men - Rio Nakata, Shun sato, TBD
Women - Yuna Aoki, Mone Chiba, TBD
Pair - Yuna Nagaoka/Sumitada Moriguchi
Ice Dance -Utana Yoshida/Masaya Morita, TBD, TBD


Junior GPS Assignments (As of June 24, 2026)

1st China (Aug 20-22):
Men - Daiya Ebihara, Hayato Okazaki
Women - Karin Miyazaki, Kaoruko Wada
Ice dance - Ayumi Shibayama/Tomoki Kimura

2nd Latvia (Aug 27-29):
Men - Sena Takahashi
Women - Mei Okada, Kei Yamada

3rd Thailand (Sept 3-5):
Men - Taiga Nishino, Shun Uemura
Women - Sumika Kanazawa, Rena Uezono

4th Turkey (Sept 17-19):
Women - Mayuko Oka

5ht Georgia (Sept 24-26):
TBD

6th Slovenia (Oct 1-3):
Men - Taiga Nishino
Women - Mei Okada

7th Poland (Oct 8-10):
Women - Mayuko Oka

 

[YukiNieve]

Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy 2026- Jakarta, Indonesia (Aug 1-5, 2026)
ISU Website

Men - Tomono Kazuki
Women - Rinka Watanabe, Rion Sumiyoshi
Source: https://deepedgeplus.kyodonews.jp/news/179619/

 

[YukiNieve]

The summer training camp for elite senior skaters is going on in Osaka.
There was an open practice on Saturday (July 3).

Kaori is there to coach Saki Miyake:

Team Kaori Sakamoto｜坂本花織ファンチーム on Instagram: "Kaori was rinkside coaching Saki Miyake at today’s Japan national team training camp! Saki has been working with Kaori twice a week and says her coaching style is much like that of Coaches Nakano and Gra

3,864 likes, 6 comments - teamkaori_sakamoto on July 4, 2026: "Kaori was rinkside coaching Saki Miyake at today’s Japan national team training camp! Saki has been working with Kaori twice a week and says her coaching style is much like that of Coaches Nakano and Graham: passionate, demanding...

www.instagram.com

"Some female skaters beckoned to Kaori to come inside the rink, telling her she could still make a comeback, but Kaori just shook her head while laughing."

 

[YukiNieve]

@AxelQuadruple listed the 2026-27 programs for the senior skaters attending the training camp (in no particular order):

Men
Sota Yamamoto
SP: Tombeau de Vivaldi (Ch: Kana Muramoto)
FS: El Tango de Roxanne (Ch: Kenji Miyamoto)

Kao Miura
SP: Mambo (Ch: Kana Muramoto)
FS: Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde (Ch: Shae-Lynn Bourne)

Kazuki Tomono
SP: That’s It (I’m crazy) (keeps the 2025-26 SP) (Ch: Shae-Lynn Bourne)
FS: It’s A Beautiful Day (Ch: Shae-Lynn Bourne)

Shun Sato
SP: Csárdás of Love (Kenji Miyamoto)
FS: Poeta (Ch: Guillaume Cizeron)

Rio Nakata
SP: Alive (Ch: Shae-Lynn Bourne)
FS: Gladiator ((keeps the 2025-26 FS but revised) (Ch: Misha Ge)

Women
Mao Shimada
SP: Between Two Worlds (CH: Kana Muramoto)
FS: Waloyo Yamoni (Ch: Shae-Lynn Bourne)

Rinka Watanabe
SP: Seven Nation Army (CH: Kana Muramoto)
FS: Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.2, No.3 (CH: Lori Nichol)

Yuna Aoki
SP: TBD (choreography will be done after the camp) (Ch: Kaitlyn Weaver)
FS: Cirque du Soleil "O" "KA" (Ch: Shae-Lynn Bourne)

Saki Miyake
SP: Samba do Brasil (Ch: Misha Ge)
FS: Mary of Nazareth (keeps the 2025-26 FS) (Ch: Misha Ge)

Mako Yamashita
SP: Bring Me to Life (Ch: Noriko Sato)
FS: Bolero (Ch: Akiko Suzuki)

Mone Chiba
SP: 007 Skyfall (Ch: Jeffrey Buttle)
FS: Clair de Lune (Ch: Kaitlyn Weaver)

Ami Nakai
SP: Por Una Cabeza (Ch: Yea-ji Shin)
FS: An American in Paris (Ch: David Wilson)

Rino Matsuike
SP: Under Paris Skies (Ch: David Wilson)
FS: Clair de Lune (Ch: Lori Nichol)

Rion Sumiyoshi
SP: Anything Goes / Let’s Face The Music And Dance (Ch: Massiomo Scali)
FS: Etgernal - Awakening / Humility and Love / Everlasting Light (Ch: Shae-Lynn Bourne)

Source: https://x.com/AxelQuadruple

 

[spin2win]

Entry list for Kinoshita Summer Cup (August 9-12) is published.

Notables I spotted:

Senior men -- Kazuki Tomono, Kao Miura
Senior women -- Mone Chiba, Rinka Watanabe, Yuna Aoki, Mao Shimada, Rion Sumiyoshi, Rino Matsuike, Mana Kawabe, Mako Yamashita
Junior men -- Daiya Ebihara, Sena Takahashi
Junior women -- Rena Uezono, Hana Bath, Mayuko Oka, Mei Okada

https://www.jsfresults.com/local/2026-2027/fs/25/911/attach/25_911_5_20260705220806.pdf

 

[PRlady]

Just curious: why every senior contending woman except Ami Nakai? She’s not injured, I hope.

 

[spin2win]

Just curious: why every senior contending woman except Ami Nakai? She’s not injured, I hope.

I don't think she's injured, see this triple-triple clip from the recent training camp: https://x.com/gorin/status/2073346757006930016?s=20

Not sure what the reason is--maybe didn't want to compete, maybe using time for something else, maybe she is going to CS Cranberry Cup instead?

 

[Evgeniafan]

I don't think she's injured, see this triple-triple clip from the recent training camp: https://x.com/gorin/status/2073346757006930016?s=20

Not sure what the reason is--maybe didn't want to compete, maybe using time for something else, maybe she is going to CS Cranberry Cup instead?

I hope she goes to Cranberry Cup.