2024-25 Japanese Men's Figure Skating

[figureskatingandrainbows]

National Team
As of Strengthening Athletes page released April 24, athletes may be added or removed based on GP/international assignments or retirement
Special
Yuma Kagiyama (ISU, JSF, GS thread, seeded)
Kao Miura (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
Shun Sato (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
Sota Yamamoto (ISU, JSF, GS thread, seeded)
Rio Nakata** (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
A
Nozomu Yoshioka (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
Tatsuya Tsuboi (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
Shunsuke Nakamura (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
Kazuki Tomono (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
Tsudoi Suto* (ISU, JSF)
B
Koshiro Shimada (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
Takeru Amine Kataise (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
Haru Kakiuchi* (ISU, JSF)
Sena Miyake (ISU, JSF, GS thread)
Seigo Tauchi** (ISU, JSF)
Taiga Nishino** (ISU, JSF)
Daiya Ebihara** (ISU, JSF)
Sena Takahashi**
Other Skaters
Ryoga Morimoto* (ISU)
Ryusei Kikuchi (ISU)
Shuntaro Asaga
Hayato Okazaki**
Shoma Uno (RETIRED, GS thread)

*denotes likely junior
**denotes junior age-ineligible
--Seeded skaters are the top 3 finishers at Nationals. They automatically qualify for the next years' Nationals. Non-seeded skaters must compete at Regional and Sectional Championships in order to qualify, but may be exempted if an international competition overlaps with Regionals/Sectionals

 

[surimi]

It makes me glad to see 'seeded' next to Sota's name
Does anyone know if retired skaters like Haruya get their funding until a new list is released?

 

[KiraraChin]

Thank you for creating this thread! Just a heads up Sumitada already announced that he is now fully focusing on Pairs so he is no longer competing in singles as of the 2024-25 season.

 

[KiraraChin]

JSF released their funding list for 2024-25

Special Reinforcement Group

Men: Shoma Uno, Yuma Kagiyama, Sota Yamamoto, Kao Miura, Shun Sato, Rio Nakata

Group A

Men: Kazuki Tomono , Tatsuya Tsuboi, Nozomu Yoshioka, Shunsuke Nakamura, Tsudoi Suto

Group B

Men: Sena Miyake, Koshiro Shimada, Takeru Amine Kataise, Haru Kakiuchi, Taiga Nishino, Seigo Tauchi, Daiya Ebihara, Sena Takahashi

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Rio Nakata adds another quad to his arsenal (he's been training a 4S in addition to his 4T) - A 4Lo:

 

[tsuyoboogie]

Possibly OT~

Tomoki Kimura will now be training at Kinoshita Academy
I'm posting about this because I'm SUPER curious about this switch
For anyone unfamiliar with him, he was based in Tokyo, competed in Men's Singles (Junior) but had recently begun searching for an
Ice Dance partner
My initial thought was he might've switched camps after teaming up with Nao Kida but she's no longer listed as a Kinoshita trainee
I could be wrong but I just don't think he would have been accepted to continue in Singles
I'm anticipating a new Dance or Pair team ...Haruna?...Ayumi?

EDIT: Or maybe he'll be Kinoshita Academy's first Solo Dance trainee?

 

[Sai Bon]

Already on The Edge, but but Shoma Uno has retired

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/0ee765931b7e80449a05b52016583a526299e182

Truly the end of an era.

 

[Sai Bon]

Shoma will hold a press conference on the 14th. It will be livestreamed on https://toyotatimes.jp/.

「素晴らしい競技生活を送れたことに感謝」　宇野昌磨がコメント | 毎日新聞

フィギュアスケート男子で世界選手権2022、23年大会を連覇した宇野昌磨選手（トヨタ自動車）が9日、現役引退を発表した。本人のネット交流サービス（SNS）によるコメントは次の通り。

mainichi.jp

 

[rabidline]

Shoma retiring means there's a spot opening up on the Japan Nationals podium and senior Worlds team this season... in his entire senior career he never missed out on making them. I'm interested to see whether it's going to be Shun or Kao (or both) who will make it to senior Nationals podium first, or if Sota and Kazuki will be able to fend them off (and for how long).

(I also checked and apparently Shoma never did Regionals and Sectionals as a senior... sometimes I wish he did them because it's fun but he's always seeded so he never needed them to qualify for Nationals. It's subtle but it has enabled him to do so many summer shows.)

 

[yuumagical]

Shoma retiring means there's a spot opening up on the Japan Nationals podium and senior Worlds team this season... in his entire senior career he never missed out on making them. I'm interested to see whether it's going to be Shun or Kao (or both) who will make it to senior Nationals podium first, or if Sota and Kazuki will be able to fend them off (and for how long).

(I also checked and apparently Shoma never did Regionals and Sectionals as a senior... sometimes I wish he did them because it's fun but he's always seeded so he never needed them.)

Honestly, I think Kao and Shun have momentum and time on their side. Plus, their friendship with Yuma makes all three of them want to end up on the same podium (did this ever happen in their junior days domestically?).

However, if Kazuki and/or Sota are able to hang in there, I would be incredibly proud of them.

And now I'm thinking Koshiro could be a wild card here. Would it be possible for him to get on the podium again?

 

[yuumagical]

Less than an hour away from Shoma's retirement press conference!

 

[KiraraChin]

Shoma retiring means there's a spot opening up on the Japan Nationals podium and senior Worlds team this season... in his entire senior career he never missed out on making them. I'm interested to see whether it's going to be Shun or Kao (or both) who will make it to senior Nationals podium first, or if Sota and Kazuki will be able to fend them off (and for how long).

Honestly, I think Kao and Shun have momentum and time on their side. Plus, their friendship with Yuma makes all three of them want to end up on the same podium (did this ever happen in their junior days domestically?).

However, if Kazuki and/or Sota are able to hang in there, I would be incredibly proud of them.

It's going to be interesting for sure. Yuma is probably untouchable now as their top man, but the remaining four are not too far away from each other in terms of scoring range.

I think JSF has made clear that they want their 'new generation' - Kao and Shun - joining Yuma as the Worlds/Olympics team. However, ice is slippery and a lot depends on managing to peak/stay injury-free at the right time. In that sense, historically Kazuki tends to manage himself really well and peak later in the Olympic cycle, and we can't dismiss Sota who has been steadily growing in confidence. There are dark horses too, like Koshiro or Tatsuya...

So my question is, will JSF get what they want, or will someone/something put a spanner in their works?

 

[rabidline]

So my question is, will JSF get what they want, or will someone/something put a spanner in their works?

They already got what they want IMO with this lineup after Shoma retires. Enough potential in their new generation and yet in case of worst case scenario of sudden injuries, enough depth with experience at big competitions not to worry about losing spots. Not to compare it to other countries, but I just don't see any of the 4 skaters after Yuma missing the cut off for the Worlds free skate, for example.

 

[KiraraChin]

They already got what they want IMO with this lineup after Shoma retires. Enough potential in their new generation and yet in case of worst case scenario of sudden injuries, enough depth with experience at big competitions not to worry about losing spots. Not to compare it to other countries, but I just don't see any of the 4 skaters after Yuma missing the cut off for the Worlds free skate, for example.

Oh, absolutely. I think my question is, will they get exactly what they want in terms of the composition of the team and who gets what. If they don't, that's when things will get interesting for me - and NGL I'll be laughing because I hate their funny games (no shade to any skater, I just hate JSF with a passion of a thousand suns)

Another interesting thing will be how Yuma will react to being alone at the top. In that sense, the loss of Shoma is immense - Shoma had incredible mental and physical resilience and was always able to hold the fort for the Japanese Men regardless of external circumstances. I'm not saying that Yuma *can't* do that, but it won't be easy, especially considering the sheer physical pressure of catching up to Ilia.

 

[rabidline]

Oh, absolutely. I think my question is, will they get exactly what they want in terms of the composition of the team and who gets what. If they don't, that's when things will get interesting for me - and NGL I'll be laughing because I hate their funny games (no shade to any skater, I just hate JSF with a passion of a thousand suns)

Another interesting thing will be how Yuma will react to being alone at the top. In that sense, the loss of Shoma is immense - Shoma had incredible mental and physical resilience and was always able to hold the fort for the Japanese Men regardless of external circumstances. I'm not saying that Yuma *can't* do that, but it won't be easy, especially considering the sheer physical pressure of catching up to Ilia.

I think in terms of composition of the team for JSF it's like Yuma (the medalist candidate) and whoever can help them secure three spots for the Olympics, which conveniently for them seems to be secure, unless a disaster happened. Then again, they have lost a spot before while Yuzuru was their number one senior skater, so a disaster can happen and has happened before and they should be prepared for that.

Yuma being the de facto number one now do seem to motivate JSF to give Kao and Shun more opportunities or at least not block their opportunities at the big competitions, to not isolate Yuma that much from his local contemporaries. (Right now it feels like Kao is a clear #2 with Shun, Kazuki and Sota fighting for that 3rd spot, but Kao is not yet the #2 Shoma was to Yuzuru back in the days so it's important to him to maintain health and consistency). I can see Nationals result splitting the Worlds / 4CC team to make sure Kao, Shun, Sota and Kazuki all have the chance at a big international championship unless one or two of them did really badly at Nationals.

It should help that again, the top 4 after Yuma seem to be healthy and motivated to compete on an international level, because their consistency can lessen the pressure on Yuma re: the spots. In general this is an ideal situation for JSF, a clear number one to challenge for the Olympic title, and a team + backup team that can challenge for Top 10 in the world. And while I do commend Shoma's determination to keep the spots for Japan, there were some moments where he really shouldn't have been worrying about that. So I hope Yuma doesn't need to be in the position Shoma used to be in.

I think what JSF needs to manage is to avoid a situation where they don't have reliable skaters after their number one. So something like after the 2014 Olympic season where the seniors all retired whether due to injury or some other reason (Machida's retirement comes into mind), and then also a situation where there is zero depth after a very strong top 2 like how it was in 2016-2019. And to be fair to them, not every one can make it to the Worlds team, so there can be some things they do to keep the skaters motivated.

 

[KiraraChin]

Yuma being the de facto number one now do seem to motivate JSF to give Kao and Shun more opportunities or at least not block their opportunities at the big competitions, to not isolate Yuma that much from his local contemporaries. (Right now it feels like Kao is a clear #2 with Shun, Kazuki and Sota fighting for that 3rd spot, but Kao is not yet the #2 Shoma was to Yuzuru back in the days so it's important to him to maintain health and consistency). I can see Nationals result splitting the Worlds / 4CC team to make sure Kao, Shun, Sota and Kazuki all have the chance at a big international championship unless one or two of them did really badly at Nationals.

From they way everyone was scored last season, I'd say JSF is pretty settled on: 1- Yuma 2- Kao 3-Shun, with Sota as a potential back-up if he's doing well. I think they'd rather not have Kazuki around - he's always been dismissed for being 'talentless' in their eyes, and now he's 'old' to boot, a capital offence If they're gonna spread opportunities, they will probably give it to someone like Tatsuya (source: Challenge Cup scoring).

So for me the question isn't so much whether they'll get three spots, because that's a given. It's whether they will be able to get the exact people that they want in those spots, or will something happen to upset these plans.

 

[rabidline]

From they way everyone was scored last season, I'd say JSF is pretty settled on: 1- Yuma 2- Kao 3-Shun, with Sota as a potential back-up if he's doing well. I think they'd rather not have Kazuki around - he's always been dismissed for being 'talentless' in their eyes, and now he's 'old' to boot, a capital offence If they're gonna spread opportunities, they will probably give it to someone like Tatsuya (source: Challenge Cup scoring).

So for me the question isn't so much whether they'll get three spots, because that's a given. It's whether they will be able to get the exact people that they want in those spots, or will something happen to upset these plans.

I think especially without Shoma, Kazuki has value for JSF. It's always good to have someone they know has been stable and won't fully implode at Worlds. They managed to maneuver Kazuki favorably when he did quite well at Worlds 2018, 2022 and 2023, important when the other skater in the team bombs. Kazuki actually is the only one who can best fill the "Worlds veteran" role Shoma had, because Yuma will be the ace. Sota bombed his first Worlds (probably because that's his first big championship in years), Kao did not manage to 100% translate his practice to competition skate at his first Worlds, Shun has never been to Worlds. If any of them showed inconsistency and Kazuki doesn't, he's still in it.

 

[KiraraChin]

I think especially without Shoma, Kazuki has value for JSF. It's always good to have someone they know has been stable and won't fully implode at Worlds. They managed to maneuver Kazuki favorably when he did quite well at Worlds 2018, 2022 and 2023, important when the other skater in the team bombs. Kazuki actually is the only one who can best fill the "Worlds veteran" role Shoma had, because Yuma will be the ace. Sota bombed his first Worlds (probably because that's his first big championship in years), Kao did not manage to 100% translate his practice to competition skate at his first Worlds, Shun has never been to Worlds. If any of them showed inconsistency and Kazuki don't, he's still in it.

I completely agree with you, and it would be the most logical thing, but... sometimes politics trumps logic, and JSF seems pretty committed to their 'Olympic strategy' which they made it clear does not include Kazuki. So, I don't know...

 

[rabidline]

I completely agree with you, and it would be the most logical thing, but... sometimes politics trumps logic, and JSF seems pretty committed to their 'Olympic strategy' which they made it clear does not include Kazuki. So, I don't know...

Yeah I know... but Olympic strategy includes actually securing the spots for the Olympics. I'm sure they don't want a situation like when Satoko got injured before 2017 Worlds, leaving them with no senior Worlds veteran except Rika Hongo and they lost an Olympic spot because of that.

I understand your perspective, and to be honest I just looked forward to Kazuki's GP assignments + Nationals, and anything else would be a bonus. He is a great skater to have around competitively, and he inspires in a different way than others do. So I hope you can enjoy his competitive days without stressing too much about factors he can't control.

 

[TallyT]

sometimes politics trumps logic...

With JSF, politics always trumps everything else.