What blade is Yuma Kagiyama wearing? | Golden Skate

What blade is Yuma Kagiyama wearing?

Joined
Dec 6, 2022
I was watching Yuma Kagiyama's free program at the 2023 Lombardia Trophy and noticed he was on blades I didn't recognize--they look like a traditional blade that gets closer to a CA/MKPro Lite shape near the toe (unless I'm crazy? but it really does look like it) and has a triangle cutout on the middle stanchion. And they're obviously for elite-level skating. I can't find anything like it on the sites for JW, MK, Ultima, Step, Eclipse, etc... Out of pure curiosity/compulsion to know everything about skating equipment, does anyone have any idea what they are? Here's the best screenshot I could grab:

F59Bg2LWEAAqLZe
 
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Elija

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 25, 2019
I was watching Yuma Kagiyama's free program at the 2023 Lombardia Trophy and noticed he was on blades I didn't recognize--they look like a traditional blade that gets closer to a CA/MKPro Lite shape near the toe (unless I'm crazy? but it really does look like it) and has a triangle cutout on the middle stanchion. And they're obviously for elite-level skating. I can't find anything like it on the sites for JW, MK, Ultima, Step, Eclipse, etc... Out of pure curiosity/compulsion to know everything about skating equipment, does anyone have any idea what they are? Here's the best screenshot I could grab:

F59Bg2LWEAAqLZe
I believe they are a Japanese brand, but can’t remember the name. Shoma wears them too.
 

rabidline

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 16, 2018
I believe they are a Japanese brand, but can’t remember the name. Shoma wears them too.
The Japanese brand is YS blades, by Yamaichi Special Steel Co., Ltd., a steel company based in Nagoya, Aichi.

I was thinking YS blades as well, but Yuma's blades look different from what they're currently producing and used by the other Japanese skaters (Shoma, Riku and Ryuichi, Kazuki, Kao Miura and Koshiro). But it can be that they're developing a new model with Yuma, since their current default models were also developed by the skaters in the past. Shoma used to use Kozuka blades (the ones Takahiko Kozuka developed) which was made by the same company, but I think he requested further personalization which leads to YS blades creating their own line of blades separate from Kozuka's. Or Yuma can be using Kozuka blades.

As reference, their website: https://yamaichi-hagane.jp/ysblades/
 

rabidline

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 16, 2018
They're definitely YS blades, Yuma made an Instagram post about it a few weeks ago :biggrin:


Ohh!!! Haha, I should have checked his Instagram 😂 It's interesting to see more Japanese skaters starting to use them now.

It does seem to be a new blade model.
 
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