surimi

I hope to see Rino and Sota in Special next year. I can dream. They're great skaters. Rino has been injured so couldn't produce enough results, but I hope Sota takes a good long stern look at himself. Had he not messed up every competitive FS this season, he could have been in Special instead of -or alongside- Kazuki and Miura.

Which Japanese skaters train abroad at the moment? Shoma and Koshiro in Switzerland, Rika, Satoko and Riku/Ryuichi in Canada, and Kana/Daisuke in the US? Is that all?

Thanks! Glad to hear he's not retiring. He doesn't thank Ayumi either in his post, so perhaps the split wasn't exactly amicable. Just guessing though... maybe Japanese ID couples split more formally than what I'm used to seeing from US couples.

So sorry to hear of this split. I had hopes for AyuShin. I assume Ayumi's post means that Shingo's family had some difficulties, or maybe had issues with their partnership? But it's still strange that Ayumi doesn't wish Shingo luck in his future career. I hope he's not retiring, he's super talented. Most Japanese singles cannot match his musicality and expression range. I'd be very sad if he was retiring.

I see. I'd love to see Keiji keep skating for a while yet, because like you, I have been a fan of his since early 2017. But I think pairs would be too much for him. -_- He's shorter than Ryuichi, and throws and lifts would be too much for him I'm afraid. I am wondering about the younger boys like Koshiro or Sena, but they're slender, so posibly they'd not be interested in pairs. Too bad Taichiro Yamakuma isn't planning a pairs career - he's young, tall and sturdier built than most boys on Team Japan. Anyhow, I hope Shoya Ichihashi is still active in pairs?

Any particular reason why you say so? He's had chronic back issues for years, so it's unlikely, but I'd like to see him keep skating. And I hope the JSF send him somewhere yet. Otherwise he'll be out of the world standings altogether before the next season starts, and that would be just sad.

-deleted-

Thanks for posting this! I am surprised to see Keiji and Yuto not there.

I hope other students can still get convenient training times at Chukyo, despite these two megastars coming over to train there. I am worried that they get first dibs when it comes to ice time, and others will be pushed aside to train at night etc. Hope not, but I'm not too sure.

Sorry, I suck so much at telling jumps apart x_x - is that a sequence of two 3A?

lolz... JSF grandpas don't seem to realize that you can't make people love a skater, and you can't create charisma for skaters who lack it. Points aren't what makes a skater a star. That said, we all have our opinions, and mine is that the entire young wunder trio bores me to tears (Kagiyama, Shun, Miura), while there are many out there that love one or more of these, and would consider my own favorites boring. And that's fine. But I still hate politicking.

Well done to the medalists, especially to Mitsuki who is oevrcoming health issues. The costume in the photo is absolutely hideous btw. Maybe by the same designer who did Yuto's ghastly FS costume last year...

wow, Shiika and Marin may not make it to Nats if they underperform in the free also.

Sota in Warsaw, my dream came true And Taichiro at Universiade ^ ^ Go, Onsen Club!

I wonder why that camp is so popular these days, especially among the ladies.

Well for me it's more about fervent wishing than complaining at this point

Finally! JSF are waking up from their slumber, and realizing how far some of the skaters have dropped in world rankings. I'm happy for these three who now have a good chance to earn some WS points. Fingers crossed for Mako and Yuuna, too. And my favorite Tomoe. Now, the ones with 1 GP assignment - Kao, Sota, Yuhana, Mai - also deserve a Challenger, or a B event. Preferrably a challenger to get one more chance to earn a SB. Mai has a solid chance of landing in top 8 at her GP due to a weak field, but I'm not sure about the other three. They have tough fields, especially the boys as Yuhana may compete without two of the Russian ladies present if they don't get visa. Which also means there may be additional Russian men (along with their sky high PCS) at Skate Canada, so... yup, Sota is very much in need of a Challenger to earn points. If JSF can enter these skaters in CS Poland, they should. Except for Kao of course who is at NHK and thus can't go.

^ I sort of understand their reasoning. If Rino is their #3 or first alternate for the OG, then she needs as many chances to rack up points as possible. She also tries to do the 3A so has higher scoring potential. But it's just disappointing to see a 6th place Nats finisher with no international competitions, so I hope they'll reward Mana with a Challenger. Mai would deserve one too, as would Yuhana. Fingers crossed for team Japan sent to Poland and Austria...

He's gone through so many coaching changes during just 1.5 years. I hope he can stay with Higuchi/Yamada at least until he finishes university. Good luck to him.

South America, Korea, Australia and New Zealand merrily competing for points or SB or both despite the pandemic, while dozens of Japanese skaters sit at home preparing for regionals with no feedback from international judges. Thumbs up to the aforementioned countries, but I now really hate JSF.

Thank goodness that at least Satoko got assigned. I hope other skaters will follow. No Koshiro at Lombardia still makes zero sense to me. I see Chinese, Koreans, New Zealanders entered in ACI, and all of them are very cautious countries... Come on, JSF, your singles fields are way deeper! I'll keep my fingers crossed for the poor A-list and B-list skaters. Happy to hear Italy is likely to get the GP. They did well in the past. Does CoC cancellation mean Yudong will need to go to JGP to get a GP spot, or is he guaranteed one senior GP slot?

Oh, my post wasn't aimed at you, I apologize if it came across like that! In retrospect, I probably should have worded it differently. I am sure Japanese fans of lesser known foreign skaters suffer from the same anxiety as mine. I hope you're right in assuming something could be done about getting unlucky skaters back in WS. But there are so many in Nationals top 10 in need of points... plus Mako and the junior boys and girls outside top 10 (who might yet get sent to JGP). I am anxious again to imagine who will be given preference and who will draw the short straw. I feel very regretful that I missed the opportunity to see 2020 Coupe du Printemps, as I am not sure about the prospects of Tomoe and Mitsuki. To what extent they can hope for competitions abroad. Especially since we don't know when and where the pandemic may flare up again, resulting in cancelled JPN participation x_x I see Korean skaters, Australian skaters, Canadian skaters getting assigned to Challengers and/or JGP, just not Japanese ones. (And Chinese ones, but those don't count as their singles fields are not so deep, and they have a Challenger right in their own country). I know JPN OG spots are safe, but their fields are so deep, and the skaters deserve to see the light at the end of the tunnel... So despite the pandemic, I hope at least those who weren't at Worlds 2021, can still get assigned somewhere. Were you referring to Daichi Miyata in the fourth-to-last paragraph? His is a sad story.

As a fan of lesser known JPN skaters, this approach is terrifying for me. Once they're gone from the ISU world standings due to no challengers and no spring competitions, then bye bye international competitions*, and I may never see my favorite skaters again, especially if they're prone to doing well abroad but poorly in Japan. *- someone here said that although Mana placed as high as 6th at Nats, she's not in WS due to no international competitions, and for that reason the JSF won't assign her abroad as they only assign skaters in WS list. Well, and my fave Sota only needs to do poorly at Skate Canada (which isn't too unlikely as it's a hard field) to drop out of WS for good. Maybe the Japanese don't view things so tragically because hey, we can still see our skaters in shows and at local events, and for the guys overseas there are always the biggest stars on GP and WC. But for people like me, watching careers slowly going out and getting limited to forever being stuck with domestic competitions, all due to this no travel rule, is simply crushing.

Sad to see the entry lists. It really looks like JSF have scrapped the Challengers I thought maybe they'd send Shoma and Koshiro as Switzerland is so close, but they haven't. -_-

Results. I thought people outside Japan can't watch the stream, right?