Team Japan

[Anni]

New article about Kaori

 

 

[sweetwater]

56 minutes ago, Anni said:

New article about Kaori

 

 

The new program mentioned in the article is her FP, the one Richaud had already choreographed for her earlier in the off-season though she didn't debut it in the summer competition. (She skated The Piano instead.) She is planning to include the 3A in the FP.

[Anni]

8 minutes ago, sweetwater said:

The new program mentioned in the article is her FP, the one Richaud had already choreographed for her earlier in the off-season though she didn't debut it in the summer competition. (She skated The Piano instead.) She is planning to include the 3A in the FP.

 

 

Thank you so much @sweetwater for the info.

[EisElle]

noooooo I wanted recycled The Piano nuooooo

good luck to Kaori for new Free, I didn't love Kaorix (contrary to many) but it had its iconic moments, so I hope she inspired Benoit something at least as good for oly season.

About 3A... tbh I'm doubtful on the chances of a cleanly rotated &somewhat reliable 3A at this stage. idk, it looks very hard. It would be great if she succeeded though, the BV increase from a single 3A isn't much but it could still compensate for some selective edge call on her Lz. But only if she can rotate it semi-cleany and execute the rest of the program.

[Melodie]

Some upcoming international comps for Team Japan

 

CS Cup of Austria

 

Sena Miyake

Lucas Tsuyoshi Honda

Mana Kawabe

Wakaba Higuchi

Tomoe Kawabata

Subs: Sota Yamamoto, Yuhana Yokoi

 

CS Warsaw Cup

 

Sota Yamamoto

Koshiro Shimada

Yuhana Yokoi

Mai Mihara

Kana Muramoto/Daisuke Takahashi

Subs: Lucas Tsuyoshi Honda, Sena Miyake, Mana Kawabe, Tomoe Kawabata

 

Golden Spin of Zagreb

 

Hana Yoshida (in junior women, not CS)

 

Universiade

 

Sumitada Moriguchi

Taichiro Yamakuma

Hina Takeno

Rinka Watanabe

(Subs: Kazuki Kushida, Shiika Yoshioka, Yuna Aoki)

Note: Rescheduled Universiade takes place directly before Japan Nationals.

 

https://twitter.com/figureskatingm1/status/1440887265887023110

 

[airi]

Oh suddenly I feel I have to go to Warsaw :0 (if spectators are still allowed on comps in Poland)

[surimi]

Sota in Warsaw, my dream came true 

And Taichiro at Universiade ^ ^ Go, Onsen Club!

[sweetwater]

Praying the situation will be good enough for all the skaters to travel and compete 

 

By the way, this is the documentary film whose OST Richaud used for Kaori's FP. It took a while to recall, but I have seen Kaori skating to the music starts from around the 00:48 mark in The Ice this year.

 

[Kizuna]

Clip of Kaori's FP at The Ice 2021.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUAdEUcpFw4/

[sweetwater]

14 minutes ago, Kizuna said:

Clip of Kaori's FP at The Ice 2021.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUAdEUcpFw4/

Thank you for the video! 

[Paskud]

Chubu
senior men SP
both will qualify to West Sectional

1. Sota Yamamoto  81.71
4s 3a(shaky) FCSp3 3f3t CSSp* StSq2 CCoSp4

Spoiler

https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4685031663403030

 

2. Kimichika Wada  41.98
3lz(step out) 3t3t<(fall) CSSp2 StSq2(stumbles) FCSp1 2a(step out) CCoSp2V

protocols
https://www.jsfresults.com/National/2021-2022/fs_j/block4/data0103.pdf

[sweetwater]

Interview with Sota Yamamoto (*given before Chubu Regionals)

https://4years.asahi.com/article/14445013

 

A rough translation:

Spoiler

It was tough to train alone

 

The pre-Beijing season for Yamamoto was full of worries. He took a leave of absence from the university to focus on figure skating. He moved his training base to Osaka and switched to a new coach. However, that didn't produce results. After nationals held in December 2020, he left the coach and moved his training base back to Chukyo University's ice rink, and continued training alone while searching for a club to transfer to. 

 

“I had been able to hold on until the middle of last season, but now that I think about it, I started struggling mentally as I went into the second half of the season. My body, mind, and technique gradually stopped coordinating with each other since before the nationals, and I probably could not have gotten over it even until National Sports Festival. At that time, I was overwhelmed by loneliness.”

 

At National Sports Festival held in Nagoya this January, where he represented Aichi, he made multiple errors while doing jumps and placed 18th after SP, which was a surprise. However, he rose to 2nd in the FS and finished 8th in total. Yamamoto contributed to Team Aichi's 3rd place finish together with Ryuju Hino (graduate of Chukyo Univ., retired after 2020-2021 season.)  "I received so much support from Hino senshu in training and competitions as well," he says thankfully.

 

Transfer to Grand Prix Tokai after troubling over for six months

 

"Where should I transfer to?" He could not find the answer for six months. It was in July, the beginning of a new season he finally made a decision. The new training base he chose was Grand Prix Tokai Club where Vancouver 2010 silver medalist Mao Asada, PyeongChang 2018 silver medalist Shoma Uno used to train. He ended up training under coach Machiko Yamada, Mihoko Higuchi, Yuko Hongo.

 

"I was hoping Mihoko sensei to choreograph my programs, but what gave me the final push was my mother's advice." He asked Coach Higuchi to coach him, but her response took him by surprise. "She said, "Do you really want to train with us?" While I was training alone, multiple clubs kindly invited me. Mihoko sensei, on the other hand, doesn't invite skaters but takes on them when asked, and I found it really nice. That was my first impression of her."

 

Although he decided to transfer, he was half in doubt at first. Coach Higuchi is known for choreography, but it wasn't clear in what environment club members train or how the coaching team coach on jumps. "At first, I couldn't have a clear picture in my mind," he says. However, after taking lessons, he started feeling differently. "I thought, "Mihoko sensei is good at teaching." I even wished that I had transferred to this club earlier," he says with a smile.

 

When he practices jumping or does a run-through, the coach checks the filmed jump/performance immediately and gives him feedback sometimes also referring to the videos of two-time-Olympic-gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu ( of ANA,) Patrick Chan (of Canada, retired after 2017-2018 season,) Han Yan (of China,) and well-executed quads done by Yamamoto himself.

 

"Apparently, Mihoko sensei learned how to coach on jumps and things to be careful of doing quads from Coach Ghislain, Hanyu senshu's jump coach, and she passes the knowledge on to me. If I do what I was told, I can execute the jump really nicely." Yamamoto is working on improving the precision of his jumps, paying attention especially to the position of his hip and the angle of his body before take-off and the maintenance of his axis after take-off.

 

A special song presented by Coach Higuchi

 

Coach Higuchi choreographed both his SP and FP. SP music is Yesterday, the Beatles' masterpiece. Coach Higuchi put a special feeling into the program.

 

Yamamoto had been competing on the top level, winning a bronze medal at WJFC2015 and gold at the 2016 Youth Olympics, until he suddenly faced challenges. He fractured his ankle the day he was to leave for WJFC2016 and went through multiple injuries after that. Then he came back having overcome painful rehabilitation and again is competing on the top level.

 

"I heard that Mr. Paul McCartney lost his mother suddenly, and he put his feelings for his mother into this song. I also experienced a sudden setback in my life when I was competing as a top junior skater until yesterday. I went through a difficult time after that, and again I am trying to move forward. That overlaps with the feelings in the song, so Mihoko sensei said, "I want current Sota to skate to this song," and I decided to do my best.”

 

"Me people have never seen"

 

His FP music is Io Ci Saro by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. The coach selected the song from the candidates Sota chose. "Mihoko sensei asked me what I liked about this song, so I explained everything to her. This song has a beautiful melody. I have used piano music several times in the past, and I feel it goes well with my skating." Coach Higuchi agreed with him because she also loved this song.

 

The choreography includes dynamic moves Yamamoto is good at performing, such as spread eagle, Ina Bauer, butterfly. The choreographic sequence placed in the second half where the song reaches its climax would be its highlight. "It has a part/parts in which I can impress the audience with my skating, and it/they is/are blended well into Mihoko sensei's choreography. I think I will be able to present me people have never seen."

 

The FP debut will be at Chubu regionals. It will also be performed at Japan Open next week.

 

----------------------------------

 

*I omitted the first and the last three paragraphs. 
The first paragraph is a super brief summary of this interview. 
The last three paragraphs are about Unlim, a sports gifting service that enables athletes to raise funds from fans to continue competing. Sota signed up for Unlim as he transferred to the new club with the hope of raising funds to cover the expense for the costumes, making programs, and accommodating his trainer during competitions. According to Sota's profile page on Unlim, he is aiming for not only Beijing 2022 but also Mirano Cortina 2026.

 

[Anni]

16 hours ago, sweetwater said:

Interview with Sota Yamamoto (*given before Chubu Regionals)

https://4years.asahi.com/article/14445013

 

A rough translation:

  Hide contents

It was tough to train alone

 

The pre-Beijing season for Yamamoto was full of worries. He took a leave of absence from the university to focus on figure skating. He moved his training base to Osaka and switched to a new coach. However, that didn't produce results. After nationals held in December 2020, he left the coach and moved his training base back to Chukyo University's ice rink, and continued training alone while searching for a club to transfer to. 

 

“I had been able to hold on until the middle of last season, but now that I think about it, I started struggling mentally as I went into the second half of the season. My body, mind, and technique gradually stopped coordinating with each other since before the nationals, and I probably could not have gotten over it even until National Sports Festival. At that time, I was overwhelmed by loneliness.”

 

At National Sports Festival held in Nagoya this January, where he represented Aichi, he made multiple errors while doing jumps and placed 18th after SP, which was a surprise. However, he rose to 2nd in the FS and finished 8th in total. Yamamoto contributed to Team Aichi's 3rd place finish together with Ryuju Hino (graduate of Chukyo Univ., retired after 2020-2021 season.)  "I received so much support from Hino senshu in training and competitions as well," he says thankfully.

 

Transfer to Grand Prix Tokai after troubling over for six months

 

"Where should I transfer to?" He could not find the answer for six months. It was in July, the beginning of a new season he finally made a decision. The new training base he chose was Grand Prix Tokai Club where Vancouver 2010 silver medalist Mao Asada, PyeongChang 2018 silver medalist Shoma Uno used to train. He ended up training under coach Machiko Yamada, Mihoko Higuchi, Yuko Hongo.

 

"I was hoping Mihoko sensei to choreograph my programs, but what gave me the final push was my mother's advice." He asked Coach Higuchi to coach him, but her response took him by surprise. "She said, "Do you really want to train with us?" While I was training alone, multiple clubs kindly invited me. Mihoko sensei, on the other hand, doesn't invite skaters but takes on them when asked, and I found it really nice. That was my first impression of her."

 

Although he decided to transfer, he was half in doubt at first. Coach Higuchi is known for choreography, but it wasn't clear in what environment club members train or how the coaching team coach on jumps. "At first, I couldn't have a clear picture in my mind," he says. However, after taking lessons, he started feeling differently. "I thought, "Mihoko sensei is good at teaching." I even wished that I had transferred to this club earlier," he says with a smile.

 

When he practices jumping or does a run-through, the coach checks the filmed jump/performance immediately and gives him feedback sometimes also referring to the videos of two-time-Olympic-gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu ( of ANA,) Patrick Chan (of Canada, retired after 2017-2018 season,) Han Yan (of China,) and well-executed quads done by Yamamoto himself.

 

"Apparently, Mihoko sensei learned how to coach on jumps and things to be careful of doing quads from Coach Ghislain, Hanyu senshu's jump coach, and she passes the knowledge on to me. If I do what I was told, I can execute the jump really nicely." Yamamoto is working on improving the precision of his jumps, paying attention especially to the position of his hip and the angle of his body before take-off and the maintenance of his axis after take-off.

 

A special song presented by Coach Higuchi

 

Coach Higuchi choreographed both his SP and FP. SP music is Yesterday, the Beatles' masterpiece. Coach Higuchi put a special feeling into the program.

 

Yamamoto had been competing on the top level, winning a bronze medal at WJFC2015 and gold at the 2016 Youth Olympics, until he suddenly faced challenges. He fractured his ankle the day he was to leave for WJFC2016 and went through multiple injuries after that. Then he came back having overcome painful rehabilitation and again is competing on the top level.

 

"I heard that Mr. Paul McCartney lost his mother suddenly, and he put his feelings for his mother into this song. I also experienced a sudden setback in my life when I was competing as a top junior skater until yesterday. I went through a difficult time after that, and again I am trying to move forward. That overlaps with the feelings in the song, so Mihoko sensei said, "I want current Sota to skate to this song," and I decided to do my best.”

 

"Me people have never seen"

 

His FP music is Io Ci Saro by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. The coach selected the song from the candidates Sota chose. "Mihoko sensei asked me what I liked about this song, so I explained everything to her. This song has a beautiful melody. I have used piano music several times in the past, and I feel it goes well with my skating." Coach Higuchi agreed with him because she also loved this song.

 

The choreography includes dynamic moves Yamamoto is good at performing, such as spread eagle, Ina Bauer, butterfly. The choreographic sequence placed in the second half where the song reaches its climax would be its highlight. "It has a part/parts in which I can impress the audience with my skating, and it/they is/are blended well into Mihoko sensei's choreography. I think I will be able to present me people have never seen."

 

The FP debut will be at Chubu regionals. It will also be performed at Japan Open next week.

 

----------------------------------

 

*I omitted the first and the last three paragraphs. 
The first paragraph is a super brief summary of this interview. 
The last three paragraphs are about Unlim, a sports gifting service that enables athletes to raise funds from fans to continue competing. Sota signed up for Unlim as he transferred to the new club with the hope of raising funds to cover the expense for the costumes, making programs, and accommodating his trainer during competitions. According to Sota's profile page on Unlim, he is aiming for not only Beijing 2022 but also Mirano Cortina 2026.

 

 

Thank you @sweetwater for the translation. 

I wish Sota Good luck for his competitions.

[Paskud]

Chubu
senior ladies SP
TOP 11 after FP will qualify to West Sectional

 

1. Rino Matsuike  69.48
3f 2a FCSp3 3lz3t LSp4 StSq3 CCoSp3

Spoiler

https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4685379442507813

 

2. Rin Nitaya  62.20
3f 2a CCoSp4 3lz2t StSq2 FSSp3 LSp3

 

3. Nana Araki  59.59
3lz2t 2a CCoSp4 3lo StSq2 FSSp3 LSp3

 

4. Miyabi Oba  58.29
3s2t 3lo LSp4 FCSp3 2a StSq3 CCoSp4

 

5. Riona Kato  55.88
3lo StSq2 2a CCoSp3 3t2t FCsp4 LSp4

 

6. Mako Yamashita  52.55
3lo 2a FCSp3 3lz<+COMBO(fall) StSq2 SSp2 CCoSp3

 

7. Yuhana Yokoi  51.45
2a 3fq(step out) CCoSp4 1lz*3tq FCSp4 StSq3 LSp4

Spoiler

https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4689730512814137

 

8. Chisato Uramatsu  50.45
3lz!(fall) 2a FSSp3 3f2t<<(2ft) CCoSp4 StSq2 LSp4

 

9. Sarasa Matsuoka  48.35
3t2t 3s FSSp4 CCoSp4 2aq(fall) StSq2 LSp3

 

10. Mao Watanabe  48.01
2f<<* spiral-2a CCoSp4 3t2t StSq3 FCSp4 LSp4

 

11. Maria Kitou  45.50
3t2t 3s(fall) CCoSp4 FCSp2 StSq2 2a SSp4

 

12. Yuka Sakai  44.83
3t3t< 2a FSSp4 2lz* StSq2 LSp4 CCoSp4

 

13. Mayu Kanazawa  43.92
3t2t 3s CCoSp3V FSSp3 2a(step out) StSq2 LSp3   problems with axis

 

14. Emiri Nagata  43.86
3f2t 2a LSp2 3s<(fall) FSSp3 StSq2 CCoSp3

 

15. Akane Watanabe  43.61
1f* FSSp4 2a CSp3 3t2t StSq2 CCoSp4

 

16. Chinatsu Mori  42.90
3sq(fall) 3t<(hangs on)2t FCSp3 StSq2 2a LSp1 CCoSp4
...

 

protocols
https://www.jsfresults.com/National/2021-2022/fs_j/block4/data0203.pdf

[sallycinnamon]

34 minutes ago, Paskud said:

Chubu
senior ladies SP
TOP 11 after FP will qualify to West Sectional

 

1. Rino Matsuike  69.48
3f 2a FCSp3 3lz3t LSp4 StSq3 CCoSp3

 

2. Rin Nitaya  62.20
3f 2a CCoSp4 3lz2t StSq2 FSSp3 LSp3

 

3. Nana Araki  59.59
3lz2t 2a CCoSp4 3lo StSq2 FSSp3 LSp3

 

4. Miyabi Oba  58.29
3s2t 3lo LSp4 FCSp3 2a StSq3 CCoSp4

 

5. Riona Kato  55.88
3lo StSq2 2a CCoSp3 3t2t FCsp4 LSp4

 

6. Mako Yamashita  52.55
3lo 2a FCSp3 3lz<+COMBO(fall) StSq2 SSp2 CCoSp3

 

7. Yuhana Yokoi  51.45
2a 3fq(step out) CCoSp4 1lz*3tq FCSp4 StSq3 LSp4

 

8. Chisato Uramatsu  50.45
3lz!(fall) 2a FSSp3 3f2t<<(2ft) CCoSp4 StSq2 LSp4

 

9. Sarasa Matsuoka  48.35
3t2t 3s FSSp4 CCoSp4 2aq(fall) StSq2 LSp3

 

10. Mao Watanabe  48.01
2f<<* spiral-2a CCoSp4 3t2t StSq3 FCSp4 LSp4

 

11. Maria Kitou  45.50
3t2t 3s(fall) CCoSp4 FCSp2 StSq2 2a SSp4

 

12. Yuka Sakai  44.83
3t3t< 2a FSSp4 2lz* StSq2 LSp4 CCoSp4

 

13. Mayu Kanazawa  43.92
3t2t 3s CCoSp3V FSSp3 2a(step out) StSq2 LSp3   problems with axis

 

14. Emiri Nagata  43.86
3f2t 2a LSp2 3s<(fall) FSSp3 StSq2 CCoSp3

 

15. Akane Watanabe  43.61
1f* FSSp4 2a CSp3 3t2t StSq2 CCoSp4

 

16. Chinatsu Mori  42.90
3sq(fall) 3t<(hangs on)2t FCSp3 StSq2 2a LSp1 CCoSp4
...

 

protocols
https://www.jsfresults.com/National/2021-2022/fs_j/block4/data0203.pdf

 

What happened to Mako and Yuhana? Those are quite low scores...Mako's levels aren't good she didn't have a combo, Yuhana made two mistakes on the jumps