With Japan currently boasting the No. 1 ranked female (Mao Asada) and male (Daisuke Takahashi) figure skaters in the world, The Japan Times will begin a periodic notebook chronicling the latest news and notes on Japanese skaters in the buildup to the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.
During a recent break between skating shows at Shin-Yokohama Arena, Japan Skating Federation director Hidehito Ito held a news conference with several of the nation's top skaters to bring attention to the ongoing crisis facing ice rinks in Japan and launch a "Save The Rinks" campaign that will include petitions and performances.
2006 Olympic champion Shizuka Arakawa, Daisuke Takahashi, five-time national champion Fumie Suguri, Yukari Nakano, and former world bronze medalist Takeshi Honda, attended the May 5 gathering and spoke up on behalf of the JSF's efforts to save rinks in Tsuruga (Fukui Prefecture), Kurashiki (Okayama) and Rinkai (Osaka).