Miki Ito, who won the silver medal in women's dual moguls at the recently concluded World Freestyle Skiing Championships, took the women's moguls title at the national championships on Saturday.
Ito claimed her first title with a score of 24.06, finishing ahead of defending champion and Nagano Olympic gold medalist Tae Satoya, who came second with 23.62, at the Hakuba Sanosaka ski resort.
Ito's victory came a week after she booked a ticket to next year's Vancouver Winter Olympics after finishing runnerup to compatriot Aiko Uemura at the world championships in Inawashiro, Fukushima Prefecture.
Uemura, who captured two golds at worlds, is not competing in the national championships.
In men's action, Nobuyuki Nishi, who also has won a berth for the Vancouver Games, emerged as the winner with 25.65 points for his first national title.
Ishida places third
TRONDHEIM , Norway (Kyodo) Masako Ishida claimed third place in a women's 30-km classical cross country World Cup race on Saturday.
Ishida timed 1 hour, 25 minutes, 34.2 seconds to finish behind Slovenia's Petra Majdic, who was first in 1:25:22.2, and runnerup Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland, who was second in 1:25:33.9.
Ishida was the second Japanese cross country skier to make a World Cup podium finish following Madoka Natsumi, who came third in a women's sprint event race last February.