Following last month's dramatic national championships in Nagano, where Miki Ando won her first title in six years and Takahiko Kozuka broke through for his inaugural victory in a major senior competition, Japan will send a loaded squad to next month's Four Continents Championship in Taipei.
In keeping with the pattern of recent years, the Japan Skating Federation has opted to send five of the six singles skaters who represented Japan at the Vancouver Games to Taiwan. This is to keep them sharp and avoid a long layoff between the nationals and world championships in March in Tokyo.
World champion Mao Asada, who finished second at the nationals after a poor Grand Prix season, will head a ladies contingent that will include Ando and Akiko Suzuki. The same trio competed at the Olympics in Canada last February.