Shoma Uno took a narrow lead Thursday after the men's short program at the Four Continents Championships.
Uno, who is fresh off winning his second consecutive national title in December, scored 100.49 points to take a 0.32 lead ahead of China's Jin Boyang. Keiji Tanaka finished third with 90.68 points, beating his personal best by 3.49.
Takahito Mura, who won the championship in 2014, had a disappointing run with 76.66 and stands in 10th at the event, which is open to skaters from Asia, Africa, the Americas and Oceania.
"I wonder how much I can recover in the free skate," Mura said. "I want to go forward with positive thinking."
Rounding out the top five, Jason Brown of the United States received 89.78 points and China's Yan Han finished with 84.74.
In the ice dance competition, Japan's Kana Muramoto and Chris Reed made the podium for the first time at the championship, taking third behind Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker of the United States. Misato Komatsubara and Tim Koleto were 10th and Rikako Fukase and Aru Tateno finished 11th.
Muramoto said she gained some confidence after having the best short dance and free dance skates of their career so far. The pair, who claimed their third straight title at December's nationals, will represent Japan in the ice dance at February's Pyeongchang W inter Olympicss.
"I'd like to have a performance that can bring a medal home for Japan," the 24-year-old Muramoto said.
Satoko Miyahara, Kaori Sakamoto and Mai Mihara, who placed 1-2-3 in the standings after the women's short program on Wednesday, will compete in the free skate on Friday, after the pairs' free program.
