The battle for the two women's spots on Japan's team for the Pyeongchang Olympics began in earnest over the weekend as Marin Honda and Wakaba Higuchi participated in Challenger Series events on opposite sides of the globe. Honda was sensational in her senior debut, winning ...
This was more like it. After consecutive weeks of bringing home a solitary bronze medal, Mitsuki Sumoto gave Japan its first gold of the Junior Grand Prix season with a comeback victory at the Latvia JGP in Riga on Saturday, while Rika Kihira collected a ...
Mako Yamashita's favorite color appears to be bronze. Or maybe the number she likes best is three. It sure seems that way on both counts. For the third straight Junior Grand Prix in the past two seasons, the 14-year-old earned the bronze medal when she finished third ...
Riko Takino, a 15-year-old from Osaka, gave Japan its first medal of the Junior Grand Prix campaign with a bronze at the season-opener in Brisbane, Australia, over the weekend. Takino was third after the short program, and maintained that position to earn a spot on ...
Earlier this month veteran skater Daisuke Murakami competed in and won the club competition at the Philadelphia Summer International in Aston, Pennsylvania. That was good news for the 26-year-old Murakami, who missed nearly all of last season with a broken right foot. Murakami, who is ...
Japanese skaters dominated at the Asian Open Trophy last week in Hong Kong in the first event of the long Olympic season. How comprehensive were the victories for the Hinomaru? Japan swept the titles in the senior women (Kaori Sakamoto), senior men (Keiji Tanaka), junior women ...
Fasten your seat belt. Stow your baggage underneath the seat in front of you. Put your seat and tray table in the upright position. It's time for takeoff of the Olympic season. That's right, it may be the middle of the summer, but the road to Pyeonchang begins ...
One of the benefits of covering skating for many years has been the high caliber of people I have continually come in contact with. Skaters, coaches, choreographers, executives and parents, they almost always seem to be open and approachable. The latest example came recently when ...
The annual release of the Grand Prix assignments by the ISU traditionally signals the start of the new skating campaign. It came last Friday, so the Olympic season has officially begun. With Yuzuru Hanyu being both the defending Olympic and world champion, Shoma Uno having ...
It is rare for an athlete to make history the first time they embark on a new level in their career. Usually they settle in, bide their time, and work their way up. But one aspiring Japanese skater has a different plan for the upcoming ...
Yuzuru Hanyu's greatness is unquestioned. Olympic champion, world champion, holder of multiple world records, he is quickly becoming the giant of his generation. Now the 22-year-old is planning for the future and examining how he can improve even more. Speaking to the media after his winning ...
The news hit Japan and the skating world like a thunderbolt last Monday night when Mao Asada announced she was retiring from the sport. A true giant was departing. There was no other way to put it. The three-time world champion decided it was time to ...
