Japanese figure skaters capture three gold medals in Ontario, including Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara's historic title in the pairs competition.
Sakamoto outscored Isabeau Levito and Amber Glenn for a successful start to her season. Japanese compatriot Kao Miura earned the silver in the men's event.
Japanese skaters secured half of the combined 12 total spots for the men's and women's singles competitions for December's JGP Final in Turin.
With her dazzling win, Nakai clinched a spot in the JGP Final, and Kataise, making his long-awaited circuit debut, impressed with his jump landings.
The Japanese teenagers placed first and second, respectively, in the women's competition in Gdansk. Shimada also secured a spot in December's JGP Final.
Kihira has now qualified for December’s Japan Championships. Elsewhere, the ISU is juggling venues and Russia’s Valieva is back on the ice in a new program.
Men’s runner-up Rio Nakata and women’s bronze medalist Ami Nakai were emotional when their free skate scores were shown during their JGP debuts.
Mao Shimada and Nozomu Yoshioka won the women’s and men’s titles, respectively, to headline Japan’s stellar showing in Ostrava.
Cooped up at home during the pandemic, Carla Grissom became enamored with Hanyu’s skating style and personality while watching videos online.
The achievements by the Japanese skaters, all of whom are coached by Mie Hamada, were especially noteworthy, as all four medalists made their JGP debuts.
Yuzuru Hanyu and Shoma Uno both wore her costumes at the Pyeongchang Olympics, a reminder of Ito’s gravitas in her chosen field.
The 22-year-old Yamamoto landed three clean quadruple jumps and five triples en route to victory in Japan’s biggest summer competition.