Seizing the moment, Mao Shimada had a stunning performance highlighted by a triple axel, a quadruple toe loop and a total of eight clean triple jumps.
Kaori Sakamoto, Mai Mihara and Mana Kawabe sweep the Challenge Cup women's event, while Shun Sato and Sota Yamamoto finish 1-2 in the men's.
Sakamoto and Sato deliver strong performances in their free skate routines to win the Winter National Sports Festival women's and men's events, respectively.
Japan skaters collect four of the six singles medals, placing first and second in both the men's and women's Winter World University Games events.
Kaori Sakamoto headlines the Japanese contingent for the Winter World University Games, a competition her nation has had a lot of success in over the decades.
Ice Time's Jack Gallagher predicts stellar performances from Japan's figure skaters in the new year after collecting a slew of medals at major events in 2022.
The 22-year-old world champion, who won her previous national titles in 2018 and 2021, lands six clean triples and triumphs by more than 13 points.
Opening with a strong double axel, Kaori Sakamoto delighted the crowd with a near-flawless performance to "Rock With U" in her short program.
Yamamoto's promising career was hampered by ankle injuries. Now, "I'm really happy to have the feeling that I'm finally back," he said at the Grand Prix...
The triumph caps an amazing comeback for Mai Mihara, a graduate student at Kobe's Konan University, who missed the entire 2019-20 season due to illness.
Skating to "Rock with U" at the Grand Prix Final, Sakamoto posted a clean scoresheet and received a level four on one of her spins and...
The 2022 world champion is targeting his first Grand Prix Final title this week in Italy. Uno says he'll need a strong performance to achieve his...
