All-Japan Figure Skating Championships Always Deliver Excitement and Emotion on Par with Top International Events — A Look Back at the 2024 All-Japan Figure Skating Championships — Part one ladies

On December 22, 2024, the 93rd All-Japan Figure Skating Championships concluded successfully at Towa Pharmaceutical RACTAB Dome in Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture, wrapping up the competition amid awe and emotion. As the Olympic season approaches, the athletes and the skating federation are both facing numerous decisions and challenges. We'll be focusing on Japan's two most competitive events—the men's singles and women's singles—in this article.

Following the retirement of six-time national champion Shoma Uno, the spotlight naturally shifted to the new generation of rising star skaters, intensifying the competition within the men's singles. As world champion Ilia Malinin, makes continuous progress, difficulty has simultaneously increased for Japanese male skaters to reach the top in international competitions. Meanwhile, on the women's side, Kaori Sakamoto aimed for her fifth title, while the rest of the field have their eyes on breaking through the difficulty barrier of the notorious triple Axel jump (3A). Many strong contenders set their sights on surpassing the 200-point mark—an achievement worthy of a Grand Prix Series podium finish.

This National session became an ideal stage for skaters to showcase their ambition and capability. In the senior or junior divisions alike, every participant yearned to prove that the gap between Japanese figure skating and the world's best is truly narrowing.

Although the champion Yuma Kagiyama completed the event with a smile and Kaori Sakamoto successfully defended her title by a narrow margin, soaring expectations and mounting pressure had caused skaters competing in the Grand Prix Series and vying for World Championship spots to falter, falling short of their potential—a stark contrast to last year's Nationals. In comparison, the junior skaters demonstrated both dedication and talent, proving they have the strength to carry the future.

In this competition, the ages of the men's singles skaters ranged from 14 to 37, and the women's singles from 14 to 29, clearly reflecting the flourishing talent of the figure skating sport in Japan.

Kaori Sakamoto: The Five-Time Queen Keeps Strengthening

The three-time consecutive World Champion, Kaori Sakamoto has all but secured a spot in the World Championships due to her outstanding performance in this season's Grand Prix Series. She therefore focused more on whether she can achieve her fifth national title at the All-Japan Championships.

In the Short Program, Sakamoto wore a striking red costume radiating passion. She opened with a double Axel jump connected by a deep back-leaning entry step, executed with excellence. As the tempo of Piazzolla's tango music accelerated, she displayed her strength in gliding and stable jumps, smoothly completing the entire routine. The free skating program, inspired by the film Chicago, continued her collaboration with renowned choreographer Marie-France Dubreuil. The program featured dense and complex transitions, leaving virtually no room to catch her breath, resulting in a seamless performance. The overall difficulty of the routine—including its technical density and dynamic movement — was exceptional, so are the level of skating skill and stamina required genuinely as astonishing.

Sakamoto claimed the championship with a total score of 228.68, from the days when the girl performed to Amélie, she has now fully transformed into a true queen.

Mao Shimada: A Soaring Challenger of Youth

Mao Shimada, the two-time World Junior Champion, is ineligible to compete in the upcoming World Championships and the 2026 Winter Olympics due to age restrictions. Yet this has in no way diminished her determination to push the limits. With her triple Axel jump(3A) now consistent, her next goal is to improve the success rate of the quadruple toe loop jump(4T). Just like the title of her short program, Defying Gravity, this young skater continues to jump higher, spin faster, and showcase a growing depth of character, with the joy of skating woven throughout her performance.

Shimada strategically places the I-spin combination at the end of her program, where it accelerates with the music before halting abruptly—where she shines with brilliance of her exquisite spinning technique, nearly magically .

Her free skating, View from the Window, is set to the music inspired by seasonal Japanese haiku, expressing the delicate emotions among changing seasons. As she matures, she demonstrates an increasing ability to master diverse musical styles. Even with an under-rotated 3A and a fall on the 4T, she delivered a composed and stable performance afterward. Her serene smile conveyed the spirit of youth, drawing the audience into a poetic vision on ice. She finished in second place with a total score of 219.00.

Wakaba Higuchi: A Glorious Comeback from the Depths

Wakaba Higuchi, who only placed 12th last season, made a brilliant comeback this season by winning gold and silver in her two Grand Prix events, and now claimed the bronze medal with a strong total score of 206.40.

Her short program, Dune, from a space opera film, created an atmosphere interwoven with sci-fi and mystery. Her piercing gaze at the beginning, full of dramatic tension, set the tone for the performance. She landed the double Axel jump and triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination successfully, with large, expansive dance movements and high-speed skating that radiated both power and elegance—a perfect balance of masculinity and feminine grace.

Her free skating featured two musical pieces: Nature Boy, telling a story of a mysterious and wise boy who gains strength through love; and Running Up That Hill, one of the closing songs of the 2012 London Olympics, performed by Kate Bush, is emotionally intense, with a free and unrestrained voice that transcends verbal and emotional barriers. Although Higuchi popped a triple Salchow jump, the rest of her jumps were executed cleanly. Her speedy skating and deep edge control, combined with expressive step sequences, drew the audience into the artistic world she's created.

Higuchi's physical expressiveness was profound—her facial expressions were fully engaged, and even her fingertips seemed to speak. With her commanding presence that went beyond merely completing a choreography, she led the performance with her own inner light, offering an artistic interpretation that surpasses the boundaries of structured movement.

Mone Chiba: A Shining Talent on the Rise

In her final junior season, Mone Chiba competed in Four Continents Figure Skating Championships and won a bronze medal as a senior competitor. During the 2023-2024 senior Grand Prix season, she earned a silver medal at the Japan National Championships and claimed gold at the Four Continents Championships. With her rapidly emerging talent, Chiba eagerly participated in the Grand Prix Final (GPF) this season and won the silver medal. Mone Chiba has become one of the most anticipated stars in the sport.

Chiba was ranked third after the short program. However, her free skating was somewhat constrained, and she made three major errors, including a fall. As a result, her elegant and classical program placed only seventh in the free skating, and she finished fourth overall with a total score of 205.69.