The 1997–1998 Japan Figure Skating Championships were the 66th Japan Figure Skating Championships

Japan Figure Skating Championships

The Japan or All-Japan Figure Skating Championships are a figure skating national championship held annually to determine the national champions of Japan. Skaters compete in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies singles, pair skating, and ice dancing, although not every discipline has been held...

 to be held. They were held in Kobe

Kobe

, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...

 from December 12-14 , 1997. National Champions were crowned in the disciplines of men's singles

Single skating

Single skating is a discipline of figure skating, wherein a single person skates alone. Men's singles and ladies' singles are both Olympic disciplines and are both governed by the International Skating Union. The other Olympic figure skating events are pair skating and ice dancing...

, ladies singles

Single skating

Single skating is a discipline of figure skating, wherein a single person skates alone. Men's singles and ladies' singles are both Olympic disciplines and are both governed by the International Skating Union. The other Olympic figure skating events are pair skating and ice dancing...

, Pair skating

Pair skating

Pair skating is a figure skating discipline. International Skating Union regulations describe pair teams as consisting of "one lady and one man." The sport is distinguished from ice dancing and single skating by elements unique to pair skating, including overhead lifts, twist lifts, death spirals,...

, and ice dancing

Ice dancing

Ice dancing is a form of figure skating which draws from the world of ballroom dancing. It was first competed at the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, but did not become a Winter Olympic Games medal sport until 1976....

. As well as crowning the national champions of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 for the 1997–1998 season, the results of this competition were used to help pick the teams for the 1998 Winter Olympic Games and the 1998 World Figure Skating Championships

1998 World Figure Skating Championships

The 1998 World Figure Skating Championships were the World Figure Skating Championships of the 1997-1998 season. Elite senior-level figure skaters from ISU Member Nations competed for the title of World Champion...

.

Men

Rank	Name	TFP	SP	FS
1	Yamato Tamura Yamato Tamura is a Japanese figure skater who competed in both singles and pairs. As a single skater, he is a two-time Japanese national champion. He represented Japan at the 1998 Winter Olympics, placing 17th...	2.5	3	1
2	Naoki Shigematsu Naoki Shigematsu is a Japanese retired figure skater who currently works as a coach. He is a four-time Japanese national silver medalist and the 1994 World Junior silver medalist. He placed 23rd at the 1995 World Figure Skating Championships...	2.5	1	2
3	Yousuke Takeuchi	6.0	6	3
4	Seiichi Suzuki Seiichi Suzuki is a Japanese figure skater. He is the 1995 World Junior bronze medalist and Japanese national bronze medalist. He graduated from Meiji University....	6.0	2	5
5	Makoto Okazaki Makoto Okazaki is a Japanese figure skater. He is the 1997 and 2002 Japanese national bronze medalist. He retired from competitive skating following the 2001-2002 season and now works as a coach.He is an ISU Technical Specialist for Japan.-Results:-External links:...	7.5	7	4
6	Taijin Hiraike	8.0	4	6
7	Shouhei Nagata	9.5	9	7
8	Takashi Yamamoto	13.0	10	8
9	Shin Amano Shin Amano in Tokyo, Japan is a Japanese pair skater who is now a coach and ISU Technical Specialist. Competing with Marie Arai, he placed 20th in the 1998 Winter Olympic Games. They also won the Japan Figure Skating Championships by 1995...	13.5	9	9
10	Masashi Takagi	15.5	11	10
11	Naoki Moriyama	16.0	8	12
12	Junichi Takemura	19.0	16	11
13	Yutaka Tsuru	19.0	12	13
14	Isao Matsuura	22.0	14	15
15	Gaku Aiyoshi	22.5	17	14
16	Hironori Iizuka	22.5	13	16
17	Daisuke Watanabe Daisuke Watanabe is a Japanese video game scenario writer that has been an employee of Square Enix since September, 1998. He is mostly known for his work on the role-playing video game series Final Fantasy and the action role-playing video game series Kingdom Hearts....	24.5	15	17
18	Takeo Ogasawara	27.5	19	18
19	Masamichi Ogiwara	29.0	18	20
20	Takeshi Shirasaka	30.5	23	19
21	Yusuke Hayashi	31.5	21	21
22	Kazuya Kishida	32.0	20	22
23	Youga Akiyama	34.0	22	23
24	Yukihiro Matsumura	36.0	24	24

Ladies

Rank	Name	TFP	SP	FS
1	Shizuka Arakawa Shizuka Arakawa is a Japanese figure skater.She is the 2006 Olympic Champion in Ladies Singles and the 2004 World Champion. Arakawa is the first Japanese skater to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating and the second Japanese skater to win any Olympic medal in figure skating, after Midori Ito, who won silver...	2.0	2	1
2	Fumie Suguri Fumie Suguri is a Japanese figure skater. She is a five-time Japanese National Champion, a three-time World Championship medalist, a three-time Four Continents Champion and the 2003-2004 Grand Prix Final Champion.-Personal life:Suguri was born in Chiba, Chiba, Japan...	2.5	1	2
3	Rena Inoue Rena Inoue is an American pair skater. With partner John Baldwin, she is the 2004 and 2006 U.S. National Champion. Inoue previously competed for Japan as both a single skater and pair skater. Inoue and Baldwin are the first skaters to perform a throw triple axel in competition.-Personal life:Rena Inoue was...	5.5	3	4
4	Hanae Yokoya Hanae Yokoya is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 1995 Japanese national champion. Her highest placement at the World Figure Skating Championships was 10th, which she achieved in 1995 and 1996. She retired from competitive skating following the 1998-1999 season. She currently works as a coach.-Competitive...	6.0	6	3
5	Yuka Kanazawa	7.0	4	5
6	Kanako Takahashi	8.5	5	6
7	Hanae Tsuji	12.0	10	7
8	Mami Egawa	12.0	8	8
9	Yukiko Kawasaki Yukiko Kawasaki is a Japanese figure skater who competed in both singles and pair skating. As a pair skater, she competed with Alexei Tikhonov for Japan. They are two-time Japanese national champions and won the bronze medal at the 1993 NHK Trophy...	13.5	9	9
10	Asa Okuyama	16.0	12	10
11	Shino Suzuki	16.5	7	13
12	Tomoko Ito	17.5	13	11
13	Hiroko Inaba	17.5	11	12
14	Yumi Fujino	21.0	14	14
15	Chiaki Saika	23.5	17	15
16	Hitomi Suzuki	25.0	16	17
17	Michiko Otsuka	26.5	15	19
18	Tomomi Sano	27.5	23	16
19	Keiko Yamamuro	30.0	24	18
20	Kumi Iwaki	30.0	18	21
21	Hiroko Sekine	30.5	21	20
22	Rina Sasaki	32.0	20	22
23	Noriko Kinoshita	32.5	19	23
24	Mamiko Yamai	35.0	22	24

Pairs

Rank	Name	TFP	SP	FS
1	Makiko Ogasawara / Takeo Ogasawara	1.5	1	1

Ice Dancing

Rank	Name	TFP	CD+OD	FD
1	Nakako Tsuzuki Nakako Tsuzuki is a Japanese retired ice dancer. She is a multiple Japanese national champion and national medalist with four partners. She has competed with Kazu Nakamura, Yuri Razguliaiev, Rinat Farkhoutinov, and Kenji Miyamoto. She retired following the 2005/2006 season....  / Rinat Farkhoutdinov Rinat Farkhoutdinov Rinat Farkhoutdinov is a Russian ice dancer who competed internationally for Japan. With partner Nakako Tsuzuki, he is a three-time Japanese national champion and competed three times at the Four Continents and World Championships. They were unable to compete during the latter half of the...	1.5	1	1
2	Nozomi Watanabe Nozomi Watanabe is a Japanese ice dancer. she regularly dances with Akiyuki Kido. They are the three time Japanese national champions. They placed 15th at the Torino Olympics.-Results:-External links:*...  / Akiyuki Kido Akiyuki Kido is a Japanese ice dancer. He competes with Nozomi Watanabe. They are the three time Japanese national champions. They placed 15th at the Torino Olympics.-Results:-External links:*...	3.0	2	2
3	Aya Hatsuta / Kouichi Suyama	6.0	3	3
4	Hiromi Irie / Norihiro Muto	6.5	5	4
5	Yuko Kato / Naohisa Kato	7.0	4	5