Kenji Miyamoto (figure skater)

Kenji Miyamoto
Kenji Miyamoto
	Tsuzuki and Miyamoto in 2003.
Born	November 6, 1978 (age 45); Himeji, Hyōgo
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Japan
Partner	Nakako Tsuzuki, Rie Arikawa
Coach	Muriel Zazoui, Pasquale Camerlengo, Romain Haguenauer
Skating club	Ryukoku University
Began skating	1988
Retired	2006
Medal record
Figure skating: Ice dancing
Representing Japan
Asian Winter Games

Japanese name
Kanji	宮本賢二
Kana	みやもとけんじ

Kenji Miyamoto (宮本賢二, Miyamoto Kenji, born November 6, 1978 in Himeji, Hyōgo) is a Japanese figure skating choreographer, coach, and former competitive ice dancer. He skated with Rie Arikawa, winning two Japanese national titles, and then with Nakako Tsuzuki. During his career, he competed at a total of ten ISU Championships.

Career

Miyamoto began learning to skate in 1988.^[1]

Partnership with Arikawa

He teamed up with Rie Arikawa no later than 1995. After winning the Japanese junior title, they were sent to the 1996 World Junior Championships in Brisbane, Australia, where they finished 22nd. The following season, they placed second at the Japan Junior Championships. They regained their national junior title before placing 16th at the 1998 World Junior Championships in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.

Advancing to the senior ranks, Arikawa/Miyamoto competed at their first Grand Prix events and became the national silver medalists in the 1998–1999 season. They took silver at the Asian Winter Games in South Korea and placed 9th at the 1999 Four Continents Championships in Canada.

In the 2001–2002 season, Arikawa/Miyamoto won their first senior national title and then placed 8th at the Four Continents Championships in Jeonju, South Korea. Making their only World Championships appearance, they qualified to the free dance and finished 24th overall in Nagano, Japan.

Arikawa/Miyamoto repeated as national champions the following season. In February 2003, they won the bronze medal at the Asian Winter Games in Aomori, Japan, and placed 8th at their final competition, the Four Continents Championships in Beijing, China. They were coached by Muriel Zazoui, Pasquale Camerlengo, Romain Haguenauer in Lyon, France.^[2]

Partnership with Tsuzuki

Later in 2003, Miyamoto formed a partnership with Nakako Tsuzuki. During their three-season partnership, they competed together at six Grand Prix events and placed in the top ten at three Four Continents Championships. They were coached by Muriel Zazoui in Lyon, France.^[3]^[4]^[1]

They both retired from competitive skating following the 2005–2006 season.

Post-competitive career

Miyamoto became a choreographer for ice shows and competitive skaters. He has choreographed for Shizuka Arakawa, Daisuke Takahashi, Akiko Suzuki, Yuzuru Hanyu, Choi Da-bin, as well as the figure skating anime Yuri on Ice.

Programs

With Tsuzuki

Season	Original dance	Free dance
2005–2006 ^[1]	Samba Rhumba Mambo	House of Flying Daggers by Shigeru Umebayashi
2004–2005 ^[4]	Charleston Slow foxtrot Quickstep	Tango Quidam (from Cirque du Soleil)
2003–2004 ^[3]	Boogie-woogie Blues Boogie-woogie	The Prince of Egypt by Hans Zimmer

With Arikawa

Season	Original dance	Free dance
2002–2003 ^[2]	Waltz: Aquarellen by Josef Strauss performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Polka	Conan the Barbarian by Basil Poledouris
2001–2002 ^[5]	Tango: Tango del Atardecer by Lalo Schifrin Flamenco: Fiesta de Jerez by Carmen Amaya	Kojiki by Kitarō

Results

GP: Grand Prix

With Tsuzuki

International
Event	03–04	04–05	05–06
Four Continents Championships	9th	8th	8th
GP Cup of Russia	11th		11th
GP NHK Trophy	10th	9th	11th
GP Trophée Éric Bompard		11th
National
Japan Championships	2nd	2nd	2nd

With Arikawa

International
Event	95–96	96–97	97–98	98–99	99–00	00–01	01–02	02–03
Worlds							24th
Four Continents				9th	11th		8th	8th
GP Lalique						12th
GP NHK Trophy				9th	9th		9th	11th
GP Sparkassen					9th
GP Skate America				9th
GP Skate Canada						10th
Asian Games				2nd				3rd
International: Junior
Junior Worlds	22nd		16th
National
Japan				2nd	3rd	3rd	1st	1st
Japan Junior	1st	2nd	1st

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Nakako TSUZUKI / Kenji MIYAMOTO: 2005/2006". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 7, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ ^a ^b "Rie ARIKAWA / Kenji MIYAMOTO: 2002/2003". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 8, 2003.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ ^a ^b "Nakako TSUZUKI / Kenji MIYAMOTO: 2003/2004". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 5, 2004.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ ^a ^b "Nakako TSUZUKI / Kenji MIYAMOTO: 2004/2005". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 5, 2005.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ "Rie ARIKAWA / Kenji MIYAMOTO: 2001/2002". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on August 12, 2002.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

External links

[ISU-0506-1] "Nakako TSUZUKI / Kenji MIYAMOTO: 2005/2006". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 7, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[ISU-0203-2] "Rie ARIKAWA / Kenji MIYAMOTO: 2002/2003". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 8, 2003.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[ISU-0304-3] "Nakako TSUZUKI / Kenji MIYAMOTO: 2003/2004". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 5, 2004.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[ISU-0405-4] "Nakako TSUZUKI / Kenji MIYAMOTO: 2004/2005". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 5, 2005.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[ISU-0102-5] "Rie ARIKAWA / Kenji MIYAMOTO: 2001/2002". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on August 12, 2002.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]