Three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto dominated the short program on Friday, putting herself in a prime position to defend her title at what she said will be her last NHK trophy.
In June, Sakamoto said she would retire from competition after the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics next year.
Performing to “Time to Say Goodbye,” Sakamoto landed a triple lutz, double axel and triple flip-triple toe combination en route to a season-best score of 77.05, nearly 10 points ahead of Kazakhstan's Sofia Samodelkina, who was second with a score of 67.75.
Yoo Young of South Korea finished third with a score of 67.66.
After winning three straight world championships until 2024, Sakamoto finished second at this year's world championships in Boston in March.
The 25-year-old won a bronze medal in the women's singles at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
Sakamoto finished second to 17-year-old compatriot Ami Nakai at the season-opening French Grand Prix last month and came to her home Grand Prix looking to reassert her dominance.
“I've been a little nervous since I came here, but I was able to put that behind me and skate a solid program,” Sakamoto said. “I completed all my jumps successfully and I hope that I can continue this in the free program tomorrow.”
Japan's Kaori Sakamoto leads the NHK Trophy with a score of 77.065 in the women's short program in Osaka, Japan.
Japan's best hope for a medal at the Olympics, Sakamoto, will have to take on Russian figure skater Adelia Petrosyan in Italy. Petrosyan, 17, has won two straight national titles and is unbeaten in the past two seasons, winning eight straight domestic tournaments.
She qualified for the Olympics by winning a gold medal at the ISU Skate to Milano figure skating qualifying tournament in Beijing in September.
2024 European champion Loena Hendricks returned to the Grand Prix series after missing last season due to injury.
Hendricks landed her first two jumps but fell on the third, a triple flip, and finished fourth with 62.45 points. Hendricks qualified for the Olympics by placing third in the ISU Skate to Milano figure skating qualifying tournament.
Kagiyama leads after men's short program
Local favorite Yuma Kagiyama was first after the men's short program.
The 2022 Olympic silver medalist landed a quad Lutz at the start of the routine and added a quad toe-triple toe combination before finishing with a triple Axel, scoring 98.58 points.
“I was happy with all my jumps, I put all my effort into them and was able to complete them successfully,” Kagiyama said. “But the errors in rotation and stride are very unfortunate.”
Kagiyama's compatriot Shun Sato was second with 96.67 points, followed by South Korean Cha Joon-hwan with 91.60.
Yuma Kagiyama of Japan takes first place in the men's competition at the NHK Trophy in Osaka, Japan with a score of 98.58.
Fear and Gibson on top after rhythm dance
In ice dancing, world bronze medalists Laila Fier and Lewis Gibson of Great Britain had a season's best score of 81.57 points and were first after rhythm dance, followed by Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy.
Alex and Maya Shibutani of the United States, who are returning after a seven-year absence, finished sixth.
In pair skating, the first after the short program were the 2022 Olympic champions Wenjing Sui and Cong Han from China. Sara Conti and Niccolo Masii of Italy were second, while Maria Pavlova and Alexey Sviatchenko finished third.
Sui and Han gave Habanera a strong short program that included a triple toe loop, a triple twist and a triple flip with a big throw. Two-time world champions ISU set the best result of the new season – 74.63 and became leaders.
“This is just the beginning for me,” Khan said. “This is our second Grand Prix, but we still feel it is new and fresh. We are just getting back to competition and we still have a lot of work to do.”
The ISU Grand Prix Series consists of six international competitions with cumulative scoring.
Each athlete or team is eligible to score points in two of the six scheduled events. The top six scorers in each discipline will qualify for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Finals, which will be held Dec. 4-7 in Nagoya, Japan.
Shibutani siblings' performance leaked online
Alex and Maya Shibutani say there are no hard feelings between them after a video of Alex berating his sister at training went viral on social media.
In the video, which surfaced last month, Alex can be heard swearing at his little sister.
The American siblings compete this weekend at the NHK Trophy in Osaka, the fourth round of the ISU Grand Prix series. They placed sixth in Friday's rhythm dance.
Alex also addressed the video, saying: “I feel terrible about this.”
“Unfortunately I lost my temper in training and that shouldn't have happened,” he said. “I apologized to Maya right after our practice.”
The 2018 Winter Olympics bronze medalists, known as the Shib Sibs, are trying to make a comeback after a seven-year hiatus in hopes of making the U.S. team for next year's Milan-Cortina Games.
“The intensity of what we're trying to do and the standard that we have, we both, we both understand (the explosion), but it wasn't right and I strive to be a better teammate,” Alex said. “I was so lucky to ride with Maya. We have a unique, special relationship and we are committed to each other and to this process.”
Maya Shibutani also commented on the leaked video.
“When you're working to get better, there are stressful moments, but we understand each other and the process and work through it together like siblings do,” she said. “We continued to train that day and chose each other every time.”
Alex, 34, and Maya, 31, have skated together most of their lives and have long been top dancers in the United States.
They are three-time world championship medalists and two-time Olympians, finishing ninth at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and third at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, where they were also part of the U.S. team that won the team bronze medal.
The Shibutani siblings took a break from elite-level figure skating after PyeongChang to focus on school and other interests.
They extended their break from competition when Maya was diagnosed with a malignant kidney tumor in 2019. She underwent surgery to remove the tumor, and additional treatment led to a successful but lengthy and painful recovery.
