The 2023 Japan Curling Championships (branded as the 40th Zen-Noh Japan Curling Championships) were held from January 29 to February 5 at the Tokoro Curling Club in Tokoro, Kitami, Hokkaido, Japan. Both the men's and women's events were played in a round robin format which qualified four teams for a page playoff.
After being pushed to May in 2022 due to the 2022 Winter Olympics, the championship returned to its normal dates from the end of January to the start of February. The winning teams earned the right to represent Japan at the 2023 World Men's Curling Championship and the 2023 World Women's Curling Championship respectively.
Summary Both the men's and women's champions from 2022 were able to defend their titles in this year's championship.
On the men's side, SC Karuizawa Club, represented by Riku Yanagisawa, Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, Takeru Yamamoto and Satoshi Koizumi, won their second consecutive and tenth overall national championship. The team finished 7–1 through the round robin portion of the event, losing their last round robin game to Kitami Association (Kosuka Hirata) who finished first overall at 7–1. In the 1 vs. 2 page playoff, trailing 9–6 after eight ends, SC Karuizawa Club scored two in the ninth end, stole a single in the tenth end, and stole two more in the extra end for an 11–9 victory. Kitami Association went on to defeat Consadole (Shinya Abe) 7–1 in the semifinal to set up a rematch in the gold medal game. SC Karuizawa Club took two in the fourth end to open up a 3–1 lead, and later led 4–2 after eight ends. In the ninth, the defending champions stole two points en route to claiming the national title once again. SC Karuizawa Club qualified Japan for the 2023 World Men's Curling Championship by finishing fourth at the 2022 Pan Continental Curling Championships.
In the women's event, Team Loco Solare, with Satsuki Fujisawa, Chinami Yoshida, Yumi Suzuki, Yurika Yoshida and Kotomi Ishizaki won their second consecutive and fourth national championship since joining for the 2015–16 season. After the round robin, Team Fujisawa finished tied for first with Chubu Electric Power (Ikue Kitazawa) and Philoseek Aomori (Miori Nakamura). Since they had all gone 1–1 against each other, positions for the playoffs were determined through draw to the button totals, which Loco Solare had the best of, followed by Chubu Electric in second and Aomori in third. The playoff picture was complete by SC Karuizawa Club (Asuka Kanai). In the 1 vs. 2 game, Loco Solare came back from a 4–2 deficit, stealing four consecutive ends to defeat Chubu Electric 7–4. SC Karuizawa Club also came from behind in the 3 vs. 4 game, coming back from an 8–1 deficit to win 11–9 thanks to a steal of five in the eighth end. SC Karuizawa Club then beat Chubu Electric 7–6 in the semifinal to eliminate Japan's representative at the previous World Women's Curling Championship. In the final, the Fujisawa rink got out to a 4–0 lead after three ends, eventually taking the championship 7–5 over SC Karuizawa Club. Loco Solare qualified Japan for the 2023 World Women's Curling Championship by winning gold at the 2022 Pan Continental Curling Championships.
Medalists Men SC Karuizawa ClubRiku YanagisawaTsuyoshi YamaguchiTakeru YamamotoSatoshi Koizumi Kitami AssociationKohsuke HirataShingo UsuiRyota MeguroKosuke AitaYoshiya Miura ConsadoleTetsuro Shimizu (Fourth)Haruto OuchiShinya Abe (Skip)Sota TsurugaMinori SuzukiWomen Loco SolareSatsuki FujisawaChinami YoshidaYumi SuzukiYurika YoshidaKotomi Ishizaki SC Karuizawa ClubAsuka KanaiAmi EnamiJunko NishimuroMone RyokawaMiyu Ueno Chubu Electric PowerIkue KitazawaSeina NakajimaMinori SuzukiHasumi IshigookaChiaki Matsumura
Men
Qualification The following teams qualified to participate in the 2023 Japan Curling Championship:
Qualification method Berths Qualifying team(s) 2022 Champion 1 SC Karuizawa Club 2022 Runner-Up 1 Sapporo International University Hokkaido Region 1 Kitami Association Tōhoku Region 1 Miyagi CA Kanto Region 1 Team Ogiwara Central Region 1 TM Karuizawa West Japan Region 1 Okayama CA Wild Card 1 1 Team Ichimura Wild Card 2 1 Consadole
Teams The teams are listed as follows: Team Skip Third Second Lead Alternate Locale Consadole Tetsuro Shimizu (Fourth) Haruto Ouchi Shinya Abe (Skip) Sota Tsuruga Minori Suzuki Kitami Kitami Association Kohsuke Hirata Shingo Usui Ryota Meguro Kosuke Aita Yoshiya Miura Kitami Miyagi CA Kotaro Noguchi Yuto Kamada Hiroshi Kato Yuki Yoshimura Hayato Fujimura Miyagi Okayama CA Hiroki Yoshioka Hiromitsu Fujinaka Yusuke Nonomura Makoto Takahashi Atsushi Kamigaito Okayama Sapporo International University Go Aoki (Fourth) Hayato Sato (Skip) Kouki Ogiwara Kazushi Nino Ayato Sasaki Sapporo SC Karuizawa Club Riku Yanagisawa Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi Takeru Yamamoto Satoshi Koizumi Karuizawa Team Ichimura Takanori Ichimura Daisuke Sonoyama Seiji Yamamoto Miki Yamamoto Nagano Team Ogiwara Ryo Ogiwara Satoru Tsukamoto Wataru Henmi Nobuhito Kasahara Haruki Watanabe Tokyo TM Karuizawa Yusuke Morozumi Yuta Matsumura Ryotaro Shukuya Kosuke Morozumi Karuizawa
Round robin standings Final Round Robin Standings KeyTeams to Playoffs TeamSkip Kitami Association Kohsuke Hirata 7 1 1–0 60 36 35 28 4 13 28.05 SC Karuizawa Club Riku Yanagisawa 7 1 0–1 69 36 36 26 3 13 29.81 Consadole Shinya Abe 6 2 1–0 68 40 32 26 8 9 30.78 TM Karuizawa Yusuke Morozumi 6 2 0–1 60 43 38 26 0 14 34.22 Sapporo International University Hayato Sato 4 4 – 58 43 29 28 4 7 27.93 Miyagi CA Kotaro Noguchi 3 5 – 49 67 30 35 2 3 47.95 Team Ogiwara Ryo Ogiwara 2 6 – 41 60 30 35 4 3 37.10 Okayama CA Hiroki Yoshioka 1 7 – 28 71 24 34 0 5 62.41 Team Ichimura Takanori Ichimura 0 8 – 28 65 22 38 0 3 75.62
Round robin results
All draws are listed in Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00).
Draw 1 Sunday, January 29, 9:00
Draw 3 Sunday, January 29, 18:00
Draw 5 Monday, January 30, 13:30
Draw 7 Tuesday, January 31, 9:00
Draw 9 Tuesday, January 31, 18:00
Draw 11 Wednesday, February 1, 13:30
Draw 13 Thursday, February 2, 9:00
Draw 15 Thursday, February 2, 18:00
Draw 17 Friday, February 3, 13:30
Playoffs
1 vs. 2 Saturday, February 4, 9:00
3 vs. 4 Saturday, February 4, 9:00
Semifinal Saturday, February 4, 15:00
Final Sunday, February 5, 9:00
Final standings PlaceTeamSkip SC Karuizawa Club Riku Yanagisawa Kitami Association Kohsuke Hirata Consadole Shinya Abe4 TM Karuizawa Yusuke Morozumi5 Sapporo International University Hayato Sato6 Miyagi CA Kotaro Noguchi7 Team Ogiwara Ryo Ogiwara8 Okayama CA Hiroki Yoshioka9 Team Ichimura Takanori Ichimura
Women
Qualification The following teams qualified to participate in the 2023 Japan Curling Championship:
Qualification method Berths Qualifying team(s) 2022 Champion 1 Loco Solare 2022 Runner-Up 1 Chubu Electric Power Hokkaido Region 1 Hokkaido Bank Tōhoku Region 1 Philoseek Aomori Kanto Region 1 Tokyo Metropolitan Institute Central Region 1 SC Karuizawa Club West Japan Region 1 Team Hiroshima Wild Card 1 1 LS Kitami Wild Card 2 1 Aomori CA
Teams The teams are listed as follows: Team Skip Third Second Lead Alternate Locale Aomori CA Rin Suzuki Natsuki Saito Juuna Nagaya Shinyu Matsuyama Aizawa Sora Aomori Chubu Electric Power Ikue Kitazawa Seina Nakajima Minori Suzuki Hasumi Ishigooka Chiaki Matsumura Nagano Hokkaido Bank Momoha Tabata Miku Nihira Mikoto Nakajima Ayami Ito Sae Yamamoto Sapporo Loco Solare Satsuki Fujisawa Chinami Yoshida Yumi Suzuki Yurika Yoshida Kotomi Ishizaki Kitami LS Kitami Honoka Sasaki Mari Motohashi Miki Hayashi Mayumi Saito Yako Matsuzawa Kitami Philoseek Aomori Misaki Tanaka (Fourth) Miori Nakamura (Skip) Haruka Kihara Hiyori Ichinohe Yuuna Harada Aomori SC Karuizawa Club Asuka Kanai Ami Enami Junko Nishimuro Mone Ryokawa Miyu Ueno Nagano Team Hiroshima Riho Zaikan Akari Iwatani Haruna Yamauchi Ai Kawada Sachiko Zaikan Hiroshima Tokyo Metropolitan Institute Yumi Suzuki Kyoka Kuramitsu Aki Goto Miho Fujimori Tori Koana Tokyo
Round robin standings Final Round Robin Standings KeyTeams to Playoffs TeamSkip Loco Solare Satsuki Fujisawa 6 2 1–1 76 39 38 24 6 14 31.01 Chubu Electric Power Ikue Kitazawa 6 2 1–1 76 42 40 28 0 19 38.91 Philoseek Aomori Miori Nakamura 6 2 1–1 66 32 36 22 2 20 64.87 SC Karuizawa Club Asuka Kanai 5 3 1–0 56 55 36 31 2 11 34.81 Hokkaido Bank Momoha Tabata 5 3 0–1 68 46 36 29 5 11 53.75 LS Kitami Honoka Sasaki 3 5 1–0 50 62 34 37 2 8 34.93 Tokyo Metropolitan Institute Yumi Suzuki 3 5 0–1 43 57 27 35 3 5 54.26 Aomori CA Rin Suzuki 2 6 – 35 60 23 37 7 3 65.15 Team Hiroshima Riho Zaikan 0 8 – 16 93 15 42 1 2 96.64
Round robin results
All draws are listed in Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00).
Draw 2 Sunday, January 29, 13:30
Draw 4 Monday, January 30, 9:00
Draw 6 Monday, January 30, 18:00
Draw 8 Tuesday, January 31, 13:30
Draw 10 Wednesday, February 1, 9:00
Draw 12 Wednesday, February 1, 18:00
Draw 14 Thursday, February 2, 13:30
Draw 16 Friday, February 3, 9:00
Draw 18 Friday, February 3, 18:00
Playoffs
1 vs. 2 Saturday, February 4, 9:00
3 vs. 4 Saturday, February 4, 9:00
Semifinal Saturday, February 4, 15:00
Final Sunday, February 5, 15:00
Final standings PlaceTeamSkip Loco Solare Satsuki Fujisawa SC Karuizawa Club Asuka Kanai Chubu Electric Power Ikue Kitazawa4 Philoseek Aomori Miori Nakamura5 Hokkaido Bank Momoha Tabata6 LS Kitami Honoka Sasaki7 Tokyo Metropolitan Institute Yumi Suzuki8 Aomori CA Rin Suzuki9 Team Hiroshima Riho Zaikan
References
External links Official Website Streaming