is a Japanese figure skater. With ice dance partner, Koshiro Shimada, she is the 2025–26 Japanese national silver medalist.
As a singles skater, she is the 2022 JGP Czech Republic bronze medalist, the 2023–24 Japan Junior silver medalist, and the 2024–25 Japan Junior bronze medalist.
Personal life Kushida was born on 29 October, 2007 in Aichi, Japan. Apart from figure skating, she also enjoys creative dancing.
She attended Chukyo University Senior High School before enrolling in the School of Health and Sport Sciences at Chukyo University in 2026.
Career Singles skating career Early years Kushida began skating in 2012 at the age of four. She initially trained at the Howa Sports Land Skating Club in Aichi, where she was coached by Hiroshi Nagakubo, Yoriko Naruse, Miho Kawaume, and Yuko Hongo. In 2020, Kushida relocated to Uji, Kyoto to train at the Kinoshita Academy under coaches Mie Hamada, Satsuki Muramoto, and Hiroaki Sato.
At the 2020 Japanese National Novice Championships, Kushida finished fourth in the novice A category. The following season, she would finish twelfth at the 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships.
Throughout 2021, Kushida tried pairs skating with fellow Kinoshita Academy skater, Sumitada Moriguchi, but the pair split after less than a year together with Kushida electing to focus on singles skating. She would go on to compete at the 2021–22 Japan Junior Championships, finishing eighth.
2022–23 season Kushida made her international debut on the Junior Grand Prix at the 2022 JGP Czech Republic, where she won the bronze medal. She went on to compete at the 2022–23 Japan Junior Championships, finishing fourth, and was selected to compete at the 2022–23 Japan Senior Championships due to this top eight finish. She would place eighth at those championships.
Kushida finished her season by winning a silver medal at the 2023 International Challenge Cup on the junior level.
2023–24 season Competing on the Junior Grand Prix, Kushida started the season by competing at the 2023 JGP Japan and the 2023 JGP Armenia, finishing fourth at both events.
Kushida went on to compete at the 2023–24 Japan Junior Championships, unexpectedly winning the short program ahead of overwhelming favourite, Mao Shimada. She would place third in the free skate and won the silver medal overall behind Shimada. With this result, Kushida was selected to represent Japan at the 2024 World Junior Championships. She was also selected to compete at the 2023–24 Japan Senior Championships due to her top eight finish at the junior championships. At those championships, Kushida finished twenty-fifth in the short program and did not advance to the free skate segment of the competition. Following the event, Kushida said that while disappointed, she hoped to be able to use this experience to motivate her at future events.
At the 2024 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Kushida finished third in the short program, winning a bronze small medal for the segment. She said that she had felt "more nervous than usual" beforehand, given that it was her ISU championship debut. Kushida struggled in the free skate, falling twice, coming eleventh there and dropping to fifth overall.
2024–25 season Kushida started the season in late August, finishing fifth at 2024 JGP Latvia. Almost three months later, she would win the bronze medal at the 2024–25 Japan Junior Championships. This result ensured her qualification to compete at the senior championships, where she finished in fourteenth place.
In May, it was announced that Kushida had teamed up with fellow singles skater, Koshiro Shimada, with the intention of competing in the ice dance discipline. Kushida also shared that she intended to continue competing in the women's singles discipline simultaneously. It was subsequently announced that the pair would be coached by Cathy Reed at the Kinoshita Academy in Kyoto.
Ice dance with Koshiro Shimada 2025–26 season: Debut of Kushida/Shimada Kushida began the season by competing in the women's singles discipline on the 2025–26 ISU Junior Grand Prix series, finishing fifth at 2025 JGP United Arab Emirates.
In late October, Kushida/Shimada debuted as a team at the 2025 Western Sectional Championships, the qualifying competition for the Japanese National Championships. They won the event, almost sixteen points ahead of the second placed team, Sasaki/Ikeda. The following month, Kushida competed in the singles discipline at the 2025–26 Japan Junior Championships, where she finished in seventh place. With this result, Kushida was invited to compete at the senior national championships.
At the beginning of December Kushida/Shimada competed at their first international competition, the 2025 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, where they placed thirteenth, narrowly missing the required technical minimum for the 2026 Winter Olympics and Four Continents Championships by 1.56 points. Kushida stated: "The result is disappointing, but I feel we managed to pull the performance together fairly well. I think it was good that we completed both the Rhythm Dance and Free Dance without major mistakes."
A couple weeks later, Kushida/Shimada won the silver medal at the 2025–26 Japan Championships behind Yoshida/Morita. Kushida also went on to finish twentieth in the women's singles event.
In April 2026, it was announced that Kushida intended to solely compete in the ice dance discipline in the upcoming 2026–27 season.
2026–27 season Kushida/Shimada began their season by placing 7th at the 2026 Kinoshita Group Cup.
Programs Ice dance with Koshiro Shimada Season Rhythm dance Free dance Exhibition 2026–2027 And The Waltz Goes On Libertango Akram Khan's Giselle 2025–2026 Got the Groove (SM Radio Edit) Show Me Something Special Got the Groove (SM Radio Edit) Got the Groove 2.8 (Caramba Short Traxx Remix) Moonlight Serenade Theme from Sabrina Faith
Women's singles Season Short program Free skating Exhibition 2025–2026 The Mask Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You Hey Pachuco Variation autour d'un prélude Prélude, Op. 28, No. 4 Por una cabeza 2024–2025 Sway Mucho Mambo (Sway) Sway (Mucho Mambo) The Little Prince Preparation Escape 2023–2024 Red Violin 2022–2023 Samson and Delilah Dance Bacchanale S'apre per te il mio cor 2021–2022 The Sacrifice
Competitive highlights
Ice dance with Koshiro Shimada
Women's singles
Detailed results Ice dance with Koshiro Shimada
Women's singles
Senior level
Junior level 2025–26 season Date Event SP FS Total November 22–24, 2025 2025–26 Japan Junior Championships 3 64.37 11 108.21 7 172.58 October 8–11, 2025 2025 JGP United Arab Emirates 5 59.53 9 109.71 5 169.24 2024–25 season Date Event SP FS Total November 15–17, 2024 2024–25 Japan Junior Championships 3 64.54 2 124.98 3 189.52 August 28–31, 2024 2024 JGP Latvia 2 66.36 8 99.65 5 166.01 2023–24 season Date Event SP FS Total February 26–March 3, 2024 2024 World Junior Championships 3 66.61 11 114.36 5 180.97 November 17–19, 2023 2023–24 Japan Junior Championships 1 65.30 3 124.82 2 190.12 October 4–7, 2023 2023 JGP Armenia 4 59.99 3 113.72 4 173.71 September 13–16, 2023 2023 JGP Japan 3 62.79 5 113.30 4 176.09 2022–23 season Date Event SP FS Total February 23–26, 2023 2023 International Challenge Cup 2 61.45 2 119.38 2 180.83 November 25–27, 2022 2022–23 Japan Junior Championships 5 62.32 4 121.97 4 184.29 August 31–September 3, 2022 2022 JGP Czech Republic 8 55.67 3 121.35 3 177.02 2021–22 season Date Event SP FS Total November 19–21, 2021 2021–22 Japan Junior Championships 9 57.35 7 107.74 8 165.09 2020–21 season Date Event SP FS Total November 21–23, 2020 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships 12 53.21 13 89.66 12 142.87
References
External links
Ikura Kushida at the Japan Skating Federation