Keiji Tanaka

Keiji Tanaka (田中 刑事, Tanaka Keiji, born November 22, 1994) is a retired Japanese figure skater. He is the 2016 NHK Trophy bronze medalist, 2019 Skate Canada bronze medalist, three-time ISU Challenger Series medalist (including gold at the 2019 U.S. Classic), 2017 Winter Universiade silver medalist, 2011 World Junior silver medalist, six-time medalist on the ISU Junior Grand Prix, and a two-time Japanese national silver medalist (2016, 2017). He represented his country at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Keiji Tanaka
Tanaka in 2018
Native name	田中 刑事 (Tanaka Keiji)
Born	(1994-11-22) November 22, 1994 (age 29) Kurashiki, Okayama
Hometown	Kurashiki, Okayama
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Japan
Discipline	Men's singles
Began skating	2002
Competitive	2004–2022
Professional	2022–present
Highest WS	15th (2017–18)
Medal record
World Team Trophy 2019 Fukuoka Team World Junior Championships 2011 Gangneung Singles

Career

Tanaka began skating in 2002.^[1] He trains in Osaka and Kurashiki under coaches Utako Nagamitsu and Yusuke Hayashi.^[2]

2010–2011 season: Silver at Junior Worlds

Tanaka won the bronze medal at the Junior Grand Prix in Romania and placed sixth in his second JGP event in the U.K. He finished ninth at the Japan Junior Championships. At the World Junior Championships, he placed sixth in the short program and first in the long program to win the silver medal.

2011–2012 season

Tanaka won two medals on the JGP series and qualified for his first JGP Final, where he finished sixth. He finished second at the Junior National Championships. He was seventh in his second trip to the World Junior Championships.

2012–2013 season

Tanaka won silver at one JGP event and finished 4th in another, qualifying for his second JGP Final, where he placed sixth again. After receiving the junior national bronze medal, he was selected to compete at the 2013 World Junior Championships but withdrew due to injury.^{[citation needed]}

2013–2014 season

Tanaka won two gold medals during the 2013–14 JGP series and qualified for his third JGP Final. He finished fourth after placing first in the short program and fourth in the free skate. He won his first junior national title and was selected to go to the 2014 World Junior Championships, where he once again finished in seventh place.

2014–2015 season

Tanaka received one Grand Prix assignment, the 2014 Cup of China, where he placed eighth. He finished eighth at the 2014-15 Japanese National Championships and second at the Gardena Spring Trophy later that season.

2016–2017 season: National silver medal

During the Grand Prix series, Tanaka placed seventh at the 2016 Rostelecom Cup and won the bronze medal at the 2016 NHK Trophy. He received silver at the Japan Championships, in December 2016. In February 2017, he took silver at the Winter Universiade in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

2017–2018 season: Pyeongchang Olympics

Tanaka finished eighth at the 2017 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy after placing fourth in the short program and ninth in the free skate. He received two Grand Prix assignments, 2017 Rostelecom Cup and 2017 Cup of China. He withdrew from the first event due to a muscle injury in his right hip-pelvic area.^[3] In December, Tanaka won his second National silver medal,^[4] and was named to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics, 2018 Four Continents Championships and the 2018 World Championships.

At the 2018 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, Tanaka set new personal bests in the short program, free skate and overall, finishing fourth.^[5] He placed eighteenth at the 2018 Winter Olympics after placing twentieth in the short and fifteenth in the free.^[6] He ended the season with a thirteenth-place finish at the World Championships.

2018–2019 season

Again beginning the season at the Ondrej Nepela Trophy, Tanaka won the bronze medal. He placed eighth at both of his two Grand Prix assignments, the 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki and the 2018 Internationaux de France. At the Japanese National Championships, he won the bronze medal behind Shoma Uno and Daisuke Takahashi. He placed seventh at the 2019 Four Continents Championships, and fourteenth at the 2019 World Championships.

2019–2020 season

 

Keiji Tanaka at the 2019 Skate Canada.

Tanaka began his season at the 2019 U.S. Classic, where he won the gold medal.

Tanaka's first Grand Prix assignment was the 2019 Skate Canada International in Kelowna. Whilst traveling from a training session at the arena, Tanaka and fellow Japanese skater Marin Honda were in a car accident that led to both being briefly hospitalized. Tanaka was left with a sore knee.^[7] Tanaka was fifth in the short program after tripling a planned quad Salchow and managing only a double toe loop as part of his combination jump.^[8] He skated a new personal best in the free skate, despite two jump errors, and won the bronze medal.^[9] Tanaka was fifth at the Cup of China, his second Grand Prix.^[10]

At the 2019–20 Japan Championships, Tanaka placed fourth in both programs to place fourth overall. He was nevertheless assigned to Japan's team for the 2020 World Championships over bronze medalist Yuma Kagiyama who was assigned to the World Junior and the Four Continents championships.^[11][12] The World Championships were subsequently cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.^[13]

2020–2021 season

Tanaka was assigned to compete at the 2020 NHK Trophy on the Grand Prix, as part of an all-Japanese men's field in light of the ongoing pandemic limiting international travel. He was fourth in the short program after multiple jump errors.^[14] He was fifth in the free skate, but remained in fourth place overall.^[15] He placed fourth at the 2020–21 Japan Championships.^[16]

2021–2022 season

Beginning the Grand Prix at the 2021 Skate Canada International, Tanaka finished in tenth place.^[17] At his second event, the 2021 Rostelecom Cup, he was ninth.^[18] 

Tanaka finished in eleventh place at the 2021–22 Japan Championships.^[19]

Post-competitive career

On April 11, 2022, Tanaka announced his retirement from competitive figure skating, intending to skate in shows and work as an assistant coach.^[20]

Tanaka is a recurring cast member at the annual ice show Yuzuru Hanyu Notte Stellata, a commemoration event of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, led by two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu.^[21] In the spring it was announced that Tanaka would be portraying Roronoa Zoro in the summer show, One Piece on Ice.^[22]

As a coach, Tanaka's current students include Nozomu Yoshioka and Haru Kakiuchi.^[23][24]

Programs

Post-Competitive Career Programs

Season	Exhibition
2022-2023	Run Boy Run by Woodkid, choreo. by Keiichiro Sasahara^[25] The Prophet by Gary Moore, choreo. by Massimo Scali^[26] Somewhere in Time by John Barry, choreo. by Nanami Abe^[27] Forever Young by Takehara Pistol, choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto All My Love to You performed by ISSA^[28]
2021-2022	24 Preludes, Op.28, No.4 & No.24 by Frédéric Chopin, choreo. by Tatsuki Machida^[29] Somewhere in Time by John Barry, performed by Roger Williams, choreo. by Nanami Abe Progress performed by Shikao Suga^[30] Starland performed by Daisei Miyagawa

Competitive Career Programs

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2021–2022 ^[31]	Shin Evangelion by Shirō Sagisu choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto, Massimo Scali	Whiplash by Hank Levy choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto, Massimo Scali	Godzilla Main Theme^[32] by Bear McCreary Here We Go (Godzilla vs. Kong Trailer Music) by Chris Classic ft. Eminem Tasman Sea by Tom Holkenborg choreo. by Kohei Yoshino Je te veux^[33] by Erik Satie choreo. by Tatsuki Machida Primavera Porteña^[34] (Spring in Buenos Aires) by Astor Piazzolla choreo. by Massimo Scali Whiplash^[35] by Hank Levy choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto, Massimo Scali
2020–2021	Hip Hip Chin Chin by Club des Belugas choreo. by Massimo Scali	Sherlock Holmes by Hans Zimmer choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto	JoJo's Bizarre Adventure by Yugo Kanno choreo. by Misao Sato EVANGELION:3.0+1.0 -LE FILM AVANT 1 11170 CH edition 0706 by Shirō Sagisu
2019–2020 ^[36]			Pump It by Black Eyed Peas
2018–2019 ^[37]	Memories By Gary Moore choreo. by Massimo Scali	William Tell Overture By Gioacchino Rossini choreo. by Massimo Scali	JoJo's Bizarre Adventure by Yugo Kanno choreo. by Misao Sato
2017–2018 ^[38]	The Prophet by Gary Moore choreo. by Massimo Scali	Federico Fellini films by Nino Rota choreo. by Massimo Scali	Just like Fire^[39] by Pink La traviata^[39] by Giuseppe Verdi choreo. by Massimo Scali Spirited Away by Joe Hisaishi
2016–2017 ^[1]	Primavera Porteña (Spring in Buenos Aires) by Astor Piazzolla choreo. by Massimo Scali	Federico Fellini films by Nino Rota choreo. by Massimo Scali	Spirited Away by Joe Hisaishi
2015–2016 ^[40]	Primavera Porteña by Astor Piazzolla choreo. by Massimo Scali	La traviata by Giuseppe Verdi choreo. by Massimo Scali	Afro Freak by Arts
2014–2015 ^[41]	Instinct Rhapsody by Ikuko Kawai choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto	La traviata by Giuseppe Verdi choreo. by Massimo Scali
2013–2014 ^[42]	Instinct Rhapsody by Ikuko Kawai choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto	Doctor Zhivago by Maurice Jarre choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto
2012–2013 ^[43]	Afro Freak by ARTS choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto	The Untouchables by Ennio Morricone choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto	Rise by Safri Duo
2011–2012 ^[44]^[2]	Violentango by Astor Piazzolla choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto	The Untouchables by Ennio Morricone choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto
2010–2011 ^[45]	Violentango by Astor Piazzolla	The Bolt by Dmitri Shostakovich

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International^[19]
Event	04–05	05–06	06–07	07–08	08–09	09–10	10–11	11–12	12–13	13–14	14–15	15–16	16–17	17–18	18–19	19–20	20–21	21–22
Olympics														18th
Worlds													19th	13th	14th	C
Four Continents										17th		6th	13th	4th	7th
GP Cup of China											8th			7th		5th
GP Finland															8th
GP France															8th
GP NHK Trophy												5th	3rd				4th
GP Rostelecom Cup													7th	WD				9th
GP Skate Canada																3rd		10th
CS U.S. Classic												2nd	10th			1st
CS Ondrej Nepela														8th	3rd
Asian Open												2nd	1st	1st
Challenge Cup																2nd
Cup of Nice						7th					3rd
Gardena Trophy											2nd
Triglav Trophy										2nd
Universiade													2nd
International: Junior^[19]
Junior Worlds							2nd	7th		7th
JGP Final								6th	6th	4th
JGP Australia								2nd
JGP Austria								3rd
JGP Czech Rep.										1st
JGP Romania							3rd
JGP Slovakia										1st
JGP Slovenia									4th
JGP U.K.							6th
JGP USA									2nd
Asian Trophy					1st
National^[46]
Japan Champ.						8th	11th	7th	7th	8th	8th	4th	2nd	2nd	3rd	4th	4th	11th
Japan Junior			16th	8th	6th	6th	9th	2nd	3rd	1st
Japan Novice	8th B	3rd B	2nd A	2nd A
Western Sect								1st J	2nd J			1st					3rd
Chu-Shikoku-Kyushu Reg.									1st J		1st	1st				1st
Team events
Olympics														5th T 5th P
World Team Trophy															2nd T 5th P
Japan Open																		2nd T 3rd P
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Cancelled Levels: A = Novice A; B = Novice B; J = Junior T = Team result; P = Personal result. Medals awarded for team result only.

Detailed results

Senior level

Small medals for short and free programs are awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals are awarded for team results only. T – team result. P – personal/individual result. Current ISU world bests highlighted in bold and italic. Personal bests are highlighted in bold.

2021–22 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
December 22–26, 2021	2021–22 Japan Championships	10 84.10	9 148.32	11 232.42
November 26–28, 2021	2021 Rostelecom Cup	10 76.69	10 153.06	9 229.75
October 29–31, 2021	2021 Skate Canada International	6 78.83	12 143.37	10 222.20
October 3, 2021	2021 Japan Open	–	3 163.93	2T
2020–21 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
December 24–27, 2020	2020–21 Japan Championships	4 83.61	4 155.22	4 238.83
November 27–29, 2020	2020 NHK Trophy	4 76.57	5 138.95	4 215.52
2019–20 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
February 20–23, 2020	2020 Challenge Cup	3 75.54	2 165.64	2 241.18
December 18–22, 2019	2019–20 Japan Championships	4 80.90	5 171.54	4 252.44
November 8–10, 2019	2019 Cup of China	7 74.64	5 158.98	5 233.62
October 25–27, 2019	2019 Skate Canada	5 80.11	3 169.91	3 250.02
September 17–22, 2019	2019 CS U.S. International Classic	2 88.76	1 161.20	1 249.96
2018–19 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
April 11–14, 2019	2019 World Team Trophy	4 89.05	6 169.79	2T/5P 258.84
February 7–10, 2019	2019 Four Continents Championships	7 83.93	6 167.61	7 251.54
December 21–24, 2018	2018–19 Japan Championships	4 79.32	2 157.13	3 236.45
November 23–25, 2018	2018 Internationaux de France	8 79.35	8 136.97	8 216.32
November 2–4, 2018	2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki	7 80.60	9 126.22	8 206.82
September 19–22, 2018	2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy	3 77.53	4 144.39	3 221.92
2017–18 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
March 19–25, 2018	2018 World Championships	14 80.17	12 156.49	13 236.66
February 14–23, 2018	2018 Winter Olympics (men's singles)	20 80.05	15 164.78	18 244.83
February 9–11, 2018	2018 Winter Olympics (team event)	–	5 148.36	5T/5P
January 22–28, 2018	2018 Four Continents Championships	3 90.68	5 169.63	4 260.31
December 21–24, 2017	2017–18 Japan Championships	2 91.34	2 175.81	2 267.15
November 3–5, 2017	2017 Cup of China	4 87.19	8 159.98	7 247.17
September 21–23, 2017	2017 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy	4 75.81	9 121.37	8 197.18
August 2–5, 2017	2017 Asian Trophy	2 68.75	1 151.33	1 220.08

References

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4. "｜Japan Skating Federation Official Results & Data Site｜".
5. "ISU Four Continents Championships 2018 - Men".
6. "Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 - Men Single Skating".
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20. Tanaka, Keiji [@deka_1122] (April 11, 2022). "皆様にご報告があります。こちらをご一読いただけますと幸いです。" [I have a report for everyone. I hope you can read this.] (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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30. "田中刑事さんがプロフェッショナルな舞い スガシカオと「Ｐｒｏｇｒｅｓｓ」共演". スポーツ報知 (in Japanese). 2022-05-27. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
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32. "https://twitter.com/tanakakeiji_pix/status/1478697809042112514". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-05-27. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
33. "NEWS | Tatsuki Machida 町田 樹 OFFICIAL WEB SITE". tatsuki-machida.com. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
34. "https://twitter.com/tanakakeiji_pix/status/1510256289569722372". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-05-27. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
35. "https://twitter.com/tanakakeiji_pix/status/1510256289569722372". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-05-27. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
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39. "木下グループ presents スターズ・オン・アイス 2018 (Special)". TBS 2. 21 April 2018.
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42. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 22, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
43. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 7, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
44. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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External links

  Media related to Keiji Tanaka at Wikimedia Commons

• Keiji Tanaka at the International Skating Union