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Kaori Sakamoto (26, of Sysmex) held her retirement press conference in her hometown of Kobe on April 13, sharing her vision for her future as a coach and the messages she hopes to pass on to the next generation.
Reflecting on the influence of her longtime coach Sonoko Nakano (73), whom she has worked with since age four, Sakamoto smiled and said, “To put it simply, I want to become a coach like Nakano sensei.” She added, “I want to convey not just technical skills, but also aspects of humanity.” Admitting that she still has areas to grow, she noted, “I think I still have a lot to learn from Nakano sensei, so I want to keep absorbing everything.”
When asked what message she would like to share with children, Sakamoto spoke passionately from her own experience. “I wasn’t particularly talented or able to do everything easily,” she recalled. “Now people say ‘Kaori Sakamoto is synonymous with double Axel,’ but it actually took me about two years to land that jump.” She described learning through trial and error with guidance from those who could do it. “I want to tell kids: don’t give up just because you can’t do something right away. No matter what others say, if you want to win, you have to give it your all.”
Sakamoto has long been Japan’s leading female skater. She became the first Japanese woman to compete in three consecutive Olympic Games. At the 2026 Milano Cortina Games, she won silver medals in both the individual and team events. Combined with her team silver and individual bronze from Beijing 2022, she has a total of four Olympic medals—tied with Yuma Kagiyama for the most among Japanese figure skaters.
At the Japan National Championships, she achieved a historic fifth consecutive title (2021–2025), the first woman to do so in 50 years, and has won the championship six times in total, including her first in 2018. At the World Championships, she claimed three consecutive titles starting in 2022, and in her final competition in March 2025, she scored a personal best of 238.28 points to win her fourth world title—the most by any Japanese skater.
◆ Kaori Sakamoto: Born April 9, 2000, in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. Influenced by the 2003 NHK morning drama “Teruteru Kazoku,” she began skating at age four. Finished third at the 2017 World Junior Championships before turning senior. In her first senior season, she earned one of Japan’s two spots for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, placing sixth individually. At Beijing 2022, she won team silver and individual bronze. At Milano Cortina 2026, she won silver in both individual and team events. She holds a record four world titles and six national titles (2018, 2021–2025). She served as acting flag bearer for the Japanese team at the Milano Olympics. Height: 159 cm. Blood type B.
