Kensuke Nakaniwa

Kensuke Nakaniwa (中庭 健介, Nakaniwa Kensuke; born October 15, 1981) is a Japanese figure skating coach and former competitive singles skater. He is a two-time Ondrej Nepela Memorial champion, the 2003 Winter Universiade bronze medalist, and a three-time Japan national medalist. He finished in the top ten at three Four Continents Championships.

Kensuke Nakaniwa
Nakaniwa in 2006.
Native name	中庭 健介
Born	(1981-10-15) October 15, 1981 (age 43) Fukuoka, Japan
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Japan
Skating club	Papio Fukuoka; Fukuoka University; Kashii Fukuoka
Began skating	1990
Retired	2011
Medal record Men's figure skating Representing  Japan Asian Winter Games 2007 Changchun Men's singles

Personal life

Nakaniwa was born on October 15, 1981, in Fukuoka, Japan.^[1]

Competitive career

In the 1999–2000 season, Nakaniwa won a bronze medal on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series and placed 13th at the 2000 World Junior Championships.

In the 2002–03 season, Nakaniwa made his Grand Prix debut and competed at his first senior ISU Championship, the 2003 Four Continents, where he finished 11th.

Nakaniwa retired from competitive figure skating in 2011.

Coaching career

Following his competitive career, Nakaniwa became a figure skating coach. Initially, he coached at his hometown rink in Fukuoka before relocating to Chiba in 2021 when he became the head coach of the newly established MF Figure Skating Academy.^[2][3]

Nakaniwa's current and former students include:

• Yuna Aoki^[4]
• Maria Egawa^[5]
• Sei Kawahara^[6]
• Karin Miyazaki^[7]
• Ryoto Mori^[8]
• Ami Nakai^[9]
• Rio Nakata^[10]
• Yo Takagi^[11]
• Shin Ji-a^[12]
• Tsudoi Suto^[13]
• Rinka Watanabe^[14]

Programs

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2008–09 [1]	Nuovo Cinema Paradiso by Ennio Morricone, Andrea Morricone	Braveheart by James Horner	You Are So Beautiful
2007–08 [15]	Sarabande (modern arrangement) by George Frideric Handel
2006–07 [16]	Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquín Rodrigo	Slow Dancing in the Big City by Bill Conti
2005–06 [17]	Sarabande by George Frideric Handel	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring The Return of the King by Howard Shore
2004–05 [18]	Summer (from The Four Seasons) by Antonio Vivaldi
2003–04 [19]	Romeo and Juliet	The Lord of the Rings by Howard Shore
2002–03 [20]	The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi	Cornish Rhapsody by Hubert Bath
2001–02 [21]	Romeo and Juliet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky	Gettysburg by Randy Edelman

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International[22]
Event	96–97	97–98	98–99	99–00	00–01	01–02	02–03	03–04	04–05	05–06	06–07	07–08	08–09	09–10	10–11
Four Continents							11th		8th	6th	8th	12th
GP Bompard												7th
GP Cup of China											5th		10th
GP Cup of Russia							8th	10th
GP NHK Trophy								11th	8th			8th
GP Skate America						12th	10th
Universiade					9th		3rd		4th
Asian Games											3rd
Golden Spin										7th
Merano Cup														7th
Nepela Memorial													1st	1st
NRW Trophy													5th		6th
International: Junior[22]
Junior Worlds				13th
JGP Bulgaria			10th
JGP Canada				3rd
JGP China			10th
JGP Germany		13th
JGP Japan				8th
JGP Mexico					10th
JGP Norway					13th
National[23][24]
Japan				9th	5th	4th	3rd	6th	2nd	3rd	5th	4th	6th	12th	9th
Japan Junior	6th	5th	2nd	2nd	3rd
J. = Junior level