is a Japanese former competitive

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

. A six-time Japanese national champion, she competed at five

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and six

Four Continents Championships The Four Continents Figure Skating Championships (4CC) is an annual figure skating competition. The International Skating Union established it in 1999 to provide skaters representing non-African and non-European countries with a similar competit ...

. Her father, Shoichiro Tsuzuki, is a figure skating coach.

Career

Early years

Tsuzuki began learning to skate in 1982. She skated at least three seasons with Akiyuki Kido, competing on the junior level. They ended their partnership 1990.

Partnership with Nakamura

By 1991, Tsuzuki had teamed up with Kazu Nakamura to compete in the senior ranks. The duo won the Japanese national title in 1993–1994 and placed 24th at the 1994 World Championships in

Chiba Chiba may refer to: Places China * (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei Japan * Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture ** Chiba Station, a train station * Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...

, Japan. They parted ways at the end of the season.

Partnership with Razgulajevs

Later in 1994, Tsuzuki formed a partnership with Juris Razgulajevs. Winners of two Japanese national titles, they placed 5th at the 1995 NHK Trophy and 16th at the 1996 World Championships in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada.

Partnership with Farkhoutdinov

Tsuzuki teamed up with

Rinat Farkhoutdinov Rinat Farkhoutdinov (born December 13, 1975) is a Russian-born ice dancer who competed internationally for Japan. With partner Nakako Tsuzuki, he is a three-time Japanese national champion and competed three times at the Four Continents and Wo ...

around 1998. Early in their partnership, they were coached by

Natalia Dubova Natalia Ilinichna Dubova (russian: Наталья Ильинична Дубова; born 31 March 1948) is a Russian ice dancing coach and former competitive ice dancer. Career Competing as Natalia Bakh with partner Vladimir Pavlikhin, she wo ...

and Viktor Ryzhkin. After winning the Japanese national title, Tsuzuki/Farkhoutdinov placed 6th at the 1999 Four Continents Championships in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

, Canada, and 20th at the 1999 World Championships in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Finland. They repeated as national champions the following season. The two placed 7th at the 2000 Four Continents Championships in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, Japan, and then 18th at the 2000 World Championships in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

, France. By the 2000–2001 season, Tsuzuki/Farkhoutdinov had changed coaches to

Tatiana Tarasova Tatiana Anatolyevna Tarasova (; born 13 February 1947) is a Russian figure skating coach and national figure skating team adviser. Tarasova has been coach to more world and Olympic champions than any other coach in skating history. Her students h ...

and Nikolai Morozov in

Newington, Connecticut Newington is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. Located south of downtown Hartford, Newington is an older, mainly residential suburb located in Greater Hartford. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,536. The Connecticu ...

. After competing at their first Grand Prix assignments, they finished 7th at the

2001 Four Continents Championships The 2001 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships (4CC) is an annual figure skating competition. It was held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, USA on February 7–10. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' si ...

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, United States, and 24th at the 2001 World Championships in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. The duo appeared at two more Grand Prix events. The

Skate Canada International The Skate Canada International is an international, senior-level invitation-only figure skating competition organized by Skate Canada. It is the second competition of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating season. The location changes yearly. Medal ...

in November 2001 was their final competition together.

Partnership with Miyamoto

In mid-2003, Tsuzuki teamed up with Kenji Miyamoto. During their three-season partnership, they competed together at six Grand Prix events and placed in the top ten at three

. They were coached by

Muriel Zazoui Muriel Boucher-Zazoui is a French coach and choreographer, and retired competitive ice dancer. She competed with Yves Malatier, and together they are the 1977 and 1978 French national champions. They competed twice at the European Championships ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, France. Tsuzuki retired from competitive skating following the 2005–2006 season.

Programs

With Miyamoto

With Farkhoutdinov

Results

''GP: Champions Series / Grand Prix''

With Miyamoto

With Farkhoutdinov

With Razgulajevs

With Nakamura

With Kido

References

External links

* *
Nakako Tsuzuki / Kenji Miyamoto
at Tracings.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Tsuzuki, Nakako Japanese female ice dancers 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Tokyo