| 2022 Japan Curling Championships | |
| Host City: | Tokoro, Kitami, Hokkaido |
| Arena: | Tokoro Curling Club |
| Dates: | May 22–29 |
| Men's Winner: | SC Karuizawa Club |
| Curling Club: | Karuizawa CC, Karuizawa, Nagano |
| Skip: | Riku Yanagisawa |
| Third: | Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi |
| Second: | Takeru Yamamoto |
| Lead: | Satoshi Koizumi |
| Coach: | Yuji Nishimuro |
| Finalist: | Sapporo International University (Sato) |
| Women's Winner: | Loco Solare |
| Curling Club2: | Tokoro CC, Tokoro, Hokkaido |
| Skip2: | Satsuki Fujisawa |
| Third2: | Chinami Yoshida |
| Second2: | Yumi Suzuki |
| Lead2: | Yurika Yoshida |
| Alternate2: | Kotomi Ishizaki |
| Coach2: | Ryoji Onodera |
| Finalist2: | Chubu Electric Power (Kitazawa) |
| Prev: | 2021 |
| Next: | 2023 |
The 2022 Japan Curling Championships (branded as the 39th Zen-Noh Japan Curling Championships) were held from May 22 to 29 at the Tokoro Curling Club in Tokoro, Kitami, Hokkaido, Japan.[1] Both the men's and women's events were played in a round robin format which qualified four teams for a page playoff.
Because of the 2022 Winter Olympics, a World Championship Trial was held in December 2021 between three teams on the men's and women's sides to determine Japan's representatives for the 2022 World Men's Curling Championship and 2022 World Women's Curling Championship. Due to this, the Japan Curling Championships were pushed back later into the year. Instead of the winners qualifying for the upcoming World Championships like usual, the winners of the 2022 Japan Curling Championships qualified as the Japanese representatives for the new Pan Continental Curling Championships.[2]
On the men's side, SC Karuizawa Club won their first national championship since the team disbanded at the following the 2017–18 season.[3] The new team, skipped by Riku Yanagisawa, went a perfect 8–0 through the round robin portion of the event before losing the 1 vs. 2 page playoff to Sapporo International University, skipped by Hayato Sato. SC Karuizawa Club then defeated Consadole (Yasumasa Tanida) in the semifinal before winning 11–7 in the gold medal game over the Sato rink. Before they disbanded, the original SC Karuizawa Club rink of Yusuke Morozumi, Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, Tetsuro Shimizu and Kosuke Morozumi won five straight national championships from 2013 to 2018. Now, Yamaguchi is the only player that remains on the team. SC Karuizawa Club is rounded out by second Takeru Yamamoto and lead Satoshi Koizumi. With the win, the team will represent Japan at the Pan Continental Curling Championships in November 2022, their first-time representing Japan at an international event since the 2018 Winter Olympics.
In the women's event, Team Loco Solare, with Satsuki Fujisawa, Chinami Yoshida, Yumi Suzuki, Yurika Yoshida and Kotomi Ishizaki won their third national championship since joining together for the 2015–16 season.[3] Team Fujisawa finished top of the table after the round robin with a 7–1 record and then defeated Hokkaido Bank (Momoha Tabata) 6–4 in the 1 vs. 2 game. In the final, they faced Chubu Electric Power and Team Ikue Kitazawa, who represented Japan at the 2022 World Women's Curling Championship. Loco Solare played a steady game all the way through, never allowing Chubu Electric to score more than a single point in any end. Ultimately, they came out with the 7–3 victory and the title as national champions. Fujisawa formerly played for the Chubu Electric rink until joining Loco Solare in 2015. The team won their first national championship in 2016 and later again in 2020. With the win, Team Fujisawa become the first women's team to win two national titles in the past five years, with Fujikyu, Chubu Electric Power and Hokkaido Bank Fortius winning in 2018, 2019 and 2021 respectively.
The following teams qualified to participate in the 2022 Japan Curling Championship:[4]
| Qualification method | Berths | Qualifying team(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 Champion | 1 | Consadole | |
| 2021 Runner-Up | 1 | Tokoro Junior | |
| Hokkaido Region | 1 | Sapporo International University | |
| Tōhoku Region | 1 | Team Ishimura | |
| Kanto Region | 1 | Team Tokyo | |
| Central Region | 1 | SC Karuizawa Club | |
| West Japan Region | 1 | Okayama CA | |
| Wild Card 1 | 1 | Kitami Association | |
| Wild Card 2 | 1 | Nagano Prefecture CA |
The teams are listed as follows:[4]
| Team | Skip | Third | Second | Lead | Alternate | Locale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kitami | |||||||
| Kitami Association | Shunta Kobayashi | Kitami | |||||
| Nagano Prefecture CA | Yoshiro Shimizu (Fourth) | Minato Hayamizu (Skip) | Kai Shu | Nagano | |||
| Okayama CA | Atushi Kamigakiuchi | Okayama | |||||
| Kei Kamada | Sapporo | ||||||
| SC Karuizawa Club | Karuizawa | ||||||
| Team Ishimura | Genta Kaimori | Aomori | |||||
| Team Tokyo | Ken Kanai | Tokyo | |||||
| Taa Nakahara | Kitami |
Final Round Robin Standings
| width=230 | Team | width=120 | Skip | width=20 | width=20 | width=30 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SC Karuizawa Club | 8 | 0 | – | 62 | 29 | 35 | 20 | 6 | 13 | 49.49 | |||||||||||||
| 7 | 1 | – | 62 | 27 | 34 | 23 | 7 | 13 | 48.08 | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | 2 | – | 65 | 37 | 35 | 26 | 7 | 8 | 24.35 | ||||||||||||||
| Kitami Association | 4 | 4 | 1–0 | 53 | 48 | 33 | 30 | 3 | 9 | 31.33 | |||||||||||||
| 4 | 4 | 0–1 | 52 | 41 | 33 | 27 | 6 | 13 | 40.19 | ||||||||||||||
| Team Ishimura | 3 | 5 | – | 41 | 53 | 26 | 35 | 6 | 5 | 36.91 | |||||||||||||
| Team Tokyo | 2 | 6 | – | 43 | 55 | 26 | 35 | 4 | 3 | 45.10 | |||||||||||||
| Okayama CA | 1 | 7 | 1–0 | 26 | 75 | 21 | 34 | 2 | 4 | 69.63 | |||||||||||||
| Nagano Prefecture CA | 1 | 7 | 0–1 | 30 | 69 | 23 | 36 | 1 | 4 | 46.40 |
All draws are listed in Japan Standard Time .[5] [6]
Sunday, May 22, 13:30
Monday, May 23, 9:00
Monday, May 23, 18:00
Tuesday, May 24, 13:30
Wednesday, May 25, 9:00
Wednesday, May 25, 18:00
Thursday, May 26, 13:30
Friday, May 27, 9:00
Friday, May 27, 18:00
Saturday, May 28, 9:00
Saturday, May 28, 9:00
Saturday, May 28, 15:00
Sunday, May 29, 9:00
| Place | Team | Skip | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SC Karuizawa Club | Riku Yanagisawa | ||
| Hayato Sato | |||
| Yasumasa Tanida | |||
| 4 | Kitami Association | Kohsuke Hirata | |
| 5 | Takumi Maeda | ||
| 6 | Team Ishimura | Juon Ishimura | |
| 7 | Team Tokyo | Junpei Kanda | |
| 8 | Okayama CA | Hiroki Yoshioka | |
| 9 | Nagano Prefecture CA | Minato Hayamizu |
The following teams qualified to participate in the 2022 Japan Curling Championship:[4]
| Qualification method | Berths | Qualifying team(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 Champion | 1 | Fortius | |
| 2021 Runner-Up | 1 | Loco Solare | |
| Hokkaido Region | 1 | Hokkaido Bank | |
| Tōhoku Region | 1 | Philosique Aomori | |
| Kanto Region | 1 | Fujikyu | |
| Central Region | 1 | SC Karuizawa Club | |
| West Japan Region | 1 | Team Hiroshima | |
| 2021 World Trials Champion | 1 | Chubu Electric Power | |
| Wild Card | 1 | Sapporo Association |
The teams are listed as follows:[4]
| Team | Skip | Third | Second | Lead | Alternate | Locale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chiaki Matsumura | Nagano | ||||||
| Fortius | Mina Kobayashi | Sapporo | |||||
| Tori Koana | Yamanashi | ||||||
| Sapporo | |||||||
| Kotomi Ishizaki | Kitami | ||||||
| Philosique Aomori | Misaki Tanaka (Fourth) | Miori Nakamura (Skip) | Hiyori Ichinohe | Aomori | |||
| Sapporo Association | Natsuko Ishiyama | Sapporo | |||||
| SC Karuizawa Club | Nagano | ||||||
| Team Hiroshima | Sachie Ishihara | Hiroshima |
Final Round Robin Standings
| width=170 | Team | width=120 | Skip | width=20 | width=20 | width=30 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 1 | – | 60 | 37 | 41 | 26 | 6 | 15 | 26.85 | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | 2 | 1–0 | 63 | 36 | 33 | 24 | 4 | 11 | 48.20 | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | 2 | 0–1 | 65 | 37 | 35 | 26 | 3 | 13 | 46.77 | ||||||||||||||
| Fortius | 4 | 4 | 1–1 | 65 | 44 | 37 | 32 | 2 | 14 | 31.14 | |||||||||||||
| Philosique Aomori | 4 | 4 | 1–1 | 48 | 54 | 30 | 38 | 3 | 6 | 36.73 | |||||||||||||
| SC Karuizawa Club | 4 | 4 | 1–1 | 43 | 46 | 31 | 34 | 3 | 10 | 42.89 | |||||||||||||
| Sapporo Association | 3 | 5 | – | 48 | 54 | 30 | 29 | 4 | 8 | 50.36 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | 6 | – | 44 | 56 | 29 | 34 | 2 | 7 | 46.76 | ||||||||||||||
| Team Hiroshima | 0 | 8 | – | 18 | 90 | 16 | 39 | 1 | 3 | 115.04 |
All draws are listed in Japan Standard Time .[5] [6]
Sunday, May 22, 9:00
Sunday, May 22, 18:00
Monday, May 23, 13:30
Tuesday, May 24, 9:00
Tuesday, May 24, 18:00
Wednesday, May 25, 13:30
Thursday, May 26, 9:00
Thursday, May 26, 18:00
Friday, May 27, 13:30
Saturday, May 28, 9:00
Saturday, May 28, 9:00
Saturday, May 28, 15:00
Sunday, May 29, 16:30
| Place | Team | Skip | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Satsuki Fujisawa | |||
| Ikue Kitazawa | |||
| Momoha Tabata | |||
| 4 | Fortius | Sayaka Yoshimura | |
| 5 | Philosique Aomori | Miori Nakamura | |
| 6 | SC Karuizawa Club | Asuka Kanai | |
| 7 | Sapporo Association | Kana Ogawa | |
| 8 | Yuna Kotani | ||
| 9 | Team Hiroshima | Yuki Shibuto |