Misato Komatsubara Becomes Part of the First Japanese Pair to Win the NHK Trophy Ice Dance

Misato Komatsubara and her husband and skating partner Tim Koleto have won the ice dance at the NHK Trophy in Osaka, the first Japanese team ever to take the title. They sealed it with the free dance on Saturday, November 28.

The pair scored 108.29 in the free dance for a total of 179.05, reports Golden Skate, more than 20 points clear of the field. It's their first Grand Prix title. With travel limited by the pandemic, this year's event had an all-Japanese dance field, but the result still goes into the record books. The event was held at the Kadoma Sports Center in Osaka from November 27 to November 29, and the pair led by more than six points after the rhythm dance, where they scored 70.76.

Komatsubara was delighted with how they skated:

I am very happy and proud we skated two powerful programs,

Koleto, who was born in the United States and became a Japanese citizen this month, said the pair had worked on their communication: "This season, we talked and are on the same page, so that was different from last season."

Komatsubara is listed as vegan in her Wikipedia biography, which cites her own social media profile. We haven't seen her talk about her diet in an interview, so we'll leave it there, but it's lovely to see a plant-based name at the top of the podium.

She's in good company on the ice. Fellow vegan skater Meagan Duhamel won CBC's Battle of the Blades this week, two years after she won Olympic gold in PyeongChang.

A first for Japan. Powered by plants.