# Azusa Tanaka

Azusa Tanaka (田中 梓沙, Tanaka Azusa, born October 29, 2005) is a Japanese ice dancer and former single skater. She and partner Shingo Nishiyama are the 2025 Asian Winter Games bronze medalists and two-time Japanese national silver medalists (2023–24, 2024–25).

## Early life and education

Tanaka was born on 29 October 2005 in Kyoto, Japan. She attends Kyoto Koka Girls' High School. Tanaka looks up to fellow Japanese skaters Satoko Miyahara, Kana Muramoto and Yuna Shiraiwa.

## Career
### Early years

Tanaka began skating in 2012 after being inspired by her older brother's classmate, who was a figure skater. She placed fourteenth at 2017–18 Japan Novice A Championships and seventh at 2018–19 Japan Novice A Championships.

### Singles skating career
#### 2019–20 season: Junior Grand Prix debut

Tanaka was assigned to make her Junior Grand Prix debut at the 2019 JGP Lake Placid on the 2019–20 circuit. In her short program, she missed her combination due to a fall and doubled a planned triple Loop, placing her tenth with a score of 51.37 points. During the free skate, Tanaka downgraded four jumps, falling twice, and doubled a Lutz. Tanaka finished in fourteenth place overall. Appearing next at the 2019–20 Japan Junior Championships, Tanaka finished in tenth place.

#### 2020–21 season

The 2020–21 Junior Grand Prix circuit was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, Tanaka did not have the opportunity to compete on the Junior Grand Prix again. At the 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships, Tanaka finished in fifteenth place after several mistakes in both programs.

### 2021–22 season

Tanaka competed at the 2021–22 Japan Junior Championships and placed fifth overall, making her highest placement in the event. She then competed at the senior level, finishing tenth in the short program with a clean skate despite a quarter call on her combination. Tanaka struggled in the free skate, coming nineteenth in the segment and dropping to eighteenth place overall.
Tanaka was assigned to compete at the 2023 Egna Trophy in the junior category. She came third in the short program with a score of 51.35. In the free skate, she under-rotated the first three jumps and struggled on the spins, then finishing in fourth place behind Canada's Fiona Bombardier.

### Ice dance with Nishiyama
#### 2023–24 season

On 6 May 2023, Japanese ice dancer Shingo Nishiyama announced that he and Tanaka would be forming a new ice dance partnership, and would be training at the Ice Academy of Montreal in Montreal, Canada.
Tanaka/Nishiyama made their international competitive debut on the Challenger circuit at the 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, coming ninth. They next competed at the 2023–24 Japan Championships, which proved to be a tight contest between them and two other senior teams. Tanaka/Nishiyama won the rhythm dance, finishing ahead of four-time national champions Komatsubara/Koleto and the new team Yoshida/Morita. However, they were third in the free dance, and finished second overall. The team said they were satisfied to have made it onto the podium, noting their rapid progress in the short time since partnering.
With the close result at the national championships, the Japan Skating Federation opted to postpone assigning Japan's lone berth at the 2024 World Championships pending the results of all three teams at the 2024 Four Continents Championships. Traveling to Shanghai to compete, Tanaka/Nishiyama finished eleventh overall, third among the Japanese teams.

#### 2024–25 season

Although initially assigned to compete at the 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy in September, Tanaka/Nishiyama would withdraw from the event. Their first event of the season was the 2024 NHK Trophy, where they finished tenth.
In late December, Tanaka/Nishiyama won the silver medal at the 2024–25 Japan Championships behind Yoshida/Morita. They were subsequently named to the Four Continents team.

## Programs
### With Nishiyama

| Season | Rhythm dance | Free dance | Exhibition |
| 2024–2025 | September by Earth, Wind & Fire Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder Land of a Thousand Dances by Chris Kenner & Fats Domino performed by Wilson Pickett choreo. by Romain Haguenauer | Für Elise by Ludwig van Beethoven Für Elise Jam by The Piano Guys & Ludwig van Beethoven choreo. by Romain Haguenauer | Super Mario Mario Bros by Stryker Pose & Koji Kondo Underground Airship (from Super Mario Bros.) by Retro Crowd & Koji Kondo Super Mario Bros by Stryker Pose & Koji Kondo Fever (from Dr. Mario) by Retro Crowd & Koji Kondo choreo. by Romain Haguenauer |
| 2023–2024 | Super Mario Mario Bros by Stryker Pose & Koji Kondo Underground Airship (from Super Mario Bros.) by Retro Crowd & Koji Kondo Super Mario Bros by Stryker Pose & Koji Kondo Fever (from Dr. Mario) by Retro Crowd & Koji Kondo choreo. by Romain Haguenauer | Giselle Introduction Act I: Retour des Vendangeurs - No. 4(bis) Valse Act I: Pas de Deux - No. 5(bis) La Chasse (II) Act I: Galop by Adolphe Adam performed by London Symphony Orchestra and Anatole Fistoulari choreo. by Romain Haguenauer |

### Women's singles

| Season | Short program | Free skating |
| 2022–2023 | Carmen by Georges Bizet choreo. by Cathy Reed | Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Camille Saint-Saëns performed by Anne-Sophie Mutter, Saito Kinen Orchestra and Seiji Ozawa choreo. by Cathy Reed |
| 2021–2022 | Smile by Charlie Chaplin performed by Nana Mouskouri choreo. by Cathy Reed | Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Camille Saint-Saëns performed by Anne-Sophie Mutter, Saito Kinen Orchestra and Seiji Ozawa choreo. by Cathy Reed |
| 2020–2021 | New World Symphony by Antonín Dvořák choreo. by Cathy Reed | Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker by John Williams choreo. by Cathy Reed |
| 2019–2020 | Csárdás by Vittorio Monti performed by David Garrett choreo. by Cathy Reed | Pride & Prejudice by Dario Marianelli choreo. by Cathy Reed |

## Competitive highlights

JGP: Junior Grand Prix

### Ice dance with Nishiyama

International :
| Event | 23–24 | 24–25 |
| Four Continents | 11th | 11th |
| GP NHK Trophy | | 10th |
| CS Golden Spin | 9th | |
| CS Nebelhorn Trophy | | WD |
| Asian Winter Games | | 3rd |
| National |||
| Japan | 2nd | 2nd |
| Japan Eastern/Western Sect. | 2nd | 2nd |
| TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew |||

### Women's singles

International: Junior :
| Event | 15–16 | 16–17 | 17–18 | 18–19 | 19–20 | 20–21 | 21–22 | 22–23 |
| JGP U.S. | | | | | 14th | | | |
| Egna Trophy | | | | | | | 4th | |
| National |||||||||
| Japan | | | | | | | 18th | |
| Japan Junior | | | | | 10th | 15th | 5th | |
| Japan Novice | | | 14th A | 7th A | | | | |
| Japan Western Sect. | | | | | 8th J | 6th J | 3rd J | |
| Kinki Reg. | 16th B | 2nd B | 4th A | 3rd A | 7th J | 3rd J | 5th J | 6th J |
| TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Cancelled A = Novice A; B = Novice B; J = Junior |||||||||

## Detailed results

Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.

### With Nishiyama

Results in the 2024-25 season :
| Date | Event | SP | SP | FS | FS | Total | Total |
| Date | Event | P | Score | P | Score | P | Score |
| Nov 8–10, 2024 | 2024 NHK Trophy | 10 | 59.15 | 10 | 92.12 | 10 | 151.27 |
| Dec 19–22, 2024 | 2024–25 Japan Championships | 2 | 66.03 | 2 | 102.89 | 2 | 168.92 |
| Feb 11–13, 2025 | 2025 Asian Winter Games | 3 | 63.21 | 3 | 100.50 | 3 | 163.71 |
| Feb 19–23, 2025 | 2025 Four Continents Championships | 12 | 59.84 | 10 | 96.55 | 11 | 156.39 |
Results in the 2023-24 season :
| Date | Event | SP | SP | FS | FS | Total | Total |
| Date | Event | P | Score | P | Score | P | Score |
| Dec 6–9, 2023 | 2023 CS Golden Spin | 10 | 61.86 | 9 | 96.83 | 9 | 158.69 |
| Dec 20–24, 2023 | 2023–24 Japan Championships | 1 | 71.08 | 3 | 105.35 | 2 | 176.43 |
| Jan 30 – Feb 4, 2024 | 2024 Four Continents Championships | 11 | 62.09 | 12 | 95.54 | 11 | 157.63 |