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born November 16, 2003 is a Japanese ice dancer who currently competes with Utana Yoshida. Together, they are the 2025 Asian Winter Games champions, two-time Japanese national champions (2024–25, 2025–26), and the 2023–24 Japanese national bronze medalists.
With his former partner, Nao Kida, he is a two-time Japan junior national champion (2021–22, 2022–23) and the 2022 JGP Czech Republic bronze medalist. They also competed at two World Junior Championships (2022, 2023).
He admires Japanese singles skater, Kazuki Tomono, and Canadian ice dance team, Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier.
Kida/Morita debuted as a team at the 2020–21 Japan Novice Championships, where they won the gold medal.
Selected to compete at the 2022 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, the team finished in twelfth place.
In November, Kida/Morita won the 2022–23 Japan Junior Championships for a second consecutive time. They would then finish the season by placing sixteenth at the 2023 World Junior Championships in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The pair parted ways following the season.
Yoshida/Morita made their international competitive debut on the Challenger circuit at the 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, where they finished in fifth place. They next competed at the 2023–24 Japan Championships, which proved to be a tight contest between them and two other senior teams. They finished third in the rhythm dance after Morita fell in their twizzle sequence, coming behind Yoshida's former partner Nishiyama and his new partner Azusa Tanaka and the four-time national champions Komatsubara/Tim Koleto. Yoshida/Morita then won the free dance, but they remained in third place overall for the bronze medal. Yoshida said that they were "happy to have skated at Nationals," but admitted they had come just short of their goal of hitting 110 points in the free dance.
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. After traveling to Shanghai to compete, Yoshida/Morita finished tenth overall but more than sixteen points behind national champions Komatsubara/Koleto.
In late December, Yoshida/Morita won the national title at the 2024–25 Japan Championships. They were subsequently named to the Four Continents and World teams.
Going on to compete at the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China, Yoshida/Morita won the gold medal. They subsequently competed at the 2025 Four Continents Championships in Seoul, South Korea, finishing in eighth place.
At the 2025 World Championships in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, Yoshida/Morita placed twenty-second in the rhythm dance, only 0.40 points from qualifying for the free dance segment.
Selected to compete for Team Japan at the 2025 World Team Trophy, Yoshida/Morita placed sixth in all segments of the ice dance event and Team Japan won the silver medal overall. Following the event, the team added Scott Moir, Madison Hubbell, and Adrián Díaz to their coaching team.
They subsequently competed at the 2025 CS Trialeti Trophy, placing fifth overall. Selected as host picks at the 2025 NHK Trophy, Yoshida/Morita finished the event in tenth place overall.
In late December, Yoshida/Morita competed at the Japan Championships, winning their second consecutive national title. It was subsequently announced that Yoshida/Morita were selected to compete for Team Japan in the team event at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The following month, they finished seventh at the 2026 Four Continents Championships in Beijing, China.
On 6 February, Yoshida/Morita competed in the 2026 Winter Olympics Figure Skating Team Event where they finished eighth in the rhythm dance. "Today was so fun!" said Yoshida. "We really love the vibe of this event. It’s so fun to skate for a team, not just for ourselves, and we’re really here to do our best for Team Japan." The following day, they placed fifth in the free dance. "Since yesterday, including today, everyone really delivered amazing performances," noted Yoshida. "We also got in the rink today hoping to follow that flow as well. We think we were able to do that, even if just a little." With their combined placements, Team Japan won the silver medal overall.
Following the result, pianist, Jennifer Thomas, who composed Yoshida/Morita's free dance music praised the team on her Instagram account, saying, "You guys skated the most beautiful program, and a huge congratulations on helping your team win silver!"
Career
Early career
Morita began figure skating in 2013. He originally competed as a singles skater and trained at the Kyoto Daigo Figure Skating Club, where he was coached by Hikako Watanabe. At the age of thirteen, Morita would make the decision to switch to the ice dance discipline due to his struggles with mastering jumps. Prior to the 2017–18 figure skating season, Morita would team up with Nagomi Okada. Together, they won silver on the novice level at the 2017–18 and the 2018–19 Japan Championships. The team parted ways in 2019 and Morita briefly returned to singles skating for the 2019–20 figure skating season.
Ice dance with Nao Kida
2020–2021 season
Prior to the season, Morita moved his training base to Kyoto's newly established Kinoshita Academy. There, former Japanese ice dancer Cathy Reed became his new coach. Subsequently, Morita teamed up with former singles skater Nao Kida.
2021–2022 season
Kida/Morita began the season in November by competing 2021–22 Japan Junior Championships, winning the gold medal. They would go on to make their international debut at the Bavarian Open, where they placed ninth on the junior level.
2022–2023 season
Kida/Morita started the season by competing on the 2022–23 ISU Junior Grand Prix. They won the bronze medal at 2022 JGP Czech Republic, becoming the first ice dance team from Japan to win a Junior Grand Prix medal. Subsequently, the team finished eighth at 2022 JGP Poland.
Ice dance with Utana Yoshida
2023–2024 season: Debut of Yoshida/Morita
In April 2023, Morita sent a message to the then-partnerless Utana Yoshida on Instagram, asking if she would be interested in having a tryout with him. Yoshida agreed to this and the two would met up at the Okayama International Skating Rink in Okayama, where their tryout was monitored by Morita's coach, Cathy Reed, and Yoshida's coach, Rie Arikawa. This tryout would prove successful and end with Yoshida/Morita agreeing to pair up on that same day. Yoshida moved to Uji, Kyoto to train with Morita at the Kinoshita Skate Academy under both of their coaches, Reed and Arikawa.
2024–25 season: First national title
Yoshida/Morita started the season by competing at the 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, where they finished in fifth place. Going on to make their Grand Prix series debut, the duo finished ninth at the 2024 NHK Trophy.
2025–26 season: Olympic team event silver and second national title
Yoshida/Morita opened their season by finishing sixth at the 2025 CS Kinoshita Group Cup. They then went on to compete at the final Olympic qualifying event, the 2025 Skate to Milano. Yoshida/Morita finished seventh overall and were named as the third alternates for the 2026 Winter Olympic ice dance team.
Programs
Ice dance with Utana Yoshida
Ice dance with Nao Kida
Competitive results
Ice dance with Utana Yoshida
Ice dance with Nao Kida
16th 3rd 8th 1st
Detailed results
Ice dance with Utana Yoshida
Ice dance with Nao Kida
February 27–March 5, 2023 2023 World Junior Championships 18
54.1915
82.5316
136.72November 25–27, 2022 2022–23 Japan Junior Championships 1
65.171
96.751
161.92September 28–October 1, 2024 2022 JGP Poland 7
56.9611
78.568
135.52August 31–September 3, 2022 2022 JGP Czech Republic 3
61.055
88.613
149.66April 13–17, 2022 2022 World Junior Championships 14
52.0212
80.9212
132.94November 19–21, 2021 2021–22 Japan Junior Championships 1
52.441
78.621
131.08January 18–23, 2022 Bavarian Open 11
47.407
80.519
127.91November 19–21, 2021 2021–22 Japan Junior Championships 1
52.441
78.621
131.08
External links
Categories: 2003 Births, Living People, Japanese Male Ice Dancers, Olympic Figure Skaters For Japan, Olympic Silver Medalists For Japan, Olympic Medalists In Figure Skating, Figure Skaters At The 2026 Winter Olympics, Medalists At The 2026 Winter Olympics, Asian Games Gold Medalists For Japan, Asian Games Medalists In Figure Skating, Figure Skaters At The 2025 Asian Winter Games, Medalists At The 2025 Asian Winter Games, Doshisha University Alumni, Figure Skaters From Kyoto, 21st-century Japanese Sportsmen
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