2022 Japan Curling Championships
The 2022 Japan Curling Championships were held from May 22 to 29 at the Tokoro Curling Club in Tokoro, Kitami, Hokkaido, Japan. 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.
Summary
On the men's side, SC Karuizawa Club won their first national championship since the team disbanded at the following the 2017–18 season. 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 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. Team Fujisawa finished top of the table after the round robin with a 7–1 record and then defeated Hokkaido Bank 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.
Men
Qualification
The following teams qualified to participate in the 2022 Japan Curling Championship:| Qualification method | Berths | Qualifying team |
| 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 |
Teams
The teams are listed as follows:| Team | Skip | Third | Second | Lead | Alternate | Locale |
| Consadole | Yasumasa Tanida | Tetsuro Shimizu | Kosuke Aita | Shinya Abe | Kitami | |
| Kitami Association | Kohsuke Hirata | Shingo Usui | Ryota Meguro | Yoshiya Miura | Shunta Kobayashi | Kitami |
| Nagano Prefecture CA | Yoshiro Shimizu | Rui Sato | Genya Nishizawa | Minato Hayamizu | Kai Shu | Nagano |
| Okayama CA | Hiroki Yoshioka | Hiromitsu Fujinaka | Yusuke Nonomura | Makoto Takahashi | Atushi Kamigakiuchi | Okayama |
| Sapporo International University | Hayato Sato | Go Aoki | Kouki Ogiwara | Kazushi Nino | Kei Kamada | Sapporo |
| SC Karuizawa Club | Riku Yanagisawa | Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi | Takeru Yamamoto | Satoshi Koizumi | Karuizawa | |
| Team Ishimura | Juon Ishimura | Yuto Nakagawa | Youn Ishimura | Kuya Kawamura | Genta Kaimori | Aomori |
| Team Tokyo | Junpei Kanda | Hiromu Otani | Kizuki Ryokawa | Shotara Hashimoto | Ken Kanai | Tokyo |
| Tokoro Junior | Takumi Maeda | Uryu Kamikawa | Hiroki Maeda | Asei Nakahara | Taa Nakahara | Kitami |
Round robin standings
''Final Round Robin Standings''Round robin results
All draws are listed in Japan Standard Time.Draw 2
''Sunday, May 22, 13:30''Draw 4
''Monday, May 23, 9:00''Draw 6
''Monday, May 23, 18:00''Draw 8
''Tuesday, May 24, 13:30''Draw 10
''Wednesday, May 25, 9:00''Draw 12
''Wednesday, May 25, 18:00''Draw 14
''Thursday, May 26, 13:30''Draw 16
''Friday, May 27, 9:00''Draw 18
''Friday, May 27, 18:00''Playoffs
1 vs. 2
''Saturday, May 28, 9:00''3 vs. 4
''Saturday, May 28, 9:00''Semifinal
''Saturday, May 28, 15:00''Final
''Sunday, May 29, 9:00''Women
Qualification
The following teams qualified to participate in the 2022 Japan Curling Championship:| Qualification method | Berths | Qualifying team |
| 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 |
Teams
The teams are listed as follows:| Team | Skip | Third | Second | Lead | Alternate | Locale |
| Chubu Electric Power | Ikue Kitazawa | Seina Nakajima | Minori Suzuki | Hasumi Ishigooka | Chiaki Matsumura | Nagano |
| Fortius | Sayaka Yoshimura | Kaho Onodera | Anna Ohmiya | Yumie Funayama | Mina Kobayashi | Sapporo |
| Fujikyu | Yuna Kotani | Arisa Kotani | Mao Ishigaki | Michiko Tomabechi | Tori Koana | Yamanashi |
| Hokkaido Bank | Momoha Tabata | Miku Nihira | Mikoto Nakajima | Ayami Ito | Sapporo | |
| Loco Solare | Satsuki Fujisawa | Chinami Yoshida | Yumi Suzuki | Yurika Yoshida | Kotomi Ishizaki | Kitami |
| Philosique Aomori | Misaki Tanaka | Miori Nakamura | Haruka Kihara | Emiko Koyama | Hiyori Ichinohe | Aomori |
| Sapporo Association | Kana Ogawa | Momo Kaneta | Suzune Yasui | Noa Kyoto | Natsuko Ishiyama | Sapporo |
| SC Karuizawa Club | Asuka Kanai | Ami Enami | Junko Nishimuro | Mone Ryokawa | Nagano | |
| Team Hiroshima | Yuki Shibuto | Riho Zaikan | Ikumi Masuki | Akari Iwatani | Sachie Ishihara | Hiroshima |