Kazuyoshi Oimatsu

Kazuyoshi Oimatsu, along with Ryuichi Obitani, was one of the first figure skaters to represent Japan at the Winter Olympics. A skater since the eighth grade, Oimatsu finished fifth in the men’s singles event at the 1930 Japan Figure Skating Championships, the tournament’s second year. At the 1931 edition, however, he finished first and was crowned the Japanese national champion, paving the way for his debut on the international scene in 1932, when he finished seventh at the World Figure Skating Championships and ninth at the Winter Olympic Games. He slid to second place at the 1933 Japan Championships and third in 1935. His final competitive year was 1936, where he finished ninth in the European Championships, fifteenth in the World Championships, and twentieth at the Winter Olympics.

Oimatsu’s amateur career was ended by World War II and a bout of tuberculosis in 1948. In the 1950s, however, he turned professional and worked as a lecturer and a coach with the Osaka Sports Center Skating Federation. Throughout his career he competed out of the Osaka Skating Club.