Prince Ice World (プリンスアイスワールド) is the oldest

ice show An ice show is an entertainment production which is primarily performed by ice skaters. The major ice shows were founded between 1936 and 1943, when professional figure skaters began to appear in shows, in hotels, at fairs, and "at any place a ...

in Japan and was founded by Prince Hotels, Inc. in 1978. The show has a different theme each year and is known for its elaborately produced group numbers performed by the Prince Ice World company that consists of about thirty world-class skaters. National and international top skaters are invited as guests. The show is produced by

Seibu Group is a Japanese multinational holding company that primarily owns Seibu Railway, Prince Hotels, and Seibu Bus and its subsidiaries, which are collectively known as the . In total, fifty-three companies across the world are affiliated with the Sei ...

and Prince Hotels with Blue Muse Co., Ltd. as the official sponsor. Prince Hotels and Blue Muse are both subsidiaries of Seibu Group.

History

Prince Ice World was the first ice show in Japan and was originally called "Viva! Ice World". It was founded by Prince Hotels, Inc. in 1978, and early performances took place at

Shinagawa is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density of 16,510 persons per ...

Skate Center. The show developed into an annual event, and the first five seasons included Japanese champions Miwa Fukuhara, Nobu Sato (father of

Yuka Sato is a Japanese former competitive figure skater and choreographer. She is the 1994 World champion, the 1990 World Junior champion and the 1993 & 1994 Japanese national champion. She placed 7th at the 1992 Winter Olympics and 5th at the 19 ...

), and Minoru Sano. In 1985, "Viva! Ice World" expanded to other Japanese cities with shows in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

and

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

, and finally, in 1988 "Viva! Ice World" was renamed to "Prince Ice World." 1992 Olympic silver medalist

Midori Ito is a retired Japanese figure skater. She is the 1989 World champion and the 1992 Olympic silver medalist. She is the first woman to land a triple Axel in competition. At the 1988 Calgary Olympics, she became the first woman to land seven t ...

starred in Prince Ice World in the 1990s with Yuka Sato and Junko Yaginuma. Fans bearing flowers and gifts flocked to see favorites Shizuka Awakawa, Takeshi Honda,

Fumie Suguri is a Japanese former competitive figure skater. She is a three-time World Figure Skating Championships, World medalist, a three-time Four Continents Championships, Four Continents champion, the 2003 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, Grand Prix ...

Miki Ando is a retired Japanese figure skater. She is the 2007 World Figure Skating Championships, 2007 and 2011 World Figure Skating Championships, 2011 World champion, 2011 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, 2011 Four Continents champion, 2 ...

Mao Asada is a Japanese former competitive figure skater. She is the Figure skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics - Ladies' singles, 2010 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World Figure Skating Championships, World champion (2008, 2010, 2014), a three-t ...

,and

Daisuke Takahashi is a retired Japanese figure skater ( men's singles and ice dance) and ice show producer. As a singles skater, he is the 2010 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2010 World champion, the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final champion, a two-time (2008, 2011) ...

. International guest stars through the years have included

Ilia Kulik Ilya Alexandrovich Kulik (; born 23 May 1977) is a Russian figure skater. He is the 1998 Olympic Champion, the 1995 European Champion, the 1997–1998 Grand Prix Final champion, and the 1995 World Junior champion. Career Kulik began skating ...

Jozef Sabovcik Jozef ( Creole, Dutch, Breton, and Slovak) or Józef (Polish) are variants of the masculine given name Joseph in several European languages. A selection of people with that name follows. For a comprehensive list, see and . * Józef Beck (1894–1 ...

, Elena Leanova Andrei Khvalko, Evgeni Pluschenko, and

Alexei Yagudin Alexei Konstantinovich Yagudin ( rus, Алексей Константинович Ягудин, , ɐlʲɪˈksʲeɪ̯ kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪt͡ɕ ɪ̯ɪˈɡudʲɪn, Ru-Alexei Konstantinovich Yagudin.ogg; 18 March 1980) is a Russian former com ...

Concept

The shows run for about nine days each year, featuring solo performances by invited national guest stars and international stars from overseas. Each season has its own theme with specially crafted sets and the Prince Ice World company performing in intricately designed costumes. Past themes include

Hello Kitty , also known by her real name , is a fictional character created by Yuko Shimizu, currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio. Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as a British anthropomorphized white cat with a red ...

and titles such as "Let's Enjoy Skating" and "Pop Step Dance". The most recent theme in 2023 was "Broadway Classics."

Audience and accessibility

The shows were televised on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

from 1993 till 2000 when Tokai Television Broadcasting purchased the media rights. In 2022, the performance in

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

was broadcast on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network. *

* Junko Yaginuma *

Shizuka Arakawa is a retired Japanese figure skater. She is the 2006 Olympic champion and the 2004 World champion. Arakawa is the first Japanese skater to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating and the second Japanese skater to win any Olympic medal in f ...

Yuzuru Hanyu is a Japanese figure skater and ice show producer. Universally regarded as one of the greatest figure skaters in history for his well-rounded skills, achievements, innovations, longevity, popularity, and impact on the sport, he started skat ...

* Takeshi Honda *

Shoma Uno is a retired Japanese figure skater. He is a three-time Olympic medalist ( 2018 silver, 2022 bronze, 2022 team silver), a two-time World champion (2022, 2023), and a two-time World silver medalist (2018, 2017). He was also the 2019 Four Conti ...

* Miwa Fukuhara * Nobu Sato * Minoru Sano *

Nobunari Oda is a retired Japanese competitive figure skater. He is the 2006 Four Continents champion, a four-time Grand Prix Final medalist (silver in 2009 and 2010; bronze in 2006 and 2013), the 2005 World Junior champion and the 2008 Japanese nation ...

Keiji Tanaka is a retired Japanese figure skater. He is the 2016 NHK Trophy bronze medalist, 2019 Skate Canada bronze medalist, three-time ISU Challenger Series medalist (including gold at the 2019 U.S. Classic), 2017 Winter Universiade silver medalist, ...

Kana Muramoto is a retired Japanese figure skater ( women's singles and ice dance). With her skating partner, Daisuke Takahashi, she is the 2022 Four Continents silver medalist, the 2022–23 Japanese national champion and the 2022 Denis Ten Memorial Chal ...

/ Daisuke Takahashi *

Yuma Kagiyama is a Japanese figure skater. He is the 2022 Winter Olympics, 2022 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World silver medalist (2021 World Figure Skating Championships, 2021, 2022 World Figure Skating Championships, 2022, 2024 World Figure Skatin ...

Marin Honda is a retired Japanese figure skater. She is the 2016 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, 2016 World Junior champion, the 2017 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, 2017 World Junior silver medalist, the 2015–16 Grand Prix of Figure ...

* Wakaba Higuchi *

Kazuki Tomono is a Japanese figure skater. He is the 2022 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, 2022 Four Continents silver medalist and a four-time ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, Grand Prix medalist. He has represented Japan at three World Figure S ...

* Kao Miura * Rion Sumiyoshi * Ami Nakai International guest skaters include: *

Evgeni Plushenko Evgeni Viktorovich Plushenko (, born 3 November 1982) is a Russian former figure skater. He is a four-time Olympic medalist (2006 gold, 2014 team gold, 2002 & 2010 silver), a three-time World champion (2001, 2003, 2004), a seven-time Europe ...

Nathan Chen Nathan Wei Chen (born May 5, 1999) is an American figure skating, figure skater. He is the Figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Men's singles, 2022 Olympic champion, a three-time World Figure Skating Championships#Men, World champion ...

* Elena Leanova / Andrei Khvalko

Notes and references

Citations

External links

Prince Ice World
(Official Website)
Prince Ice World
on Twitter
Prince Ice World
on Instagram {{Authority control Ice shows Touring performing arts Annual events in Japan Entertainment events in Japan