The Japanese skating juggernaut rolled into The Hague last week for the Challenge Cup and left town on Monday with a total of five golds medals in an impressive show of dominance.

Rika Kihira, Sota Yamamoto, Yuhana Yokoi, Shun Sato and Sara Honda all topped the podium in their respective disciplines as the Hinomaru was raised often at the four-day event.

Honda, the 11-year-old who is the youngest sister of 2016 world junior champion Marin, got the festivities started on Friday by winning the advanced novice women’s event.

Later the same day, Yokoi and Sato captured the junior women and men’s titles, respectively.

Sota Yamamoto claimed the senior men’s crown on Saturday, with Yuma Kagiyama taking second place.

Kihira, the Grand Prix Final champion, rounded out the medal haul on Sunday with a victory in the senior women’s competition, with Wakaba Higuchi earning the bronze.

Though the Challenge Cup fields were not highly competitive, the bottom line is that the Japan team traveled a long way to an international meet and totally controlled it…

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